Networks and cities' news

Falling in love with downtown: the URBACT Cities@Heart network is here!

As a part of the URBACT IV European Programme, ten European urban areas come together to form Cities@Heart, a network dedicated to sharing best practices and innovations for improving city centre management.

Cities@Heart: an URBACT Network proposing solutions for city centres, the testing ground for addressing future urban challenges

In spite of urban sprawl and a franchise economy, city centres are on the rise! Cities@Heart is here to defend proximity and mixed use, making downtown more accessible and appealing for new generations.

Nine cities to link issues of public procurement and gender equality

The GenProcure Action Planning Network (APN) is focused on the thematic topic of Gender Responsive Public Procurement. Over the next two years and until December 2025, it will seek to support nine partner cities to develop Integrated Action Plans (IAPs) that enable gender equality to be a key consideration in Public Procurement. Public Procurement is the process utilised by public authorities, including local municipalities and regional governments, to spend money on the goods, services and works that they require to function effectively. Public procurement spreads from the design of goods and services to the tendering of opportunities to the monitoring of outputs and outcomes.

WELDI - Building welcoming communities for migrants

“Vitamin N” for everyone – Transforming cities’ relationship with nature and the rise of nature-based solutions to tackle the ecological crisis

Bestseller author Richard Louv defined nature-deficit disorder in his book (Vitamin N: The Essential Guide to a Nature, 2016 – where “N” is for “nature”) and launched an international movement to get humans’ connection back to nature, especially in urban areas where this connection has been dramatically lost over the last centuries, as it was painfully, but perfectly showcased during the COVID-19 pandemic.

How “Dissonant” Cultural Heritages can foster Democracy in European cities.

The history of Europe has generated a heritage that sometimes is controversial and complex due to belonging to totalitarian regimes or contentious borders. This heritage has been called “Dissonant”, addressing the problematic link between the physical elements like architecture, neighbourhoods, monuments, and urban public spaces, and the historical and political values those elements represent.

ARCHETHICS Network opens a deep reflection on the Dissonant Heritage present in many European cities: it allows us to experience the complex and diverse history of Europe (focusing in particular on the Twentieth Century) and, through a critical examination of the past, come into the present to promote democratic and solidarity values.