Networks and cities' news

A Water Museum for Elche: a journey through the Memory of Water

The City of Elche unveils a new cultural space dedicated to its valuable hydraulic heritage promoting citizen engagement with it.

Agents of CoExistence: final network report

Across Europe, cities are searching for new ways to strengthen the relationship between public
institutions and the citizens they serve. Local governments face growing expectations for
transparency, inclusion, and responsiveness, while at the same time dealing with complex societal
challenges, increasing polarization, and rapidly changing technologies. Many traditional approaches to
citizen participation no longer meet the needs of contemporary urban societies.
The Agents of Co-Existence (AoCE) Network was created in response to this changing democratic
landscape. Supported by the URBACT IV program, the network brought together nine partner cities
from across Europe to explore one central question:
How can local governments organize themselves to work more effectively, creatively, and
meaningfully with their citizens?

Rebuilding Democracy from the Inside Out with the Agents of Co-Existence

Picture this: On a Tuesday evening in Aarhus, a group of residents sit around a table with a
local politician. There is no raised platform, no official speeches, no formal agenda handed
down from city hall. The topics have been chosen by the citizens themselves. The discussion
is guided not by a civil servant, but by a neighbour — trained together with municipal staff
as a “Democracy Host”.

TechDiversity APN Project × the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals): Diversity as an Urban Development Tool …

Intro 

TechDiversity was an URBACT network of eight partners representing small and medium-sized European cities, that aim to boost and facilitate diverse local communities that are not active in Tech & Digital sector, facing specific challenges in terms of diversity, gender equality and inclusion. Furthermore, the partner cities mainly focused on an identified pressing aspect and supported at least one diverse local group, through the integrated action plans developed. 

TechDiversity core policy issue was the lack of diverse communities looking to  grow  knowledge-based  digital and tech ecosystems …

TechDiversity was built on a simple but powerful idea: if our tech & digital ecosystems aren’t inclusive by design, they won’t be effective by design. Diversity and inclusion (D&I) are not add-ons; they are developments tools that let cities educate, innovate, and govern in ways that leave no one behind. That approach unlocks measurable progress across the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) - especially 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 16, and 17 - and it’s already shaping how TechDiversity partner cities design policies, run small scale actions, and scale what really works.

A circular revolution in European Cities: Inside the LET’S GO CIRCULAR! journey

By Dr. Eleni Feleki, Lead Expert of ‘’Let’s Go Circular! Paving the way for circular cities’’ URBACT Action Planning Network 

Cluj-Napoca (RO), 20-21 November 2025 - 2Nite Transnational Meeting

The 2Nite network gathered in Cluj-Napoca for its second Transnational Meeting on 20–21 November 2025. Over two days, partners explored how the involved European cities can better understand and improve liveability and perception of safety on public space, especially in neighbourhoods undergoing rapid change. Hosted by the Municipality of Cluj-Napoca, the meeting brought together local stakeholders, community representatives, and project partners for presentations, workshops, discussions, and field visits.

The purpose of the meeting was not only to check on progress, but also to exchange good practices and  deepen the collaboration among partners, learn from local experiences, and collectively shape the next phases of the project. The sessions alternated between structured inputs, group work, and on-the-ground exploration of recent urban transformations.