Networks and cities' news

Suceava Municipality: Green vision in "One Health 4 Cities" mission

Located in the Bukovina region in the northeast of Romania, 450 km from the capital Bucharest, Suceava is a city of 84,322 people (2022), according to 2022 last data provided by the National Institute of Statistics. Suceava municipality is the residence of Suceava County, known as a land of monasteries, considering that the churches with the exterior painting in the area enjoy a worldwide fame, 8 of them being included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.  In the past years the city has been keen to attract foreign investment and is undergoing major renovation to improve the quality of life of its citizens, to boost its potential for tourism and as a base for new industries. 

Nowadays, Suceava municipality is aware that urban health reflects the outcomes of the physical and the social environment that impact residents’ and communities’ well-being and quality of life, within an urban setting. The challenge is to bring people to spend more time in nature, be more active and develop an environmental consciousness, including promoting healthier transportations alternatives. 

To ensure a safe, healthy future Suceava Municipality is committed to restore forest habitat. Green Vision focusses on investing in preserving existing forests and in reforestation. This can certainly help slow the climate change, and provide many benefits to both humans and the environment in the short and long term as trees purify our air and combat climate change,  provide housing to millions of species that protect us from disease, cool our streets and cities, protect against floods and water pollution and ease the mind during stressful time.

“Small Sports for Big Achievements” – A Children's Sports Day in Pula

On Monday, May 12, 2025, Marsovo Polje in Pula was transformed into a large sports playground, bringing together more than 220 students from 5th to 8th grade for the full-day event “Small Sports for Big Achievements,”. 

The event was designed to encourage children to explore their sports skills through play, competition, and teamwork in a safe, inclusive, and motivating environment. Its goal was to promote healthy lifestyles, teamwork, and the active use of public spaces through sports and play – in line with the core values of the Re-Gen project.

Hackathon Held as Part of the Re-Gen Project: Young People from Pula Shaped Ideas for Urban Space Regeneration in the Busoler Area

On Friday, April 25, 2025, a Hackathon was held at the newly opened Youth Center in Pula – an intensive one-day workshop organized as part of the European Re-Gen project. The event brought together around thirty students from Pula, divided into six teams, with the aim of creating innovative solutions for the regeneration of urban spaces, with a special focus on the Busoler zone.

The goal of the Hackathon was to actively involve young people in the spatial planning process through fieldwork, needs research, and the development of conceptual solutions based on the principles of social inclusion, healthy lifestyles, and sustainable urban development. The outcomes of the workshop will serve as a basis for further elaboration of project tasks within the Integrative Action Plan (IAP) and potentially as a contribution to the development of future urban sports centers.

Upcoming Transnational Meeting in Centar Sarajevo: Focus on Action and IAP finalization

To be held on 17-18 June 2025.

Reviving unused buildings: a collaborative model between public and private sectors

The URBACT Transfer Networks call is wrapping up soon, do you still need inspiration? Vilafranca del Penedès shows what’s possible when abandoned buildings become hubs of inclusion and renewal.

Sipping coffee in Sligo: How a commitment to community and attention to detail turned things around for downtown—one cup at a time

The year is 2013 and few residents of Sligo, Ireland have heard of a BID, or Business Improvement District. Stakeholders in the local commerce sector operated independently and seldomly in cooperation with the County Council. Fast forward to December 6, 2023 when a group of 26 individuals from ten different countries all over Europe touched down in Sligo to glean best practices for city centre management. Sligo’s remarkable success story provided a fitting backdrop for the first transnational meeting of the Cities@Heart URBACT Action Planning Network.