Networks and cities' news

C4TALENT: Where Talent Meets Opportunity – Building Thriving Business Ecosystems

Erik and Máté, two young brothers, born and raised in Nyíregyháza, Hungary, share a passion for gastronomy. After completing their secondary education, they embarked on a journey that took them through prestigious restaurants in Budapest, London, and Toronto, including Michelin-starred establishments. Erik honed his skills, rising to the position of sous-chef, while Máté progressed as a head waiter. Despite their success abroad, their ultimate dream was to open a restaurant in their hometown. Opting for a bold career shift, they returned to Nyíregyháza, leveraging their experience to establish a successful pasta bar. Their story serves as a great example of attracting and retaining talent - however, when in comes to small and medium sized towns, unfortunately this is is more an exception than the rule.

DIGI-INCLUSION Network 1st Transnational Meeting in Mollet del Vallès

The 1st Transnational meeting of the DIGI-INCLUSION network was held in Mollet del Vallès on November 13th, 14th and 15th and was attended by delegations from all the network partners:

- Mollet del Vallès (Lead Partner).

- Jelgava Local Municipality (Latvia).

- Alexandroupolis (Greece).

- Municipality of Torres Vedras (Portugal).

- Gdansk Entrepreneurship Foundation (Poland).

- Iași (Romania).

- Boulogne sur mer Développement Côte d'Opale (France).

- Lepida ScpA (Italy).

- Department for Development and International Projects of Zenica- Doboj Canton (DDIP ZDC) (Bosnia and Herzegovina).

As well as the participation of URBACT Secretariat Director, Teofil Gherca.

Alytus meeting

C4TALENT recently held its first face-to-face "Ready for Action" meeting in Alytus, Lithuania on November 22-23.

Lead Expert Béla Kézy's summary on the event:

Cities After Dark: exploring night-time urban dynamics

Cities After Dark: exploring night-time urban dynamics

Cities are designed to work well during the day, but what happens when night falls? Several activities happen between 6 pm and 6 am, including dining, entertainment, culture and retail but also services such as public transport, healthcare, environmental care, social services, and logistics.

Many cities globally have a significant number of people working at night. For example, New York City has 300,000 jobs supported by night-time economy, while in London it contributes to 1 in every 8 jobs. However, this isn’t just a concern for major cities. Cities of different sizes are investing on an inclusive and multifaceted night-time economy, which contributes to improve city attractiveness and quality of life and fosters new forms of economic and social development. 

BiodiverCity: Community-based approaches to foster urban biodiversity

In the bustling cities of our Network, a remarkable initiative called BiodiverCity is taking root. With a vision to harness the power of nature-based solutions, BiodiverCity aims to measure biodiversity and account for the related ecosystem services to design and scale up transformative projects. The partner cities of this URBACT project envision a future where vibrant urban ecosystems and community-driven actions harmoniously coexist.

I’ve been to Härnosänd and seen the future of urban planning – through a VR Headset. And it will soon be coming your way.

The METACITY Action Planning Network has gotten 10 cities thinking about the future of urban planning and how can new digital technologies, such as the metaverse or Artificial Intelligence (AI), contribute to shape it. As the Lead Expert of the network, I have travelled to one of the Partner Cities – Härnosänd in Sweden - and discovered that virtual reality can be both magnificent and scary.