Making Spend Matter

"Instead of looking to attract wealth through inward investment, we started to think about the wealth we already had at our disposal and building and harnessing that wealth for the benefit of our communities", Councillor Brown, Preston (UK)

Matthew Baqueriza-Jackson, Network Expert for Making Spend Matter talks to key figures in Preston City Council to find out how they are changing the way procurement works in Lancashire.    

Let the music play!

Sandra Rainero shares her passion for the ONSTAGE Transfer Network where communities let arts and culture bring them together. Music to our ears...

Imagine...

Welcome to the European Playful Cities!

Games offer unique opportunities for engaging stakeholders in contemporary cities says Ileana Toscano. While European cities face challenges of ageing, climate change and social exclusion, we need to find enjoyable ways to co–create solutions. The URBACT Playful Paradigm transfer network is based on the use of “games” for promoting social inclusion, healthy lifestyles and energy awareness, place-making and economic prosperity.

What’s in a game?

SIGULDA THRILLS

Sigulda is for the Autumn. This is what accredited solvency experts such as The Guardian, Thelegraph or National Geographic say when recommending holiday destinations. Also now, and thanks to their participation in the Transnational Seminar held in the last days of September in this Latvian city within the framework of the INT-HERIT Project, a few dozen people can support this claim.

Your city in your pocket!

Card4all project is based on the Gijon Citizen Card, an URBACT Good Practice, which is celebrating its 16th birthday in 2018. During this time, Miguel Sousa says it offered citizens access to a range of public services, stimulated their modernization and increased trust and proximity between citizens and city services.

Smart living in Gijon

INT-HERIT TRANSNATIONAL MEETING ALBA IULIA - INTERVIEW VIDEOS

Are Urban Gardens the place for modern community hubs?

From Rome (IT) to Vilnius (LT) and A coruna (ES), Urban Gardening plays a key role in creating social links and is at the forefront of social innovation.

Urban Gardening is a now widespread concept. That is how Wikipedia proposes to define it: "Urban gardening is the practice of cultivating, processing and distributing food in or around a town, or city. The concepts in Urban Gardens and the associated facilities have received significant attention and popularity in the last 10 years and are growing to meet the needs of the ever-developing urban life."

But what happens in real life in European cities and towns? How can one build and manage urban gardens? Are Urban Gardens just about gardening in public or private plots, or are they creating something else, that one could call real community hubs?

While you were designing your city logo, they built an entire city from scratch

Adrian Docea gives cities a long overdue wake up call, suggesting they take a leaf out of the private sector to build their brands before it’s too late.

He says: ‘We’re completely out of time. Europe needs to speed up or we will lose the global battle for attracting investors, tourists, students, ‘startupers’ and the best engineers, inventors and creative minds out there. We’re too slow, too conservative, way too relaxed about our future. Meanwhile the whole world is changing.’

Naples’ Urban Civic Communities

By Nicola Masella

Conferring a greater social value to the historical municipal assets by promoting open and inclusive management schemes

BLUACT: Why the Blue Economy is an increasing sea of opportunity

A report by Darinka Czischke, Conor Moloney and Catalina Turcu