The call for URBACT Action Networks runs until 17 June 2026 and is open to cities from across the EU-27 and Partner States (Norway, Switzerland, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Moldova, Ukraine). URBACT Action Networks help cities turn existing strategies into concrete actions through exchange, testing and learning with partners across Europe.
Are you looking for a partner? The Partner Search Tool already gives applicants a useful snapshot of what cities want to ‘act’ on next. Some ideas are very practical; some are more experimental. Many sit at the intersections between climate action, inclusion, digital transformation and local economic change. For cities still shaping a partnership, it is a good place to browse, compare interests and spot an idea worth joining.
Here is a quick look at the project ideas already on the table!
Climate adaptation
Climate adaptation, green transition and other greening ideas are especially visible in the pool of possible projects. They move between the very visible and the behind-the-scenes, from changing how a street feels on a hot day to changing how a municipality organises climate work internally.
Some of the ideas already posted include:
- Public-space and awareness actions, from temporary street experiments for climate-friendly cities and school-based ecological transition campaigns to turning vacant or neglected plots into greener neighbourhood spaces
- Climate governance and municipal capacity, with ideas on local climate policy and governance, cooling overheated cities, municipal staff as drivers of climate adaptation and energy transition, stronger local climate engagement and experimental emission monitoring
- Circular, food and water approaches, including reusing building materials locally, co-creating circular solutions in post-industrial cities, functional economy models built around cooperation, circular waste living labs, community-based food initiatives, edible commons, circular food systems, food and organic resources, new local resource loops, market gardening linked to urban regeneration, local fertiliser production, runoff management and marine pollution prevention and urban sanitation beyond the sewer network
Mobility
Mobility appears in different ways, reflecting different urban pressures and contexts. Some proposals focus on better connected local mobility networks and cleaner daily travel in towns facing congestion, noise and air pollution. Others look at parking and air quality supported by smart sensors, changing habits through mobility and electromobility education and cross-border thematic tourism routes connecting small and medium-sized municipalities. For applicants, this opens doors to air quality, education, territorial access and tourism flows, rather than mobility as a single transport problem.
Education, skills and local opportunity
When it comes to education, employment, health and youth, many ideas ask how cities can help people build skills and take advantage of local opportunities where they live. The tool includes proposals on lifelong personalised guidance, STEAM labs in municipal schools and better access to jobs in border and peripheral regions.
Other proposals look at future-facing local economies such as more women and girls in green industry, gaming ecosystems in smaller cities and local economic data for more strategic decision-making. Youth appears too, from climate-smart, culture-driven small towns to sport and wellbeing activities for children. The cluster is broad, but the starting point is practical: skills, participation and opportunity do not only happen in big capitals.
Equality, diversity and inclusion
On inclusion, the proposals move between housing, public services and participation. In this sense, inclusion is less a stand-alone topic than a question running through how residents access services, homes and decision-making.
Among many partner ideas, there are:
- Framing family-centred policies as a response to demographic change
- Integrated housing environments and integrated living environments
- Place-based responses to urban segregation
- Local dialogue tools and citizen understanding of cross-cutting public policies
- Digital Dignity focuses on accessible digital public services and inclusive governance
Digital transition
Digital transition is not only being framed as technology. Several ideas ask how data and digital tools can make city services easier to use, safer or more transparent. The tool includes proposals for urban data observatories, secure AI for local authorities and ethical, inclusive and citizen-centred AI in cities.
Culture and heritage also appear here, with ideas for opening up museum collections and archives and advanced 3D scanning for heritage preservation. This makes the digital strand more concrete: not technology in the abstract, but tools that help cities manage information, protect assets and improve access.
Urban renewal and resilience
Some ideas start from very concrete local assets, old industrial landscapes, cultural spaces, tourism pressure and heritage districts. The tool includes proposals on turning mining and industrial heritage into green innovation ecosystems, regenerative tourism, museums and cultural assets as living parts of territorial renewal and resident-centred governance in heritage cities under tourism pressure. These ideas show renewal beginning with what a place already has, not only with what it lacks.
Resilience appears more directly in proposals on proactive social preparedness and community preparedness for disaster and conflict. Instead of treating resilience as a purely technical agenda, these ideas connect it to data, community knowledge, local institutions and the ability to prepare before pressure turns into crisis.
Want to find your perfect partner or project?
Above is just a taste of the proposals circulating on the Partner Search Tool. For applicants, a short idea today could become the starting point for a partnership that tests actions, learns from peers and brings a city strategy closer to implementation.
So, whether your city is looking for a lead partner, a topic to join or simply a sense of where momentum is building, start browsing the Partner Search Tool.
You can learn more about the Action Network journey and visit the Get involved page to apply to the call, find practical resources and info sessions!
