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.
Since our first look at the Partner Search Tool, more ideas have appeared, adding new angles on what cities want to act on next. Some start from very practical local pressures: vacant shops, ageing buildings, mobility gaps or access to water. Others open wider conversations about food systems, participation, heritage, biodiversity, public space and local economies.
Here is another look at the ideas now circulating in the tool, and the kinds of partnerships they could inspire.
Building resilient territories through urban-rural links, food and proximity
A strong new thread looks beyond the administrative borders of the city. Some proposals focus on local food diversity and resilience through urban-rural relationships, while others ask how agrarian towns becoming resilient urban-rural nodes can respond to demographic decline, climate vulnerability and economic change. Food is also being treated as a question of cooperation across wider territories, with ideas on food cooperation across functional areas and 30-minute territories where proximity-based services, circular solutions and local governance are part of the same conversation.
Among the proposals are several initiatives showing how integrating local resources and economies can become part of a broader territorial transition. One idea looks at turning wood waste into local energy, while another explores green and competitive territories. The common thread is the approach: making nearby resources, services and production systems work better together.
Reviving city centres, heritage and public spaces
Another large group of ideas focuses on places that already exist but need a new role. Some focus on everyday urban gaps, such as vacant ground-floor retail spaces, while others look at degraded industrial and waterfront areas or the future of a major industrial and historical site. In these proposals, regeneration is not only about redesigning space. It is also about bringing local entrepreneurship, circular economy, public life and participation back into the picture.
Heritage appears in many forms. Some cities want to build a stronger territorial identity through architectural heritage, while others are finding ways to bring life back to city centres or using culture to respond to youth out-migration through Mediterranean cultural regeneration. Ideas on age-friendly heritage, hybrid uses for underused heritage sites and even music and metropolitan heritage are also presented as a way to connect culture with public space and community life.
A more economic stance is visible among some of the cultural heritage project ideas. Proposals on craft and micro-production, rebuilding urban identity through culture, creating a creative and green district, reviving post-industrial urban life and reclaiming public spaces all ask a similar question from different starting points: how can cities renew themselves without losing the identity, skills and everyday uses that make places feel alive?
Nature, water and decarbonisation shaping climate action
Climate and nature feature strongly, with ideas focusing on water, biodiversity, energy and public space. Several ideas look at how cities can work with nature-based solutions, pushing for systemic transformation of routine urban planning, developing a wider Nature City approach or testing the restoration of green and blue grids. Others bring biodiversity closer to daily life, treating biodiversity as a driver of conviviality in neighbourhoods rather than as a distant environmental target.
The same practical tone appears in ideas on cross-sectoral climate cooperation, dual-use public spaces that combine everyday wellbeing with climate adaptation, and water-sensitive territories that test small-scale responses to drought, flooding and climate change. Decarbonisation is also moving from plans to implementation, with proposals on building decarbonisation and decentralised energy survival for municipal services during climate or man-made crises.
Water and sanitation bring the theme down to basics. One proposal looks at water, sanitation and hygiene for schools, while another focuses on sanitation beyond the sewer network in areas where groundwater and public health are at stake. These ideas show how climate resilience can start from very concrete needs: safe water, reliable energy, cooler spaces and healthier neighbourhoods.
Access and mobility to connect communities
Mobility also appears through the lens of access to spaces. Instead of focusing only on new infrastructure, some ideas ask how to build mobility systems people can actually use, especially where services are spread out or difficult to reach. Another proposal looks at access to services and community life in small and dispersed municipalities, linking mobility to social isolation and everyday participation.
Other ideas look at how movement of people can reshape places. connected cycling networks are framed as low-emission links across urban and metropolitan areas, while stations as urban centres connecting transport investment with spatial development, public space and mobility hubs. For applicants, these ideas suggest that mobility can be an entry point into cleaner travel, better access to services and stronger urban centres at the same time.
Participation, inclusion and everyday life
Several proposals start by focusing on the people most at risk of being left behind by urban change. There are ideas on digital health for active ageing communities, affordable housing mechanisms and inclusive safety and equality. Others focus on democratic life, from youth participation in local democracy to stronger local advisory councils and participation in super-diverse urban communities.
Education and everyday inclusion also appear in unexpected ways. One proposal wants to remove language barriers through real-time translation in the classroom, while another uses sport and public space to design cities that move with us. Younger residents’ voices are present in ideas on children shaping the ecological transition and NEB-STEAM labs that connect innovation, sustainability, education and the creative economy. Together, these proposals point to participation as something that happens in classrooms, public spaces, housing systems, health services and local decision-making, not only in formal consultation meetings.
Want to find your perfect partner or project?
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. 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.
Ready to take the next step? Learn more about the Action Network journey, then visit the Get involved page to apply to the call, find practical resources and join upcoming info sessions before the deadline.
