Networks and cities' news

Chalandri: A taste of operational change

Testing URBACT’s integrated and participatory approach in urban policy making. 

The EmPowerIngUs Transfer Journey: From Innovation to Local Ownership

How five cities translated the EPIU Good Practice into locally adapted pathways for tackling energy poverty

EmPowerIngUs final conference sessions

Getafe City Council, through its Municipal Housing Company EMSV, held the Final Event of the URBACT Innovation Transfer Network, EmPowerIngUs, on 1st of July. During the event, cities representatives, experts and a diversified audience had the opportunity to discuss Europe from a local perspective, discussing how European projects translate into real improvements for citizens, and how a just energy transition can be built from within cities, homes and by individuals. 

Energy independence, renovation, and healthy homes were at the center of the debate, exemplified throughout the experiences of the four European cities that have accompanied Getafe on this journey and which have successfully interpreted and adapted the ‘Getafe model’ to their own circumstances.

Organized around two session the EmPowerIngUs final conference engaged a large number of participants both in its on site and in its online sessions. Mixing multiple perspectives, the conference was an important opportunity to explore energy relted issues at different scales and level of governement.

How does participation lead to transformation?

Give teenagers €1,000, no strings attached, trust them to make their city better, step back and watch what happens.

That was the bet Cluj-Napoca made in 2015. A decade later, it has paid off more than 1,000 times. Now comes a more complicated question: can a model built in Cluj-Napoca work in four other European cities?

Under the URBACT-funded Com'ON City transfer network, five cities are working together until 2028 to adapt this model to their own local realities: Leeuwarden (Netherlands), Piacenza (Italy), Valongo (Portugal), Veszprém (Hungary) and Cluj-Napoca as lead partner.

Urban Safety Is A Shared Practice: CITISENSE's Final Event in Geel

Geel, Belgium | 30 June - 1 July 2026

Safer nights, better nights: when collaboration makes cities safer for everyone

Night-time economy can be an antidote to the decline of city centres and make them safer for all. In this article, CITISENSE Ad Hoc Expert Simone d’Antonio highlights some of the dimensions of nocturnal urban life that can be enhanced to make cities safer and more accessible, in line with the core focus of the network.