Networks and cities' news

Varna - Integrated Action Plan

The case study on Amersfoort (The Netherlands) is one of the concrete results of the URBACT workstream ‘Social innovation in cities’, after collection of data, a study visit, and interviews with local stakeholders. It explores the practice the city put in place to engage with citizens and optimise public services, actions implemented, achievements and challenges, success factors, and conditions for transfer to other cities. The first part of the case study summarises the key points of the practice, while the second part (analytical template) provides more details for those interested in transferring the practice to their local context.

All about our network

Wondering where to find info and documents about our project? Check all the links here...

How Eindhoven unlocks the collaborative capacity of the city through social service delivery

It is clear why Dutch cities have a good reputation recently among urbanists. In the beginning of the year we heard that four Dutch cities, Tilburg, Utrecht, Groningen and Wageningen, from January, 2016 are giving some of their social assistance receivers an unconditional social security payment (i.e. a monthly income of the Government without an obligation to take paid employment or to be involved in community service). They examine whether these people will become more active than others with the current, strict regime. In May, urban planners appreciated the signature of the Pact of Amsterdam paving the way for an EU level urban agenda. Last but not least, the URBACT community is hopefully already checking on the internet why the URBACT Summer University 2016 is taking place in Rotterdam, in the city which received the Urbanism Award in 2015. To carry on with ground-breaking urban experiments from the Netherlands, this article is about the WeEindhoven social experimenting programme, which might have had less publicity, but it is definitely worth following the results of this pioneering initiative.  

The Dublin Cultural Audit and Map project

The Dublin Cultural Audit and Map project was developed to add to the local authoritys knowledge base, to inform decisions by the city council departments, planners and strategists. This intelligence project is also a public resource - a website called Culture Near You - that makes the citys cultural buildings, organisations and networks easier to find and connect with for the people of Dublin.

“The consumers have a huge power to increase organic offer”

The 2nd Meeting of the BioCanteens Transfer Network took place in Torres Vedras, from 19 to 21 March, under the theme "Supply and Demand of Organic Products". The meeting gathered the seven project partners of this European project such as local stakeholders.

The co-working revolution

What can cities do to create open workspaces where entrepreneurs can connect and grow jobs?

An explosion of new workspace