Networks and cities' news

CHANGE! Social design of public services

Our scope: people-powered public services
Interview with Ms Yvonne Blankwater, Strategy Department, City of Eindhoven interviewed by Ferenc Szigeti-Borocz, lead expert of CHANGE! Project

There is broad consensus that public services will look very different in the close future, since not only are public services to meet increasing public expectations and grand (let’s say never seen) societal challenges, but they are also constrained by significant financial shortage. On the other hand, a new generation has emerged that does not want to wait for ineffective top-down solutions and reclaims the right to act in the city. Opening public services towards more collaborative ones is the future and the first attempts are now being experienced in the U.S. (e.g. cities of service), U.K. (e.g. community right to challenge) or Scandinavia, and the WeEindhoven experimental programme, launched by the City of Eindhoven fits to this global trend as well. The first (sub) results are promising: people-powered public services can make social services more effective, cheaper and at the same time increase social capital and inclusion.

The CityMobilNet project

Interview with Mr Olaf Lewald, project coordinator of CityMobilNet, Lead partner City of Bielefeld and Mr Gregor Moss, elected representative of the city council of Bielefeld, Lead partner City of Bielefeld interviewed by Claus Köllinger, lead expert of CityMobilNet project

The Arrival Cities project

The Arrival Cities Action Planning Network is tackling one of Europe’s most urgent issues by looking at how cities can manage the challenges of old and new migration flows. Arrival Cities was initiated by Carla Tavares, the Mayor of the Municipality of Amadora, and Amadora is lead partner for the network. As Arrival Cities embarks on the six month phase of partnership development and network planning, Liz Mackie, the lead expert for the network, talked to the Deputy Mayor of Amadora, Cristina Farinha, about Amadora’s reasons for starting the Arrival Cities network, how the network will be developed and what she hopes they will gain from this experience. Ms Farinha became Deputy Mayor in October 2013, her portfolio includes education and training, social development, sport and youth, health, and management of co-financed processes.

InteractiveCities: Social media for relational urban governance by the Interactive Cities Partnership

With today's European cities hosting most of the continent’s population and urban areas being the stage for many of contemporary conflicts such as social inequality, environmental threats or economic crisis, collective action must be taken immediately.

Opening the jewellery box in Sopron

Interview with:  Edit Bognar, City Development Office of Sopron Municipality, Dr. Tamas Fodor, Mayor of Sopron and Emoke  Zacs, Grants Europe Kft in Budapest interviewed by Wessel Badenhorst Lead Expert of the City Centre Doctor project

Challenges and Ambitions for Baena, the Lead Partner of URBACT AGRI-URBAN project.

AGRI-URBAN is about Rethinking Agri-Food Production in Small and Medium sized Cities.

Interview with Jesús Rojano Aguilera, Mayor of the city of Baena, and with the project coordination team, António Zafra and Raquel Moreno.

Interviewed by Miguel Sousa, Lead Expert of the URBACT AGRI-URBAN project.