Networks and cities' news

Transfer Story: Replicating the mediator’s role from Lodz to Birmingham - what happens if we empower community representatives to become mediators?

The last decade saw Birmingham fall victim of the most drastic austerity measures applied by the national Government after the financial crisis in 2008. The change of the national political leadership left Labour-led local authority exposed to the most severe budget cuts. Immediately after the economic crisis of 2008, Birmingham City Council was faced with unrealistic saving targets and several difficult decisions had to be made.

Is your city ready to step up and empower the circular transition?

By: Eileen Crowley, Lead Expert, Resourceful Cities.

Our third transnational meeting of the Resourceful Cities network took place on 27^th & 28^th January and focussed on the role of the municipality in accelerating the transition to a circular economy. Hosted by the city of Oslo, this virtual meeting proved that even when we can’t visit each other’s cities to meet face to face and explore inspiring initiatives in the flesh, with a little help from videography and continually evolving remote meeting tools, virtual city visits can be just as effective as the physical version and a lot more sustainable!

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Photo 1: City of Oslo, by Thomas Ekström

Introducing the Resourceful Cities Action Planning Network: Driving citizen centred, resource-based transition in cities across Europe

A citizen centred circular economy project with a difference, the Resourceful Cities concept was conceived by The Hague and Oslo, arising from their membership in the Urban Agenda Partnership on Circular Economy. The project was developed to implement one of the twelve actions addressed by the Urban Agenda partnership - namely the action to "Promote Urban Resource Centres for waste prevention, re-use and recycling".  

Manchester’s Road to Net Zero 2038

The Paris Agreement on Climate Change committed countries to restrict carbon emissions so that global temperatures don’t rise more than 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels. With around 70% of emissions being generated in urban areas, cities have a strong motivation to lead on combatting climate change – and as in the case of Manchester, have set more ambitious targets than national government. The city of Manchester (UK) has committed to be carbon neutral by 2038.  The city is working with the Manchester Climate Change Agency (MCCA) on the city framework to support this journey and have set out a Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP) which is a top priority for the city.   

The world is changing and so is education in Viladecans: ‘360º Education’ has arrived!

Lately, the world has had to face new challenges that have sprung up unexpectedly, and we have needed quick, effective responses to address changes in the educational sphere, during and after the pandemic. Now, it is more necessary than ever to work with broad perspectives and to connect all the stakeholders in the educational sector, both in and out of schools, to ensure we offer equal opportunities.

How does Seraing want to boost the renovation of its habitat?

From prosperity to decline then to reconstruction

Bénédicte Borckmans, project coordinator for the ALT/BAU network in Seraing, reports on how the transfer process went in the Belgian city.