Networks and cities' news

‘Migrant crisis’: what can cities learn about new service design?

A message from Sicily

There’s been a lot of recent talk about the additional pressure new migrant arrivals place on public services. There has been less discussion about how cities – and it is mainly cities – are coping with this. And less still about what we are learning and the implications for future public services.

This was the focus of a recent Social Innovation Europe event in Siracusa Sicily. Meeting on one of Europe’s front lines gave us the chance to see what’s happening and to hear about lessons emerging from our recent experiences. We were particularly interested to examine the range of social innovations emerging to meet new service demands.

This article shares some of these new service examples. It also considers what they tell us about the new service design dynamics they reflect. Finally, we conclude with reference to Ezio Manzini's call for a new narrative around migrants, aligned to a design-led approach to service development.

Why demand management matters to Europe’s cities. The best idea you’ve never heard of

Demand management is the best idea you’ve never heard of. It will become fundamental to the sustainability of our cities.  It is the conduit between social innovation in communities and transformative change in bureaucracies. It denotes a set of emerging practices that represent the best chance of controlling cost and improving outcomes in public services.

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

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 Vitalcities project will prove that there are new pathways to invite citizens

“ The Vitalcities project will prove that there are new pathways to invite citizens to become physically active through turning public space into low threshold facilities”

Interview with: Hugo Nunes is the Vice Presidente of the Câmara Municipal de Loulé (vice-mayor) interviewed by Twan de Bruijn, lead expert of Vitalcities project

For the City of Loulé it is the first time to step on board in an international EU-funded project of this kind, while also taking the role as lead partner. Hugo Nunes is the Vice Presidente of the Câmara Municipal de Loulé (vice-mayor). He has professional experience in healthcare management, while also having been involved in national politics as a member of the Portuguese parliament for 4 years. He has background in strategic planning, business planning & strategy.

The Urban Green Labs project

The Urban Green Labs project set up models on how empowered civil eco-conscious groups and top down interventions can mutually reinforce each other to make cities more resilient and healthy.

By now it is clear that cities have a role in combating the impacts of ecological crisis. Urban Green Labs will tackle the issue by matching Municipalities’ physical infrastructure and public services development activities with bottom up initiatives of local communities and in the process develop new forms of governance, support eco-localism and raise the level of residents’ environmental awareness.  Increasing the number of people involved will generate a critical mass to support local initiatives that improve the effectiveness of environment-friendly interventions in line with municipal strategies.