Networks and cities' news

Tale of a communication officer or “We needed a spark”

by Sabine Hausmann

How to communicate the activities of an URBACT network? Its goals? Its purpose? To an audience that has never heard of URBACT? How do you communicate a complex issue such as the revitalisation of vacant ruinous buildings? Especially if you don't have such effective figures of sympathy as adorable bees at your disposal? And how do you do this not only for your own town, but, for all the partner cities of the network?

TUNE IN! An experiment to create a digital tool to turn an old shortwave radio station into a driver of city development during the pandemic

Niilo Rinne & Ville Kirjanen June 2020

The URBACT project Come In! Talking Houses, Shared Stories faced existential challenges when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in spring 2020. ULGs are not able to meet face-to-face, events can not be organized, everything is uncertain. During the time span of the project, it will be hard to plan anything that would include social interaction with physical proximity.

Making Spend Matter

"Instead of looking to attract wealth through inward investment, we started to think about the wealth we already had at our disposal and building and harnessing that wealth for the benefit of our communities", Councillor Brown, Preston (UK)

Matthew Baqueriza-Jackson, Network Expert for Making Spend Matter talks to key figures in Preston City Council to find out how they are changing the way procurement works in Lancashire.    

A foot in the right direction for Manchester

To achieve their Zero Carbon 2038 ambitions, Manchester City Council have looked to reduce short car journeys, specifically within the city centre. Lockdown has provided the impetus to pedestrianise parts of the city centre.

Starting as We Mean to Go On

A 2-day kick off meeting online provided a strong opening to the Zero Carbon Cities network – giving cities the support they need for developing their roadmap and establishing their local group – and co-creating their training and support needs.

On the importance of a transversal approach for public procurement

Schaerbeek is part of the « Making Spend Matter » European funded URBACT Transfer Network, allowing the Municipality to exchange good practices concerning public procurement with fellow cities across Europe.

One of the ways our Municipality has progressed in its sustainable practices is by discussing its procedures and objectives internally and externally with our URBACT partners. This is indeed necessary, as public procurement is a complex administrative act, with many interdependent aspects.