Networks and cities' news

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.

Healthy Cities during COVID-19; Accelerating from planning to action

By Dr.Sebastiaan van Herk, lead expert Healthy Cities, and Sofia Aivalioti, Ad Hoc Expert Healthy Cities

The COVID-19 pandemic that has sent the world into lockdown has also affected, but not derailed, progress towards building healthier cities. In fact, it’s only under confinement that many people truly took stock of their living environment - their homes, streets and neighbourhoods - and appreciated the value of accessible green spaces. It was also a time to (re)discover the importance of community and collective health: our health depends on the health of others. This places health at the centre of the debate when re-considering the priorities of urban planning. Out of the crisis, cities can build back better with much more support for city policies in greening, mobility and health, that may well have taken years to build up otherwise. In other words, they can work towards becoming a healthy city.