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Check URBACT's latest stories, updates and events!

 

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    How the food sector can help reduce youth unemployment in European medium-sized cities

    V Lizboni se bodo 13. in 14. septembra na URBACT Festivalu mest srečali izvoljeni predstavniki, urbani praktiki in strokovnjaki iz vse Evrope, kjer bodo sodelovali, razpravljali o ugotovitvah 20 akcijskih omrežij ter proslavili 15. obletnico programa in vse večji vpliv mest kot nosilcev sprememb v Evropi.

    Miguel Sousa

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  • Specific approaches needed to implement policies for the creative sector

    CREATIVE SPIRITS is a network of nine European cities, funded by the European Union in the frame of the URBACT III Programme. The nine CREATIVE SPIRITS partner cities have a common need to improve the implementation of their existing integrated urban strategies/action plans by including novel approaches linked to creative and cultural industries (CCI) – creative places, people and businesses. The joint policy challenge for the network is to better facilitate the “creative ecosystem” to be able to attract (more) creative entrepreneurs and boost creative entrepreneurship in dedicated urban areas.

    Hen Gerritse

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  • Here Come the JobTowns

    JobTown 2 is about youth employment in Europe.

    Ian Goldring

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  • Health in Public Spaces: The challenge of inactive citizens for cities

    One of the main challenges for cities in the coming decade is how to make their citizens become physically active again.

    Physical inactivity and sedentary lifestyles have become a leading risk factor for health. Cities are affected by the dramatic increase in the frequency of chronic diseases related to physical inactivity amongst their citizens. These chronicle diseases like coronary heart and respiratory diseases, colon cancer and obesity are resulting in high and early morbidity, loneliness and social exclusion. Collectively physical inactivity has substantial consequences for direct health-care costs but also causes high indirect costs due to increased periods of sick leave, work disabilities and daily care. With decentralising tendencies of tasks like (un)employment, social care and basic health care from national levels to local levels, cities have become a key player in keeping their citizens active.
     
    This article offers an overview of this challenge  advocating this theme as an integrated part of sustainable urban planning in Europe. 

    Twan De Bruijn

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  • The importance of procurement to city economies

    This article explores why procurement is increasingly being seen as a way of addressing some of the economic, social and environmental issues facing our cities. It does this through reflecting on: the legislative framework for procurement; the activities of the Procure network; the importance of understanding where procurement spend goes; and how social considerations can be more effectively embedded into procurement processes.

    Matthew Baqueriza-Jackson

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  • The challenges of implementation

    “The best way to not feel hopeless is to get up and do something.” All European cities can certainly endorse this quote by President Obama and testify that taking action – or implementing – presents a whole set of challenges that can sometimes be daunting. How can delays in implementing a strategy be anticipated? How can expectations or potential conflicts be managed around the implementation of a strategy? How to remain within the initial budget planned for the strategy during its implementation? These are some of the issues that the newly launched URBACT Implementation Networks are now set to work on. 

    Soraya Zanardo

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