What's new

Take a deep breath (or better not)

How European cities are fighting air pollution?

In November 2017 the European Environment Agency (EEA) launched the European Air Quality Index showing in real time the quality of air the EU citizens are breathing. Depending on where you live, this might not be your favorite map. Air pollution is not a new problem and one that adversely affects almost every single one of us. Are there reasons to be optimistic?

The costs of dirty air

Experimenting with governance

Innovative governance work is notable is several of the 97 URBACT Good Practices. Common themes emerge around how cities are beginning to innovate. Firstly, how they relate and connect to their citizens. Second, how they build new alliances with a wider range of organisations. Thirdly, how for innovative practices to truly function, significant internal change is required from government organisations.

The roots of modern European governance

From participative to personal budgets: the power of responsibility sharing

We can improve public services for local communities and individuals by giving them more control rather than imposing top down governmental programmes on them. This belief has led to a boom in “participative budgets” witnessed across Europe (and the world), as one of the easiest tools putting rights in the hands of communities. However, there has been less attention on the individual level, i.e., personal budget schemes that could activate citizens to make a change in their lives. URBACT CHANGE! partner city Aarhus (DK) was recently awarded the URBACT Good Practice Call label for its pioneering personal budget scheme tackling long-term unemployment. This article gives an overview of this innovative set of policy tools and suggests we might pay more attention to them.

Anne Mette, a graphic designer living in Aarhus, had been out of the job market for a lengthy period, mainly caring for her three young kids and chronically ill husband. Looking to return to work, she found herself in an extremely challenging situation when the local Jobcentre asked her the following question: what could she do with a personal grant of ca. €6725 if she could decide how to spend it in order to get a job. She hesitated but finally took the opportunity. Anne launched a micro-business with the grant. Now she produces hand-made, leather aprons for local restaurants with a great and increasing success. This is still not a big business, but a huge first step for Anne Mette. 

Sharing responsibility leads to stronger citizenship

From nature lovers to nature activists

How cities are reclaiming nature for citizens (and vice versa)

Last Saturday I fell asleep in the park, basking in the unexpected rays of sunshine. I was grateful for this small patch of green, right in the centre of the city, and – judging by the crowd of people around me, with their kids, picnic blankets and Frisbee discs – I was not alone. Most city dwellers would agree that nature in the city is precious. Trees and parks, rivers and ponds, birds and butterflies – they all make our hearts sing (and real estate prices soar) but are we ready to turn our appreciation into action?

Not all nature lovers are ready to be nature activists. Luckily, there is a lot local governments can do to support this shift, reaping not only environmental but also social and economic benefits. The research on ecosystem services and nature-based solutions confirms that nature is key to addressing many societal challenges, including e.g. human health and well-being, resilience and climate adaptation or food security. However, the tasks of protecting, managing and restoring nature should not be left to experts alone.

Engaging with people, in a true URBACT spirit of participation and co-creation, can bring new ideas, resources and opportunities. That is what four URBACT Good Practice cities, Bologna (Italy), Guimarães (Portugal), Ljubljana (Slovenia) and Strasbourg (France) have proven during the “Nature in the City” panel at URBACT City Festival 2017 in Tallinn.

(Crowd) funding a greener city in Bologna?

Housing for all - Experiences of URBACT cities on affordable housing

What can be done to avoid evictions? How can a city provide housing to the most vulnerable groups and to the young talented people? Can low-carbon housing be affordable?
Barcelona (ES), Dupnitsa (BG) and Poznan (PL) – 3 URBACT Good Practice cities - have developed interesting initiatives to work towards “Housing for All”, looking at the social, environmental and physical aspects of housing policies.

Affordable Housing: the issue makes its come back on the European Agenda

Building an effective entrepreneurship eco-system

How can cities create effective programmes for promoting enterprise and entrepreneurship? How should cities respond to some of the structural changes currently taking place in the business start-up market?

With an estimated 100 million businesses starting up across the globe annually, an increasing number adopting innovative business models (built, for example, around the ‘sharing’ or ‘gig’ economy) and the number of sole-trader businesses increasing annually, this is clearly a highly active and increasingly disruptive marketplace.

Among all URBACT Good Practices, Glasgow (co-operative entrepreneurship), Bologna (creative entrepreneurship), Piraeus (marine sector based entrepreneurship); and Barcelona (inclusive entrepreneurship) provide interesting examples on how to create impactful city-wide ‘ecosystems’ for promoting enterprise and entrepreneurship.  

What are ‘entrepreneurship eco-systems’?