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TOWARDS A PAN EUROPEAN MODEL OF SOCIAL INNOVATION

Interview with the Mayor of Gdansk Pawel Adamowicz and Magdalena Skiba – coordinator Boosting Social Innovation, interviewed by Peter Wolkowinsky, lead expert of Boostino network

Boostinno is a new URBACT network coordinated by the city of Gdansk, which has taken on the challenge to try to identify a Pan European Model of social innovation[1]. This model will be based on the experience of the initial partner cities  Paris (FR), Milan (IT), Turin (IT) and Braga (PT) working together with all the partners of the network which are in addition Strasbourg (Fr), Skane county (S), Baia Mare (RO), Barcelona Activa (S) and Wroclaw (Pl). It will attempt to foster the social innovation momentum in European local authorities; more specifically by working on the way in which citizens become a central actor in local policies. The network will also work on innovative ways of finance social innovation.

The Arrival Cities project

The Arrival Cities Action Planning Network is tackling one of Europe’s most urgent issues by looking at how cities can manage the challenges of old and new migration flows. Arrival Cities was initiated by Carla Tavares, the Mayor of the Municipality of Amadora, and Amadora is lead partner for the network. As Arrival Cities embarks on the six month phase of partnership development and network planning, Liz Mackie, the lead expert for the network, talked to the Deputy Mayor of Amadora, Cristina Farinha, about Amadora’s reasons for starting the Arrival Cities network, how the network will be developed and what she hopes they will gain from this experience. Ms Farinha became Deputy Mayor in October 2013, her portfolio includes education and training, social development, sport and youth, health, and management of co-financed processes.

Challenges and Ambitions for Baena, the Lead Partner of URBACT AGRI-URBAN project.

AGRI-URBAN is about Rethinking Agri-Food Production in Small and Medium sized Cities.

Interview with Jesús Rojano Aguilera, Mayor of the city of Baena, and with the project coordination team, António Zafra and Raquel Moreno.

Interviewed by Miguel Sousa, Lead Expert of the URBACT AGRI-URBAN project.

In Italy, a struggling town looks to refugees for revival

"In Italy, the job of settling and integrating asylum seekers belongs to local governments. Mayors across the impoverished southern region of Calabria, and especially here in Satriano, are embracing this responsibility in a big way.Local officials in Satriano are enthusiastically situating refugees in temporary housing, lining them up with jobs and assisting them with their applications for asylum."

Less money, more innovation! Regeneration of deprived residential areas since the crisis

Since the crisis local municipalities are forced to change their approach to the regeneration of deprived residential areas. They have several options for cheaper interventions, as shown in this article. 

Railway Hubs: Changing track in stakeholder engagement

Railway station locations are increasingly being re-invented as vibrant, multi-functional, multi-modal urban attraction poles. This inspired the URBACT ENTER.HUB network to explore opportunities which the “Railway Hub” concept can bring to cities. This innovative transformation can also help in understanding new governance and participation models.