The Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy (DG REGIO) of the European Commission delivers the objective of reducing disparities between the levels of development of EU regions, whilst strengthening the economic, territorial and social cohesion of the Union, leaving no one behind. Are you interested to discover the ways in which DG REGIO works, find out new financing opportunities, cooperation models, inspiring policies and good practices examples? Come and visit DG REGIO stand!
What will you find?
Kohesio: discover EU projects in your region: EU Cohesion Policy supports hundreds of thousands of projects across regions and cities in the European Union. Discover them through Kohesio, a comprehensive knowledge database offering easy and transparent access to up-to-date information on projects and beneficiaries co-funded by the EU Cohesion policy, during the 2014-2020 programming period.
Learn more: kohesio.ec.europa.eu/en/
The New European Bauhaus: Discover DG REGIO’s activities dedicated to the New European Bauhaus! You can learn about Cohesion Policy funding for NEB projects in each EU member state with examples and dedicated promotional activities as well as get to know the New European Bauhaus Prizes Winners (2021 and 2022) and the technical assistance for incubation of 20 New European Bauhaus projects on the ground.
Learn more: prizes.new-european-bauhaus.eu/
Interreg Europe: Europe is full of solutions and good practices that can inspire better policies in regions and cities all across the EU. Interreg Europe helps regional and local authorities share experiences and transfer knowledge about solutions through interregional cooperation. At the stand you will learn what opportunities this programme can offer you via involvement in the interregional cooperation projects and its Policy Learning Platform (expert support, peer reviews, good practice database, various events, etc.).
Learn more:
www.interregeurope.eu/policy-solutions/good-practices
The Public Sector Loan Facility (PSLF): is the third pillar of the Just Transition Mechanism (JTM), supporting a wide range of sustainable investments of public sector entities in the territories most negatively affected by the transition to climate neutrality, by providing a combination of loans (from the European Investment Bank) and grants (from the Commission). Join us and discover this opportunity!
Learn more:
Just Transition Mechanism (europa.eu)
Just Transition Mechanism Public Sector Loan Facility call for proposals (europa.eu)
Torino, host of the Cities Forum 2023, is an example of how European Funds have been helping many urban authorities address the challenges of urban transformation and sustainable development.
Today, its approach towards the future is more than ever inspired by the guiding principles of the EU, being part of the EU Mission 100 climate-neutral and smart cities by 2030 and having adopted a local Manifesto for the New European Bauhaus.
Learn more:
European Projects of the City of Torino
Climate Resilience Plan of the City of Torino
The Italian Programme for better cities PON/PN METRO PLUS promotes the integrated sustainable development plan of 14 Italian cities. Among the challenges faced you will find: urban digital, green and social challenges; the self-sustainability of circular cities fostering the re-use of material (circular economy) and renewable energy; the rehabilitation of urban areas through collaborative management and green infrastructures; the improvement of social infrastructures and services listening to the needs of citizen and the sustainable mobility.
Join the European Urban Initiative’s stand to know more about the new instrument of Cohesion Policy to foster sustainable urban development and the many opportunities in offer for your city. You will be introduced to Innovative Actions, proposed to participate in the new capacity building activities and to learn about inspiring experiences of integrated urban strategies and innovative projects from all around Europe. The European Urban Initiative Permanent Secretariat will present you funding opportunities such as the second Innovative Actions Call for Proposals as well as on the Knowledge Sharing Platform. Looking for peers to learn how to tackle your most pressing challenges? We will be advising and helping you on the spot to apply to the capacity building activity that better suits your needs!
Learn more:
www.urban-initiative.eu/about-innovative-actions
Just Urban Transitions | UIA - Urban Innovative Actions (uia-initiative.eu)
uia-initiative.eu/en/operational-challenges/integrated-development-action
www.urban-initiative.eu/capacity-building-cities
For over 20 years, URBACT, the EU’s programme for territorial cooperation, has been empowering municipalities to develop and implement integrated local strategies through networking, capacity-building and knowledge activities. Visit our stand and ask about the current call for Action Planning Networks, take short online courses on digital transition, learn how to develop greener mobility systems, discover how to build Gender Equal Cities, and explore the URBACT Toolbox.
Learn more:
URBACT call for Action Planning Networks
ESPON has been supporting policymakers for 20 years with territorial evidence and data. During the Cities Forum 2023, ESPON will present a collection of maps from projects using their interactive ESPON portal and FUORE, a web tool that allows benchmarking and analyse data in functional urban areas. Also join ESPON stand to play an interactive quiz and learn how you can use ESPON for your work.
Learn more:
Cities play a pivotal role in achieving climate neutrality by 2050, the goal of the European Green Deal. This stand will display two out of the five EU Missions of the European Commission, aiming at bringing concrete solutions to this challenge.
The 100 Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities Mission involves local authorities, citizens, businesses, investors as well as regional and national authorities to deliver 100 climate-neutral and smart cities by 2030. These cities will act as experimentation and innovation hubs to enable all European cities to follow suit by 2050.
Learn more:
Cities Mission factsheet with selected cities
Cities Mission announcement video
The Mission Adaptation to Climate Change supports EU regions, cities and local authorities in their efforts to build resilience against the impacts of climate change. The objective of the Mission Adaptation to Climate Change is to accompany at least 150 European regions and communities towards climate resilience by 2030.
Learn more:
Website Mission Adaptation to climate change
More signatories join the EU Mission for Adaptation to Climate Change (europa.eu)
As part of the European Covenant of Mayors movement, thousands of cities and towns are taking climate and energy action to secure a better future for their citizens. The Covenant of Mayors is designed to provide local governments, in highly diversified national contexts, with a framework for their local energy and climate action based on 4 principles: consistency and transparency (common reporting framework); flexibility and adjustability of the common framework; evaluation of the data reported by the EU Commission’s Joint Research Centre; promotion and exchange of experience.
At this stand, representatives from the Covenant of Mayors Office will showcase results from recent programmes and activities as well as opportunities for cities to work on 3 main objectives: Reducing GHG emissions by 55% by 2030; strengthening resilience; alleviating energy poverty.
Learn more:
eu-mayors.ec.europa.eu/en/about
The Smart Cities Marketplace is an initiative supported by the European Commission bringing together cities, industry, SMEs, investors, banks, research and other climate-neutral and Smart City actors. It plays an important role in speeding up the green transition of cities in Europe by improving citizens’ quality of life, increasing the competitiveness of European cities and industry as well as reaching European energy and climate targets
The stand of the Smart Cities Marketplace will showcase the services for cities and city consortia of the initiative complementing current EU efforts such as RePowerEU. It comes with a complete catalogue of offers such as calls for free technical assistance, 1-to-1-consultancy services for city-led consortia close to the financing stage, financing masterclasses and a fine-tuned matchmaking for the financing of urban projects and intensified partnerships with other EU initiatives, such as the Covenant of Mayors, Scalable Cities, CIVITAS, Living-in.eu
Engage with us, explore the possibilities, shape your project ideas, and close a deal for launching your Smart City solution!
Learn more:
Join our next online matchmaking event on 21 March 2023! The programme will cover a variety of investment and financing topics for Smart City projects.
Call for Application - Matchmaking Services now open!
Matchmaking process of the Smart Cities Marketplace
Smart Cities Marketplace website
Smart Cities Marketplace flyer
The Directorate’s mission is to achieve greater sustainability by protecting, preserving, and improving the environment for present and future generations. In the European Union, around 70% of citizens live urban areas. Today, cities grapple with several environmental challenges from waste management, to ensuring clean air, less noise, more biodiversity in the city, promoting a circular economy while also adapting to and mitigating climate change. Green cities provide a clean environment for their citizens. A city where everyone has access to a good quality of life.
Come discover two worthwhile initiatives for cities at this stand!
The Green City Accord: Join the Green City Accord and help make your city cleaner, greener, and healthier for your citizens!
The European Green Capital and Leaf Awards: This award is for cities that achieved outstanding results in making their urban space greener, more resilient: to sum up, a better place to live. Right now, a call for applications is open until 30 April for the 2025 titles.
Learn more:
Can our cities become more sustainable, resilient and inclusive? Can they lead the transition towards climate neutrality, improved mobility and services, affordable housing? How should they deal with ageing populations, meet healthcare demands and take advantage of digital innovations?
The Community of Practice – CITIES (CoP-CITIES) empowers cities, city networks, academia and NGOs to share knowledge and expertise on urban issues, to anticipate potential challenges, and to generate scientific evidence for effective urban policies.
If you want to contribute to this discussion, become a member of the Community of Practice – CITIES!
CoP-CITIES is a shared initiative of DG Regio and the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission.
Learn more:
Space matters: How to develop a common methodology for CityLabs?
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), the house of European civil society, strongly supports the Urban Agenda for the EU, and particularly welcomes the strong focus on partnership and multilevel and multi-stakeholder approaches in urban development. At the same time, the EESC supports continuing and further developing the Urban Agenda for the EU, in full respect of the principles of proportionality. The EESC is capable and willing to provide input and support regarding the territoriality of the development, partnerships, and economic and social aspects of urban development, and regarding the dissemination of EU urban policies.
Learn more:
European Economic and Social Committee | (europa.eu)
CITIES4CITIES | UNITED 4 UKRAINE is an initiative aimed at matchmaking Ukrainian and EU municipalities, to help them establish long-term partnerships and provide them with short term humanitarian support. The initiative organizes international forums and networking sessions with the mayors of Ukrainian and EU municipalities. The initiative has already helped to establish strategic cooperation between 17 municipalities in Germany, France, Poland and Ukraine.
Municipalities willing to partner with Ukrainian ones are welcome to visit the platform unitedforua.org. It already contains a database of 130 Ukrainian communities with brief information about their current state, economical development, and historical, cultural, and natural heritage, and its number is constantly growing.
The partnerships is envisioned to provide help to communities during wartime, assist to rebuild Ukraine’s cities, towns and villages after the war and help hromadas to develop their potential in a long term perspective. Come discover their work!
