Urban Development Network webinars: Six building blocks to sustainable urban development

The Urban Development Network (UDN) organises in November a series of six online webinars based on the findings of the Handbook of Sustainable Urban Development Strategies published by the Joint Research Centre in collaboration with the Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy.

The event targets Managing Authorities and Local Authorities of Sustainable Urban Development Strategies, as well as other interested urban stakeholders.

Registration

Registrations are now open. For additional information of the webinars, please visit the dedicated website.

Objectives

The UDN webinars are aimed at providing insights on how to tackle the main challenges policy-makers face when designing and implementing sustainable urban development strategies as supported by Cohesion Policy.
Following the structure of the Handbook, the UDN webinars will be composed of six sessions, each one focusing on one of the building blocks of the EU integrated approach to urban development:

• 3 November: Strategy. Co-creating robust urban development strategies.
• 9 November: Territorial focus. Defining the right spatial dimension for your urban strategy.
• 13 November: Governance. Facilitating effective and inclusive decision-making.
• 17 November: Integration. Achieving cross-sectorial integration.
• 19 November: Funding. Multiple funding sources as the key for integration and sustainability.
• 25 November: Monitoring. Measuring progress toward your goals.

The Urban Development Network

The Urban Development Network (UDN) is made up of more than 500 cities/urban areas across the EU responsible for implementing integrated actions based on Sustainable Urban Development strategies financed by ERDF in the 2014-2020 period.
The Network's mission is to:

• Review how European funds are implemented on the ground in Europe's cities
• Support information exchange between cities involved in integrated Sustainable Urban Development (Art 7) and in Urban Innovative Actions (Art 8)
• Promote direct dialogue between the Commission and cities on Sustainable Urban Development

Background information

For the 2021-27 period, the European Commission proposes a stronger urban and territorial dimension, making European Structural and Investment Funds even more relevant for implementing integrated urban strategies, where integration means multi-sectoral policy, multi-level and multi-stakeholder governance, and multi-territorial and community-led processes.
This asks for better understanding of how the EU approach to urban development is interpreted when put into practice, as well as for clarification on aspects of methodology to be applied.
The UDN webinars provides insights from policy makers and expert guest speakers on how to tackle the main challenges policy-makers face when designing and implementing sustainable urban development strategies as supported by Cohesion Policy.

Related Content

Handbook of Sustainable Urban Development Strategies

Venue

Online webinars, EU