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In 2012, Guimarães (Portugal) will be hosting a major gathering of creators and creations: music, cinema, photography, fine arts, architecture, literature, thought, theatre, dance, and street art. In Guimarães, the artistic products imagined and created by its residents will merge with those coming to the city from all over Europe. Over the course of one year, the city will be the promoter of Europe’s cultural diversity, revealing its creations and welcoming those from other countries.

On the 8th and 9th of December 2011 the EUKN annual conference took place in Warsaw in which the following topic was emphasized: “The Urban Dimension of Cohesion Policy: lessons learnt from integrated urban projects”. The conference elaborated on the results of the Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union and looked forward to the new Structural Funds Programming Period. Additionally, the conference reflected upon what we have learnt and what we already know about cohesion policy and what cities should take into account in the future.

From the September onwards the EU funded FP7 project URBAN-NEXUS is underway! URBAN-NEXUS will hold its first Dialogue Café on the topic of “Urban Climate Resilience – Partnership Approaches” on the 29th-30th May 2012 in Glasgow. An accompanying Synthesis Report will help inform the Dialogue Café debates and discussions.

The 6th International Conference on Pedestrian and Evacuation Dynamics (PED) will be held from June 6th to June 8th 2012 at the Institute for Transport Planning and Systems (IVT) of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETHZ). This is a call for both papers and posters presenting research on the topics listed on the homepage or related areas.

Commissioner Hahn received 2 EUROCITIES reports on Monday, 24 October 2012 during a Polish presidency conference in Warsaw. Tomasz Kayser, Deputy Mayor of Poznan, presented ‘Cities cooperating beyond their boundaries’ and Henk Kool, Deputy Mayor of The Hague, presented ‘A practitioner’s view on neighbourhood regeneration’.

Just like in the whole country, the appearance of graffiti on the walls of the city’s buildings means more and more significant problem defacing the landscape. The “Graffiti-free school” programme tries to prevent the later damage by providing information and raising awareness among the youngest age group possible; the infants and primary students of the educational institute group of the city centre.

The EUROCITIES awards recognise outstanding achievement by EUROCITIES members in the delivery of local activities or practices which improve the quality of life for citizens. From over 50 entries this year too the jury have selected 3 shortlisted entries for the categories - innovation, cooperation and participation.

Sometimes the public expects the government to see the future. Good decisions are to be expected while bad decisions — judged with the benefit of hindsight — are derided. Some help is on the way. IBM is betting that software can give cities a better look into their future.

European cities face many significant challenges, including the current economic crisis, urban sprawl, and the longer-term implications of climate change and resource scarcity. Cities themselves currently account for around 70% of global emissions and are major contributors to the overall ecological footprint. In order for cities to effectively face these challenges, it is essential for all concerned stakeholders to collaborate. The EU funded Framework Programme 7 (FP7) project, URBAN-NEXUS, will, amongst other things, facilitate the process of bringing these stakeholders together, in view of reducing the overall ecological footprint of cities.

The European Green Capital award, created by the European Commission, each year recognises a city which has a consistent record of high environmental standards and continues to strive for further environmental improvement. These cities act as role models for others hoping to achieve similar green credentials. This year the award was given to Hamburg for its ‘Train of Ideas’.

Diversity in Europe was the subject of a debate hosted on 27 May 2011 during the 22nd European Foundation Centre (EFC)’s Annual General Assembly (AGA) and Conference in Cascais, Portugal.

On 19 May the ministers adopted conclusions on "An EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies up to 2020", inviting the member states to pursue goals in the fields of education, employment, healthcare and housing, so as to close the gaps between marginalised Roma communities and the general population.

The Lee Yuan Kew City Prize is a biennial international award to recognise individuals and organisations that have made outstanding contributions to the creation of vibrant, liveable and sustainable urban communities around the world.

The Europan 11 competition is taking place in conditions marked by a strong commitment amongst European cities to very stringent environmental objectives. This year’s topic is ‘resonance between territories and ways of life’. Europan 11 is a European federation of national organisations, which manages architectural competitions followed by building or study projects, launched simultaneously by several countries on common theme, objectives and rules. The open competitions are anonymous and public calls for ideas on a European scale.

China is booming: literally. The Chinese are planning one new town after another. Urbanisation is seen as the driver of economic development. In Shanghai several dozen of new towns have been planned that will accommodate an average of 800.000 inhabitants by 2020. In these new towns, numerous buildings, roads and services therefore need to be developed. Dutch urban planner Harry den Hartog visits China on a regular basis to study the country’s enthusiasm for construction. His book ‘Shanghai New Towns’ has just been released, in which he investigates the new towns around Shanghai. These new towns are often based on Western models. Could we learn something about what is happening in Shanghai’s new towns in Europe as well?

The success of cities is linked to their efficiency, in reducing transaction costs and providing services. However, in order to maintain this success, cities have reinvented themselves many times through history. Today, Information Technologies are doomed to be the key driver of a new wave of innovation in cities that will lead, one more time, to their reinvention.

For 5 years City Mine(d) has been connecting urban gardeners to cyclists, DIY-ers to urban planners, and kitchen chefs to IT-ers through projects in public space. What these people have in common is the use of their creativity to make daily life in cities more fun and more fair.

This first Annual Growth Survey marks the start of a new cycle of economic governance in the EU and the first European semester of economic policy coordination. According to the latest forecasts, there are signs of economic recovery albeit still uneven. The rise in unemployment is perceived as a central problem for policy action.

In 2010, EUROCITIES, the network of major European cities, produced a short film highlighting cities’ responses to the problems of poverty and social exclusion. As well as examples from cities on how they deal with these issues. Also some of the leading figures from the network give their views on how best to tackle social problems in urban areas. This film was produced as part of the European Year 2010 for combating poverty and social exclusion.

Virtually all countries of the European Union have decided against a longer maternity leave for mothers and a two weeks leave for fathers during a general meeting on the 6th of December, 2010. The Netherlands and some other countries expressed strong criticism about the proposal of the European Parliament.

UNECE’s Working Group on Ageing held its third annual meeting on November 22nd and 23rd to discuss issues surrounding ageing in the region. Delegates gave their support to the continued work of UNECE in capacity building, indicator development, production of policy briefs, and analysis of intergenerational relationships via a growing series of surveys in the Generations and Gender Programme.

The booklet of Local Economic Development - Creative Solutions, Best practices aims to present the main fields of Local Economic Development (LED), its possible forms of realisation and give a practical booklet to LED for facilitating the realisation of local economic development in Hungary.

The European Parliament and the Member States of the European Union (EU) have failed to reach an agreement on the EU budget for 2011. After unsuccessful mediation attempts on Monday the 15th of November 2010 in Brussels, the European Commission (EC) will be forced to make up a new budget, which could mean that decision-making on this new plan can take months.

The cities of Amsterdam, Barcelona and Eindhoven are the winners of the EUROCITIES awards 2010. The awards recognise the success of city councils in creating and sustaining leading cities. The award ceremony was held at the EUROCITIES Annual Conference, which will run until 6 November in Zaragoza.

Just a few days after the European Commission adopted its communication on the EU budget review, the Commissioner for Financial Programming and Budget, Janusz Lewandowski, took part in an exercise in "structured dialogue" with the political representatives of associations of local and regional authorities at the Committee of the Regions building in Brussels. On the agenda were issues such as cohesion policy, partnership contracts, the CAP, the added value of the European budget and own resources. The meeting, which was convened and chaired by CoR president Mercedes Bresso, provided an opportunity to address local and regional authority expectations.

EUKN is asked by the recently established European Metropolitan network Institute (EMI) to do the following request: EMI is looking for (policy) papers and research in view of the development of its first knowledge and research agenda on economic vitality. Based on the challenges confronting Europe’s metropolitan regions, EMI is currently developing several knowledge and research agendas. The aim of these agendas is to identify interesting so-called ‘lessons learned’ and best practices from metropolitan regions around Europe.

The aim of the handbook is to raise awareness of the Territorial Agenda of the European Union in Hungary and to contribute to the Hungarian understanding and implementation of its priorities with concrete practical recommendations. However in line with the Agenda, the handbook also aims to support the comprehensive and wide-ranging realisation of the territorial approach primarily in the shaping of national policies, and at the level of programme-oriented development and planning. This volume goes beyond the demonstration of the TA by identifying and adapting the challenges and priorities defined at the European level to the specific context of Hungary, and by tailoring its recommendations specifically to the Hungarian practice.

In November 2009 the Handbook on territorial cohesion, an urban planning document was published by the Spatial Planning and Assessment Directorate of VÁTI Hungarian Public Nonprofit Company for Regional Development and Town Planning and the preparation of this Handbook was financed by the Ministry for National Development and Economy. This Handbook aims to provide a Hungarian interpretation of cohesion, taking the potential areas and methods of application into account. Furthermore, the importance of territorial cohesion and the benefits of the application thereof are supported by the presentation of successfully implemented projects. Its intention is to encourage the use of a territorial approach in development programmes and projects, thus increasing their efficiency and efficacy.

The guide reviews the advantages of participatory planning (PP), presents the opportunities of using the method and its potential long term private and community benefits. The guide gives practical recommendations for the implementation of PP in projects which are realised with social participation and also illustrates the main communication and planning techniques used in course of PP.

In order to meet the project financing needs of the local economic-sociologic actors, the Völgység-Hegyhát Savings Cooperative created a special, customised credit facility. With the enforcement of mutual interests the Cooperative aims to promote the recovering from the crisis with this complex credit facility developed with a double tool-set.

The local product festivals of the Association of Conscious Consumers aims to re-draw the attention of residents to local products and services available on local markets. The festivals organised in 2009 took place in Nyíregyháza, Pécs and Veszprém. The number of exhibitors reached fifty, representatives of fair trade, farmers, local craftsmen and NGOs came, too.

Following the transition the changes posed new challenges to the inhabitants of the mostly agricultural Southern Great Plane. The project aims to find a solution on this problem by introducting the development of the business skills in the high school.

The target group of the „With you-for you” project was young people at the age of 12-18 spending their free-time squatting at shopping malls. The coordinating organization was the West-Transdanubian Region of Hungarian Maltese Charity Service. The association wanted to achieve that young people got acquainted with alternative ways of spending their free-time in Győr city.

The Innovation Centre of Kiskunfélegyháza, since its opening in 2005 has provided regional tasks and it has integrated and coordinated developments of the Kiskunfélegyháza micro-region. The institution’s main functions are generation of programs and projects with the cooperation of the regional economic, administrative and civil society organizations.

The financial and economic crisis has drawn special attention to the significance of local economic potentials and the necessity of the local economic development initiatives. One opinion for supporting local economies is to convince local storekeepers to sell local product and local inhabitants to buy these. Recognising that, the Town Hall of Szentes started a local development initiative by intensively supporting the enterprises.

The network established in the Marcal river spring area was created in order to join the micro-producers, artisans and organisations of the area. The common action and the developed cooperation spurred the development of the micro-region.

In Széchényiváros housing estate of Kecskemét the basic structure of public education was needed and there were not enough places where young people could spend their free time useful. Furthermore youth groups and communities, where children could acquire basic society norms were missing.

Youth of Baranya County Non-profit Ltd. is convinced that the intensity of social inclusion can be increased if participation in social activities is achieved through community development. In this way the maintenance of public places and protection of local environment are more effective.

Lát-Kép Association was established in order to contribute to the environmental culture of Budapest and beautification of the city and its neighbourhood by their active work. They involve convicts in this work, who clear graffiti from the walls, gather rubbish, tidy the parks.

The “Neighbourhood Watch at Lencsési housing estate“ project was achieved by Child Welfare and Family support Centre of Békéscsaba Micro-region. Its aims were the improvement of the safety of inhabitants, strengthening the feeling of togetherness and rolling back crime happening at the housing estate.

The article is dealing with the problems of cumulatively disadvantaged children and - as a result of this – of segregated schools in Hódmezővásárhely. The Local Government of Hódmezővásárhely decided to stop the segregation process by restructuring the public education system and tried to help the integration of these children.

Nap Klub Foundation has conducted its complex crime prevention program in the Nap street housing project, in Józsefváros (Budapest) in the framework of community development by mobilizing the local community.

The Hungarian Association of Large Families (NOE) founded a yearly awarded prize which is granted to a settlement that pursues family friendly policy. The settlements are chosen by the nomination of local residents. In 2007 Sopron and Szolnok earned this title.

City of Tata has developed a Child Friendly Programme which is a new approach in Hungary and with the help of this programme they intend to improve the conditions of children in Tata.

The renewal of the Budapest’s ‘Havanna’ housing estate has the main objective to renew the derelict physical conditions of this housing estate and to develop the local community and NGOs.

An integrated Roma programme has been realising in the Huszár housing estate of Nyíregyháza, its main objective is to provide possibilities for improving local social situation of residents and eliminating social exclusion of children.

From 2005 a social urban renewal project - Programme for Quarter Magdolna - has been proceeding in Józsefváros (VIII District) as a part of a general urban renewal project, in which the renewal of Mátyás tér’s green spaces is going on based on participation method.

The Győri Bevásárlóutcák Alapítvány (Foundation of the Győr’s Shopping Streets) was created according to the Western European, Viennese model, and its main objective is to reinforce inner city’s commercial and retailer capacities and to motivate cooperation between the stakeholders.

By reason of its history and urban structure, Tatabánya has not got a real city centre therefore, the local authority plans to develop a new city centre with the contribution of local entrepreneurs.

The main objective of the Senior Care Programme (SCP) to guarantee local answers and solutions for the ongoing European and Hungarian demographic transition such as population ageing and reduction of birth rates.

The local government of Budapest XVI district carried out a cultural and recreational project at a derelict, brownfield site, in place of a former Soviet barrack. In this project a swimming pool and a sport centre was built which supply the local needs, and also a green space was designated.

This paper analyses the experiences of Hungarian decentralization in particular the local economy. The text describes the main features of Hungarian model of local economy.

In this essay the author examines the cooperation between the NGOs and the local governments in Hungary. Analysing the development of participation and cooperation of the recent 15 years this study gives an overview of development tendencies in the Hungarian civil society.

The paper examines the problems and the process of legislation in connection with the formation of new system of pole cities. The study also shows the discrepancies existing between spatial planning documents and the legal regulation process. The author recommends a new more efficient form of settlement system and local governance.

The text provides a financial approach of the Hungarian settlement system and public administration.

The essay examines Hungarian cities and its areas’ integrative urban policy practices and experiences as gives a perspective about achievements and the remaining problems.

The essay tells us potential alternatives for handling the problem of suburbanisation. This process is unavoidable in today’s globalised world and is in contrast with sustainability. The essay gives us a basic knowledge about the entity of suburbanisation on which basis we can more easily understand the alternatives.

The paper reviews the different kinds of cooperation between European cities in the globalised world where the cities’ and their urban areas competitiveness and sustainability can only be realised if new forms of governance such urban network’s cooperation is applied.

This essay is dealing with the tasks and challenges of today’s flexible governance. City-regions have to address double-task: to solve the internal conflicts of the narrow, functional urban area (top- down) and to exploit the opportunities of the broader, economic cooperation area (bottom-up).

This study wants to call attention to the discordance of the cities’ role in the Hungarian regional policy and the EU cohesion policy, emphasising the problems of Hungarian regional administrative system.

The paper first gives an overview of the literature on metropolitan government in developed countries, and in the second part focuses on the urban governments of the cities with county rights ("larger cities") in Hungary.

The article is reasoning in favour of the well structured suburbanisation. If a settlement in the agglomeration of a big city is soaring, provides good and plentiful work opportunities and services than this “winner” settlement is able to realize the conception of sustainable development. So this kind of well organised urbanisation is not at all harmful but the only possibility.

This essay is trying to answer the question of how significant are the social costs of urban sprawl in Hungary. There is an emphasis in the essay on the costs which can not be expressed based on market principles. The author attempts to recommend guidelines along which a more competitive, more sustainable and more rightful country can be realised in this regard.

In the decade after the transformation decision makers on state, regional and local levels gradually recognized the importance of the renewal of run-down building and dwelling stocks. It took some time to manage and finance the rehabilitation process with the evolvement of adequate strategies. During the last decade first successful regeneration strategies turned up both on state and local levels. The present paper outlines the main results of these rehabilitation efforts and highlights the role of rehabilitation strategies of the state, the national capital and the major cities to renew the building and dwelling stocks.

The article summarises the tendencies and driving forces of suburbanisation in Hungary 10 years after the political transition.

This research explains the problems of spatial social exclusion and social sustainability. It gives a thorough approach from the historical side and thus the reader can comprehensively understand the recommended steps towards urban rehabilitation.

Health inequalities relate to a wide range of causes but also to the health dimension of social inclusion, which has been decisive in getting the issue of health inequalities into the Europe 2020 agenda. It can be assumed that the current crisis will affect the health status of citizens on health care budgets negatively, underscoring the need to develop a health equity approach.

The Council of the European Union and the Social protection Committee have produced a joint report on Social Protection and Social Inclusion in 2010. The human costs of the economic crisis are still unfolding, and cities and regions will need to develop different types of policies in order to mitigate its effects.

A key policy issue in a national and European context is where does and should public money go and how can it be best used to influence the geography of growth? For the project ‘Secondary cities in Europe: Performance, Policies and Prospects’ the key question to answer is:

‘Are the benefits of a centralised urban system with resources focussed upon the capital city greater because of agglomeration economies, than those of a more decentralised urban system where growth and resources are spread across a range of different sized cities in a wider territory?’

The EU2020 strategy promotes inclusive growth, but how can developments in this area be monitored? A Social Impact Assessment, a tool and process to estimate likely future impacts of policy proposals, can play an instrumental role, but its implementation is still in its infancy in most European countries.

ESPON supports policy development related to EU Cohesion Policy. The report is the first in a series of three ESPON Synthesis Reports which all aim to communicate major ESPON results on numerous ongoing research themes relevant for integrated, place-based policy considerations.

Migration can no longer be regarded as a passing phenomenon, but is a structural trend that needs to be managed in a knowledgeable manner. Migrants might face several difficulties in accessing and using public health-care services. This article discusses two example projects that have improved health care access of migrants, and disseminates solutions and good practices.

The Lisbon Treaty has added territorial cohesion to the goals of economic and social cohesion. As a result, it is necessary to address this objective in new programmes, with particular emphasis on the role of cities, functional geographies, areas facing specific geographical or demographic problems and macro-regional strategies. The Commission's 5th Report on Economic, Social and Territorial Cohesion ‘Investing in Europe’s Future’ shows that the EU's cohesion policy has made a significant contribution to growth and prosperity and promoting balanced development across the Union. However, as a result of the economic crisis, the policy now needs to adapt to address new challenges.

This document is a guide for government officials, energy utility managers and community stakeholders to designing and financing a clean energy program. Many local and regional governments have committed themselves to targets for CO2 reduction and the increase of the share of renewable energy resources. This text describes how to develop, implement and finance clean energy programs with those aims. It also provides advantages and challenges of existing models, and additional resources to consult when developing a clean energy strategy.

This report discusses the innovations that a local or regional authority should consider when developing an energy efficiency finance programme. This document gives hands and feet to the emission reduction targets and targets for using energy from renewable sources that countries have committed themselves to – and which must be realised in a local or regional context.

EUROCITIES strongly supports the approach of the European Commission to organize an early discussion on EU priorities before any negotiation on future financial perspectives. EUROCITIES encourages the European Commission to establish a long term budget that is based on the real and practical challenges facing the EU. The impact of these challenges on Europe‟s territories will be different in scope and nature. EU spending should reflect this by targeting funds to help those territories to face the most severe impacts and by supporting efforts already made.

The benefits of energy efficiency are many: well designed energy efficiency programs can delay the need for new power plants, expanded transmission and distribution capacities, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Most importantly, these benefit scan be realized cost-effectively. Yet despite these advantages, efficiency faces barriers. Investments in efficiency cost more up-front than less-efficient technologies, and financing could increase the number of investments, which in their turn help to bring about the emission reductions.

Climate change and economic recovery are at the centre of current high-level political discussions. This has caused energy efficiency to become a top priority for all levels of government, with special emphasis on integrating ecological policy with economic development and social change. This report presents simple overview scorecards on the best policies implemented by governments that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, have other environmental benefits and, at the same time, are good for the economy. It also presents worst policies through which governments increase emissions and incur a cost to the economy.

This code of good practice lays out the rationale, the framework and the means for enhanced civil participation. The code is based on actual experiences from NGOs across Europe sharing their good practices and valid methods for engaging with public authorities. It offers all actors in the democratic process guidelines stemming from concrete practical experience of dialogue and
co-operation between NGOs and public authorities.

On the 18th of October, the European Commission has published the Eurobarometer report on EU citizens' awareness and perceptions about EU Regional policy. This Eurobarometer is part of a trend series; the previous report was published in February 2008. The current report presents comparative data between the two surveys.

The Intercultural Cities Newsletter is an electronic newsletter concerning the policies and the strategies of several pilot cities in Germany, Russia, Poland, France, Ukraine, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Norway, Italy, Greece and Serbia in order to meet the challenges of a world in motion.

For more then a decade, Irish towns have been competing against each other in improving their own local environment. The annual TidyTowns competition encourages towns to make their area a better place to live, work and visit. Thousands of people have already participated, and an average of 700 towns a year to subscribe is not unusual. The Irish towns combined contribute to a significant transformation of the country’s landscape.

What can be done at EU level to help national and local policy makers to implement policies for adaptation to ageing? The European Liaison Committee for Social Housing(CECODHAS) report ‘Housing and Ageing in the European Union 2010’ describes the current developments in social and cooperative housing. Case-studies illustrate the answers to the needs of an ageing population. Furthermore, the report proposes policy recommendations for the EU to deal with the contemporary demographic changes.

Public libraries, municipalities and NGOs in Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany and Sweden have been cooperating since October 2008 in the framework of the EU project “Libraries for All” to make local libraries aware of their potential for promoting the social integration of immigrants.

Mayors and Cities has just launched a new online international magazine called ‘Mayors & Cities: The Worldwide Municpalities Magazine’. Mayors & Cities is a magazine dedicated to exploring cities, their leaders, residents and businesses.

Until the beginning of the 16th UN Climate Summit at November 29th children all over Europe are ZOOMing in and get into action for climate protection. Primary school and kindergarten children in ten European countries are collecting Green Footprints for their Joint Climate Voyage around the One World.