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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’.

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.

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.

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.

The European Commission has just launched an online public consultation to gather views on the next financial instrument for the environment, to succeed LIFE+ in the period 2014-2020. Your opinion is welcome on its objectives, priorities and support modalities. This online consultation is one part of a wider public consultation, whose responses will be taken into account in the European Commission's proposal for a new instrument.

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 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 EcoBucharest 2015 project has been initiated by Space Syntax, a team of experts in urban development and architecture. The team proposes an eco-development 'spine' for the city of Bucharest. This eco-spine should becreated through the innovative rehabilitation of a surface of 1000 hectares along the Dambovita river, including Izvor Park and Lacul Morii. The initiators believe that such a project will strengthen the international competitiveposition of Romania's capital. Especially in times of economic crisis this is deemed to be of great importance for the city.

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?’

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The results of the High-Level Conference on "Urban Sustainability and Integrated Urban Regeneration in Europe: Policies, Programs and Best Practices", held in Madrid on 26-27 April, 2010, in the frame of the activities linked to the Spanish EU Presidency are now available.

The “Beautiful Romania” programme is composed of a series of projects consisting of rehabilitation, consolidation, restoration, and urban regeneration. The implementation of these projects will lead to an economic and social growth of specific sectors contributing to a consolidated image of Romania in the EU.