EUROCITIES Conference - Solidarity in action: creating cohesive cities – Gdansk, 21-24 November 2007 21-11-2007 Introduction A great number of European cities are already experiencing the impact of
migration and demographic change on their population structure, their economic
development and labour market as well as on the social cohesion of the city.
With the migration process increasing together with the EU enlargement we can
assume that the demographic structure of our cities will continue to change even
more significantly. In principle, the two extreme aspects of the demographic
change are problems linked with either a fall in the number of inhabitants or a
high increase. Consequently some cities have high migrant populations; others
have for the time being little experience of this.
Description
The EUROCITIES Conference and AGM in Gdansk will provide a platform for
cities to discuss how they can address the above-mentioned challenges by
exchanging best practices and experiences. It will also provide an excellent
opportunity to reflect on the relevant EUROCITIES work carried out in 2007 by
different Working Groups and Forums. The conference organisers hope to obtain a
better understanding of the ongoing changes in the make-up of our urban centres
and their immediate implications.
Different as the experience might be, it still strongly affects not only the
cities’ social sphere, but also creates more tangible problems such as those
concerning the cities’ urban planning, housing and transport infrastructures,
economic development, employment and education or the provision of services.
In view of this developing phenomenon, cities need to plan ahead to address
the challenges they will have to face as city cohesion and development depends
heavily both on their individual actions as well as effective co-operation. The
priorities should therefore only be set with careful consideration. Cities need
to secure their economic growth, as it is a crucial factor in improving living
standards in deprived urban areas and fighting poverty. They should be equally
concerned with ensuring their cities are more “citizen-friendly”. Providing
equal job opportunities regardless of age, gender, ethnicity or social
background should be as important as securing equal access to all services such
as education, healthcare or social services.
What is also essential if you want to create a cohesive and inclusive city is
helping citizens of different religious, cultural, ethnic or social background
understand each other. This is definitely an important task for the cities.
The conference aims to comprehensively address the issue of creating a
cohesive and inclusive city and inspire the participants to find creative
solutions to the new challenges arising from demographic change. The final aim
of the conference is to encourage city solidarity and co-operation in addressing
these common challenges.
Programme Location
Gdansk, Poland
Register Links For more information and to register, please visit the conference websiteback |
