Launch of two new Urban Agenda partnerships: "Greening Cities" and "Sustainable Tourism"

L’Union européenne (UE) lance deux appels à manifestation d’intérêt pour participer à deux nouveaux partenariats de l’Agenda urbain pour l’UE : « verdir les villes » et « tourisme durable ». Ces appels sont avant tout destinés aux autorités urbaines européennes. Des autorités nationales ou régionales, des réseaux de villes ou des universités et centres de recherche peuvent également y participer.

What is the Urban Agenda for the EU?

The Urban Agenda for the EU is an initiative launched in 2016 by the European Commission, Member States and cities to address urban development challenges. It is based on the Pact of Amsterdam adopted on 30 May 2016 by the European ministers responsible for urban affairs. It allows cities to directly influence the European decision-making process by working directly with the European institutions and Member States on specific issues.

What is an Urban Agenda partnership?

Partnerships are created on specific themes and bring together cities, the European Commission, Member States, European organisations and associations. They are coordinated by a city or a Member State for a period of three years. The partnerships analyse the challenges and difficulties in a specific area with a view to recommending concrete actions to be taken at EU and Member State level.

The three objectives of these partnerships are:

• to improve regulations to take greater account of the needs of cities in European policies;
• to promote exchanges between urban authorities, Member States and the European Commission;
• to facilitate access to European funds for European cities of all sizes.

Since 2016, 14 partnerships have been created on various themes such as housing, energy transition and sustainable land use. The Brussels-Capital Region has already been involved in two partnerships, on urban poverty and safety in public spaces.

Priorities of the two new partnerships

The two new partnerships, the subject of this call, should focus on the following priorities:

• the greening cities partnership should focus specifically on green and blue infrastructure;
• the sustainable tourism partnership should focus on specific issues related to tourism in cities as an essential component of the sustainable development of urban economies.T

Benefits of participating in an Urban Agenda partnership:

• increasing visibility at the European level
• influencing the content of a specific policy
• exchanging knowledge with stakeholders from all over Europe
• developing a European network
• direct access to European institutions and Member States

How to participate

Complete the registration form on the European Commission website before 6pm on 16 September 2022: Call for Partners: Urban Agenda for the EU Partnerships on Greening Cities and Sustainable Tourism | Futurium (europa.eu)

More information on the Urban Agenda for the EU: https://futurium.ec.europa.eu/en/urban-agenda

Brussels organisations interested in these two calls can contact Sandrine De Meyer: sdemeyer@perspective.brussels