Investing in sustainable urban development includes a wide range of topics – from green mobility to citizens-centric service delivery, from inclusive urban planning to the participatory integration of migrants. The policy areas are divers and despite the wide range of EU funding that is out there, the first step of developing a project is having a concrete idea. Yet, not every city that identifies a challenge has the expertise to takle it.
The European Urban Initiative offers support for City-to-City Exchanges to improve capacities of applicant cities through peer learning. The objective is to learn from cities that have expertise in the identified challenge and convey practical knowledge that helps finding viable solutions. The knowledge transfer takes place during up to three visits within five months.
Who can apply?
The European Urban Initiative offers the City-to-City Exchange to urban authorities from EU member states. There is no minimum population requirement for the city, town, functional urban area or suburb.
While there is no requirement for inhabitants, the initiative is particularly aimed at cities with less than 500,000 inhabitants from less developed regions, regions in transition, or cities and functional urban areas that implement sustainable urban development projects in the context of the ERDF/Cohesion Fund in line with Article 11 of the Regulation (EU) 2021/1058, referring to initiatives that are based on Integrated Territorial Investments (ITI) or Community-led local development (CLLD).
How to apply?
The European Urban Initiatives provides a Guidance for Applicants that sets out all relevant information on the application process.
It is noteworthy that the call for City-to-City Exchanges is ongoing. Applications are submitted and approaved on a rolling basis. This means, cities can apply, when it is considered suitable for them. Notification of approval can be expected within four weeks of aplication.
So far, the European Urban Initiative has approved 43 city exchanges with a application success rate of 80%.
How to find a partner?
If cities have identified a challenge, but are still in need of a city that provides the respective expertise, the website of the European Urban Initiative offers a wide range of sources to find peers. Likewise, the Urban Contact Points in each EU member state can help finding suitable partners.
Links
- European Urban Initiative – City-to-City Exchange
- Guidance for Applicants (PDF)
- Urban Contact Points
