This is a working event organized by the European Union's URBACT program, with the goal of training 500 professionals from the cities that are part of the 30 selected networks to develop action plans that drive change in their municipalities.
From August 28th to 30th, according to municipal sources, the Cieza City Council participated, through technicians from the Department of European Projects and Circular Economy, in the "URBACT University 2023" event, held in the Swedish city of Malmö. URBACT is a European learning and exchange program that promotes sustainable urban development, empowering cities to collaboratively develop solutions to the greatest urban challenges and reaffirming the key role they play in the face of increasingly complex social changes.
URBACT is designed to help cities develop and share innovative and sustainable practical solutions that integrate economic, social, and environmental dimensions. It allows cities to share good practices and lessons learned with all professionals involved in urban policy across Europe, making it one of the most attractive programs for acquiring cutting-edge and innovative solutions.
The goal of URBACT University 2023 is to train more than 500 professionals from participating cities in useful skills for developing Integrated Action Plans that will drive change in their municipalities over the two-and-a-half-year program.
Cieza City Council attended as a European partner of the BiodiverCity network, one of the 30 networks approved by URBACT, along with nine other European cities.
URBACT, the European Union funding line that gave life to BiodiverCity
Harnessing the significant awareness and innovation potential of cities, the 10 European partners of the BiodiverCity network will develop community-based approaches to valuing, measuring, and accounting for biodiversity and related ecosystem services, enabling communities to plan powerful nature-based solutions, encourage environmentally friendly behaviors, and develop green plans, while also contributing to the achievement of the EU Biodiversity Strategy.
URBACT, the European Union funding line that gave rise to BiodiverCity, connects cities to develop a unified urban project for subsequent dissemination at the European level. A total of thirty cutting-edge projects funded by Europe, involving a total of 252 cities across 28 countries.
Cieza is proud to be part of this project, along with other international partners. Our city believes in a future where nature-based solutions are fundamental to urban planning and development. In this context, Cieza aims to become a model for a sustainable city and an example for others. BiodiverCity aims to highlight biodiversity and respect for nature by designing and promoting transformative projects.
European transformation of cities
It is by sharing experiences with other cities that we can take advantage of the many opportunities offered by sustainable urban development. In this sense, during the meeting, we were able to participate in interesting study visits with real-life cases, such as the experiences undertaken by the city of Copenhagen to solve the serious flooding problems it has suffered in recent decades, which are perfectly applicable to the reality of our municipality and surrounding area.
During the month of September, the municipality of Cieza will establish the local URBACT working group to begin working on the defined challenge and will receive a visit from the expert leader of the Biodivercity network.
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