Each year, international participants gather at the European Commission's European Week of Regions and Cities (EWRC) event to showcase cities' and regions' capacities "to create growth and jobs, implement European Union cohesion policy, and prove the importance of the local and regional level for good European governance."

Countries across the world share a common interest in promoting a human-centred and environmentally-friendly urban development model that delivers clean, resource-efficient, socially fair, smart cities. The EU has increasingly supported actions in this field on a global scale including through the IUC programme.

The IUC has established a number of thematic networks for cooperation. On Tuesday, 13 October from 16:30-18:00 CEST, as part of EWRC, the IUC will host a workshop examining the results of this cooperation with respect to creating added value for public authorities and the private sector. It will reflect on the effects of external shocks like the coronavirus crisis on cities in areas spanning public health and economic recovery, highlighting the added value of international cooperation. Select IUC pairings from across the world will jointly present and make recommendations for the future.

The workshop will include two, focused panel session:

1. Green Deal: Mobility & Digital Transition: Latin America (Buenos Aires, Argentina) - North America (San Diego, USA) - EU (Turin, Italy)
2. Green Deal: Circular Economy & Energy Transition: Latin America (Barranquilla, Colombia) - North America (Edmonton, Canada) - EU (Bologna, Italy)

The event will be moderated by Juliana Izquierdo, Methodology Task Force, IUC, Belgium; Sandra Marin Herbert, Coordinator, IUC Methodology Taskforce, Belgium; and Tricia Hackett, Methodology Task Force, IUC, United States. Featured speakers include:

• Alyssa Muto, Deputy Director of Environment & Mobility Planning, City of San Diego, United States
• Giuseppe Estivo, Assistant to the Deputy Mayor in charge of Transport and Mobility, City of Torino, Italy
• Juan Vacas, Deputy Secretary of Urban Landscape, Ministry of Public Space, Buenos Aires, Argentina
• Manuel Trujillo, Head of International Relations-Mayor Office, City of Barranquilla, Colombia
• Marino Cavallo, Head of the Department Research, Innovation and Management of EU Projects, Metropolitan City of Bologna, Italy
• Maurya Braun, Technical Modelling Manager, Community Energy Transition Strategy, City of Edmonton, Canada
• Rudolf Niessler, Principal Advisor for International Relations, DG REGIO, European Commission, Belgium
• Sandra Marin Herbert, Coordinator, IUC Methodology Taskforce, Belgium

The event will be held virtually, in English, and is organised in partnership with DG REGIO.

For more information and to register, please click here.

Header image design provided by the European Week of Regions and Cities.