AGORA Thematic Dialogue: Building transformation capacities for collective urban futures
2022-04-06 09:30 - 12:30 UTC
Online via Zoom
While there are numerous strategies, agendas, calls and activities in science, policy , and practice on various levels aiming at building urban transformation capacities, it remains unclear “what kind of capacity can actually deliver change towards sustainability that is transformative” (Wolfram et al. 2019). The AGORA Dialogue “Building transformation capacities for collective urban futures” will spark a discussion and exchange on critical factors for delivering transformative urban change.
JPI Urban Europe recently funded 16 projects which aim at building urban transformation capacities. The projects bring together a total of 214 local public administrations, SMEs, research and innovation organisations, civil society partners and other urban actors to enable capacity building for urban transformations. Each project addresses specific topics and issues as well as communities: from age-friendly cities, to the role of libraries and schools, artificial intelligence and augmented reality in transformation processes, societal polarisation and inequalities, strengthening resilience through inclusive processes and much more.
The AGORA Dialogue will build upon these projects and facilitate a dialogue between these project and interested urban actors and change makers from research and innovation, local public administration, urban doers communities, SMEs, businesses, civil society associations and others to exchange on how urban transformative capacities can nurture change towards sustainable and liveable urban futures. EN-UTC project partners are especially encouraged to join the AGORA Dialogue to exchange on how their projects will support urban change.
The AGORA Thematic Dialogue aims at grasping the complexity of approaches to drive urban transitions. Concretely, the workshop aims at:

connecting EN-UTC funded projects with the AGORA community, JPI Urban Europe’s community of urban change makers;
Identifying factors for delivering transformative change;
Exchange on how individual projects can shape societal discourses and collective urban futures.

Positive Energy Districts Workshop
2022-04-19 10:00 - 23:30 UTC | Digital
Following the success of the urban stakeholder workshop in Rome last year, we are delighted to announce the 2nd Urban Stakeholder event ‘Positive Energy Districts Workshop’ (back-to-back with the 4th Action Management Committee Meeting) to be held in Amsterdam on 23-24 June. The event themed ‘Experiences and Guidance for Design and Implementation’ aims to provide a unique opportunity for policymakers, practitioners and researchers to exchange experiences, share ideas and develop new insights in PED development.
What? During the webinar, speakers representing municipalities, businesses, and civil society organisations working on PED pilots in Amsterdam will share their challenges and success stories. The participants will be invited to share ideas for overcoming the PED challenges and to offer suggestions for shaping the programme of the PED Workshop in June. The agenda of the webinar will be shared closer to the time.
When? 19 April 2022 10:00 – 11:30 CET
Who? Cities/municipalities, policymakers, practitioners, and researchers interested in PEDs
How? Please click here to register for the preparatory webinar and to express your interest in attending the PED Workshop in Amsterdam by 8 April 2022.
Anyone intends to attend the PED Workshop is encouraged to take part in the webinar as it aims to set the stage for the Workshop. For those who are not able to join the webinar, but intend to attend the PED Workshop in Amsterdam, please indicate your interest via the same registration link. The information will help us to better organise the events.
Please note that the availability of the PED Workshop in Amsterdam is subject to venue capacity. Furthermore, financial support will be available to selected Action members for attending the event in-person. More details will be circulated in due course
The Workshop will be hosted by the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences and jointly organised by the COST Action Positive Energy Districts European Network (PED-EU-NET), urban research organisation Platform31, and the Netherlands Enterprise Agency. It is funded by the COST and the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations of the Netherlands.

Information webinar: Innovations for Managing Sustainable Urban Accessibility (ENUAC)
2022-04-27 13:00 - 14:00 UTC
JPI Urban Europe invites you to an information webinar on April 27th 2021 at 13.00 CEST.
The information webinar is an oppurtunity to ask questions about the new call to the call secretariat and to learn more about the call, the application process and the coming years.

Register for the information webinar here!

Innovation action is part of ERA-NET Cofund Urban Accessibility and Connectivity (ENUAC). This is the third additional call in the series.

ICLEI World Congress – Malmö, Sweden
2022-05-11 - 2022-05-13
The ICLEI World Congress 2021 – 2022 is now a year-long experience, hosted by ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability and the City of Malmö, Sweden
ICLEI’s triennial gathering offers multiple opportunities to connect throughout 2021 – 2022.

On 13-15 April 2021, we connected online for the Virtual Launch of the ICLEI World Congress 2021 – 2022. An all digital experience kicked off the event including high-level discussions on how local and regional governments can continue to advance on sustainable development together with ICLEI.
Throughout the rest of 2021, we continue exploring critical topics in sustainable urban development in a virtual event series, The Road to Malmö, building our momentum to 2022.
We will then gather in person in Malmö, Sweden, for The Malmö Summit, on 11-13 May 2022 to exchange with and inspire one another on the best practices in local sustainable development, and learn firsthand from the City of Malmö’s wealth of sustainability initiatives.

ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability
More information and tickets: worldcongress.iclei.org

Africities 9th Summit 2022 in Kisumu, Kenya
2022-05-17 - 2022-05-22
The Pan-African Organisation of United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLG Africa) is organising the 9th edition of the Africities Summit (Africities 9) from 17th to 21st May 2022, in Kisumu, Kenya.
The theme of the 9th Africities Summit is: “The Role of Intermediary Cities of Africa in the Implementation of Agenda 2030 of the United Nations and the African Union Agenda 2063”.
These two Agendas call for the urgent need to develop resilient and sustainable urbanization in Africa, cognizant of the fact that by 2050 the bulk of African population will be living in cities, and that the majority of city dwellers will settle in intermediary cities. The improvement of the living conditions of the African people and the economic and social structural transformation of the African continent is therefore closely linked to the way the realization of these agendas will be addressed in African intermediary cities, which are for sure the places where Africa will be inventing her own approach and trajectory to sustainable human development based on her realities but also taking stock of the knowledge and experiences accrued across the world. As much as possible, the development models to be implemented in Africa should be more energy efficient, low carbon, more inclusive, and more resilient.
Do join us in Kisumu on 17 to 21 May 2022 at the Africities Summit, to be part of this endeavor in a place where Africa will be defining her new development trajectory based on African intermediary cities.

Visit the UCLG Africa website : www.uclga.org

The SUGI/FWE-Nexus-Legacy: Assessing opportunities for longer-term collaboration between JPI Urban Europe and the Belmont Forum
2022-05-24 | Zoom
In SUGI/FWE-Nexus, the Belmont Forum, JPI Urban Europe and the European Commission have partnered to bring together the fragmented research and expertise across the globe by implementing a joint call for proposals, among other activities. With SUGI/FEW-Nexus coming to an end, this workshop aims at highlighting the lessons learned and looking forward by identifying potentials for future collaboration between JPI Urban Europe and the Belmont Forum. As such, the workshops will contribute Driving Urban Transitions internationalisation ambitions.
Against this backdrop, JPI Urban Europe and the Belmont Forum are organising two workshops in the scope of SUGI/FWE-Nexus to build upon existing experiences gathered during the last years of working together and to assess opportunities for a longer-term collaboration, identify mutual fields of interests and elaborate concrete measures such as joint calls, synthesis of knowledge, joint workshops and events, efforts to connect and widen stakeholder communities, etc.
The workshop will focus on reflecting on the experiences of SUGI/FWE-Nexus and assessing opportunities for joint activities and common (thematic) interests for the next 5-7 years. With JPI Urban Europe launching its upcoming programme called Driving Urban Transitions in 2022 and the Belmont Forum planning upcoming calls in a wider urban scope, there are opportunities for future collaboration over the next 5-7 years which will be explored in the workshop.
When: Tuesday 24 May, 12 pm – 3 pm UTC

Click here to add the workshop to your calendar.

By invitation only. Please register:

AGORA Thematic Dialogue: "Making use of the 15-minute city – levers, impact criteria and indicators for a sustainable and inclusive urban mobility system"
2022-05-31 13:00 - 18:30 UTC | Helsingborg, Sweden
THIS EVENT IS FULLY BOOKED.

Click here for the PDF invitation
Since the outbreak of COVID-19 but also in context of the climate crisis, concepts that focus on the hyperlocal level – promoting mixed-use, lively neighbourhoods with short distances to services and opportunities – gained more traction for cities globally. One of these concepts is the 15-minute city that has reached wide attention and has been taken up and interpreted in many different cities and contexts.
Working intensively with the 15-minute city in the Driving Urban Transitions Partnership, we want to invite you to a AGORA Dialogue – organised back to back with the Urban Futures Conference in Helsingborg/Sweden – to discuss, reflect and co-create with us:

What are the greatest challenges and biggest levers for a more sustainable and inclusive mobility system in our cities?
Which are the essential criteria to define and qualify impacts for 15-minute city approaches?
Which indicators help us to describe qualities and quantify changes in the urban mobility system?

When? – Tuesday, 31st May 2022, 1 pm – 6:30 pm (+ optional get-together)
Who? – Representatives from city administrations as well as participants of the Urban Futures Conference (in their role as civil society stakeholder, researchers, small-medium sized businesses including consultancies and mobility service providers, public utilities)
How? – Face-to-face meeting in Helsingborg with approx. 40 people, on the day before the start of the Urban Futures Conference
THIS EVENT IS FULLY BOOKED.

UF22 - Urban Future 2022 Helsingborg, Sweden
2022-06-01 - 2022-06-03 | H22 City Expo, Helsingborg, Sweden
Europe’s biggest conference on sustainable cities is coming to Helsingborg and H22 City Expo in the summer of 2022
Urban Future attracts thousands of City Changers to its conferences across Europe to discuss how the world’s cities can be made more sustainable. Now it’s decided that Urban Future is coming to Sweden – for the first time ever. The place will be Helsingborg and the international H22 City Expo, on 1-3 June 2022.
Helsingborg – a mid-sized city in Sweden – is one of the most innovative and fast transforming cities we know.
A radical reorganization of their internal structure has enabled them to now race towards innovation and sustainability at full speed. The municipality has completely changed its mindset and way of collaborating with citizens, businesses, academia, and other stakeholders in order to really make change happen.
Join this event and connect with other urban change-makers from different parts of the world who share similar issues.
Event for: an urban planner, an architect, an employee of a municipality, a mayor, a city councilor, a city rebel, a communication expert, a civil engineer, a university graduate, a cycling lover, an urbanism scientist, a mobility expert.

Urban Living Labs: Collectively shaping urban futures with experimental approaches
2022-06-07 15:00 - 16:30 (Europe/Vienna) | Zoom
Join the session
Click here for the French translation.
Cliquez ici pour la traduction française.
This is the first of two events on urban living labs of the French Presidency of the Council of the EU. Please click here for more information and registration for the the training session “Let’s co-create! But how to start?“
Over the last ten years, co-creative experimental methods have become widely spread to address urban challenges in Europe. These endeavors reflect the need for open, collaborative approaches taking into account the full complexity of urban dynamics for sustainable transitions. The presenters and panelists of this will discuss the potentials and limitations of experimental methods for urban transformation. It will highlight why we need to do things and experiment more to collectively shape our urban future(s).
Experimental approaches and methods, such as urban living labs, usually involve high levels of co-creation among involved stakeholders bringing together public administration, researchers, civil society (organizations) and other urban actors to work together on a variety of urban issues including urban governance, water management, e-participation, mobility management, taking into account all the inhabitants and improving their relationship when necessary, stakeholder involvement, etc.
Co-creative and experimental approaches have been proven to be suitable to address concrete urban challenges as they allow the combination of experiences, perspectives and knowledge. By combining and jointly developing approaches and addressing urban challenges, more robust ideas and results are developed which take into account urban complexities and urban dilemmas[1] which are key to sustainable urban development.
In other words, the co-production of knowledge and approaches in experimental projects is all about collectively shaping urban futures including models of governance and societal development. Experimental approaches can play an essential role in developing new, but also translating already existing, approaches and good practices into different urban contexts.
This session will discuss the potentials and limitations of experimental methods in urban development for change to sustainable and livable urban futures. It will shed light on the how urban living labs can support the capacity building of municipal and urban public administration and other stakeholders involved to plan for change and learn from successes and failures. Among others, the following questions will be addressed by the presenters and in the panel discussion:

How can experimenting then become the “new normal” to address urban challenges?
What capacities are required for innovative leadership? And what are the risks involved?
How can experimental methods / urban living labs support the localization of European global sustainability strategies such as the New Green Deal, the Leipzig Charta and UN’s Agenda 2030?

Join the session
[1] “Urban dilemma: at least two competing goals and stakeholder interests which potentially fail to achieve their aims as implementing one strategy hampers or prevents the achievement of another.” JPI Urban Europe (2019:14) SRIA 2.0.

Urban Living Labs: Let’s co-create! But how to start?
2022-06-08 09:30 - 12:00 (Europe/Vienna) | Zoom
THIS EVENT IS FULLY BOOKED. If you have any questions please contact Johannes Riegler.

Click here for the French translation.
Cliquez ici pour la traduction française.
This is the one two events on urban living labs of the French Presidency of the Council of the EU. Please click here for more information and registration for the the webinar “Urban Living Labs: Collectively shaping urban transformation with experimental approaches” on 8th June 2022.
A training workshop on planning and maintaining experimental approaches for urban transitions
There is a lot of fuzz around experimental methods such as urban living labs since recently as contributing to urban transitions implies per definition to so things differently. However, talking about experimental approaches seems to be much easier than planning and implementing them in existing (governance) structures, let alone, making experimenting part of full urban development processes. This training sessions allows participants to playfully lay out the cornerstones for experimental approaches and to discuss all the relevant questions such as:
Where to start? how to plan? … and what are the right methods / tools to tackle a specific urban challenge or implement global/national/regional sustainability strategies? Who should be involved? What if we fail? etc.
By using (parts) of the URB@EXP Urban Lab Kit, participants will decide on a concrete urban challenge which they want to address. The Urban Lab Kit guides the participants to ask all relevant questions which are essential for planning, starting, conducting an experimental project / urban lab as well as how to boost its impact. Thus, the training session will allow participants to plan the main elements of their “experimental project in a day”, build capacities to work with experimental projects and allow them to discuss what benefits experimenting would have in their concrete urban context.

THIS EVENT IS FULLY BOOKED. If you have any questions please contact Johannes Riegler.

SRI2022 - Sustainability Research & Innovation Congress
2022-06-20 - 2022-06-24
The Sustainability Research & Innovation Congress is a series of gatherings that unite global research leaders, experts, industries and innovators to inspire action and promote a sustainability transformation.
The Sustainability Research and Innovation Congress 2022 (SRI2022) will take place from June 20-24, 2022, in Pretoria, South Africa and online. Hosted by the Future Africa Institute at the University of Pretoria, SRI2022 will build on the success of the first SRI Congress which took place in June this year and featured 700 speakers and 2,000 participants from 100 countries. A joint initiative of Future Earth and the Belmont Forum, SRI is an emerging global platform of advocacy for sustainability scholarship and innovation, trans-disciplinary and cross-sectoral collaboration, and knowledge to action.
South Africa will offer an inspiring environment for this second edition of the SRI Congress. A leader on the African continent and around the globe for sustainability science and innovation as well as participatory approaches to action research, it also provides a gateway to the wider African continent.
An important objective of SRI2022 is to amplify the voice of sustainability science and innovation in the Global South, specifically for the African continent through raising awareness and propelling discussions about sustainable priorities for Africa. Africa has much to offer to the global discussion on sustainability, and SRI2022, together with its host Future Africa, will provide a critical platform in collaboration with local, African and international partners.
SRI2022 will continue the momentum from SRI2021. The transdisciplinary nature of the event and its diverse agenda was praised by participants in a post-event survey, with 62% of respondents saying that SRI2021 broadened cross-disciplinary and cross-sectoral connections and awareness with the sustainability community, and 94% saying they would attend SRI2022.
The call for session proposals closes on February 5, 2022, at 23:59 SAST (UTC +2).This is your opportunity to shape the program of SRI2022, which will consist of over 100 online and hybrid international sessions and events, highlighting the latest research and innovation in the field of sustainability. This call for session proposals is open to anyone working in sustainability science and practice, which includes the research sector, government, business, philanthropy, art and civil society.
Proposals should be submitted on one of the four Congress themes:

Nexus issues
Different ways of knowing
New horizons
African science and innovation (Cross-cutting theme)

Proposals can be submitted in English, French, Japanese, Mandarin and Spanish. SRI2022 accepts proposals for both online and hybrid sessions and offers flexibility with changing hybrid sessions to online sessions if needed. Explore the Congress themes, session types, submission guidelines and selection criteria on the website.

Workshop “Just Energy Transitions in Africa”
2022-06-23 14:00 - 17:00 (Europe/Helsinki) | Zoom
This event is from 2:00pm to 5:00pm CAT/CEST.
Click here for the PDF invitation
An online workshop for experts working on/with issues on energy transitions, positive energy districts and renewable energy in Africa
Africa and Europe share the challenge of systemic transformation towards a sustainable, fossil-free future. However, pre-conditions on the two continents – as well as between different regions of the continents – differ greatly. A just energy transition needs to explore regional particularities in terms of natural, technological, social, economic or cultural resources and develop solutions building on these.
Europe has set itself the ambitious goal of becoming climate-neutral by 2040 and puts a strong focus on urban areas with initiatives like theMission on Climate-neutral and Smart Cities or the New European Bauhaus. With good reason: Urban areas are pivotal spaces for change toward achieving climate mitigation targets, decarbonisation and energy transitions. They consume more than two-thirds of the world’s energy and account for more than 70% of global CO2 emissions – moreover, cities, as hubs of communication, commerce and culture also provide key resources for materialising sustainable solution pathways. However, systemic change can only happen when considering the symbiotic connection between urban and rural areas, a future energy system will build on an efficient exchange between cities and regions.
Africa accounts for only 3.8% of global greenhouse gas emissions. The lack of access to an affordable energy supply is a key threat to a just energy transition. Half of Africa’s total population, i.e. 548 million people were without access to electricity in 2018 (The Renewable Energy Transition in Africa: Powering Access, Resilience and Prosperity, IRENA, 2021).
This workshop brings together experts and urban actors across Africa to discuss and exchange on how (urban) energy transitions in Africa can contribute to just, livable and sustainable futures. Additionally, the pathways how to arrive at the envisioned futures will be discussed.
What you can expect from the workshop

Exchange with peers and experts on energy challenges and transforming urban energy systems in African cities, including in-depth exploration of positive energy districts.
Co-creation: engage in interactive exercises to jointly reflect on the roles of diverse urban actors in energy transitions.
Collaborating: on a collaborative publication at the end of the workshop series.
Networking: You are welcome to connect to the AGORA community, the network of urban actors maintained by JPI Urban Europe.

Aim of Workshop

Identify the most pressing issues, challenges and dilemmas for energy transitions in African cities overall. Find access points to jointly address those issues, challenges and dilemmas in cooperation schemes.
Exchange on opportunities for international stakeholders to continue the dialogue and engagement.

About the Organisers
JPI Urban Europe is the knowledge hub for urban transitions, an intergovernmental and strategic partnership of countries addressing the challenge of sustainable urban development through coordinated research and innovation. Currently, Driving Urban Transitions (DUT), a partnership programme between Member States and the European Commission for the years 2022-2028 is in its final stage of development. As sustainable urbanization is a global issue, with global policy references, international cooperation plays an important role in DUT.
START was founded in 1992 to strengthen capacities for global environmental change science in Africa and Asia that addresses critical sustainability challenges. The programs and partnerships provide opportunities for training, research, education and networking that strengthen scientific skills and inspire leadership. START is a core international partner of the United States Global Change Research Program and works closely with universities and research institutes in Africa and Asia, as well as with multilateral agencies, governments and non-governmental organizations.
ICLEI Africa connects leaders, accelerates action and provides a gateway to solutions through capacity building, projects on the ground and policy influence. ICLEI is an international non-governmental organization that promotes sustainable development. ICLEI provides technical consulting to local governments to meet sustainability objectives.

WUF11 — World Urban Forum, Katowice, Poland
2022-06-26 - 2022-06-30
The World Urban Forum (WUF) is the premier global conference on sustainable urbanization. WUF11 will be held in the Polish city of Katowice from 26-30 June 2022.
The World Urban Forum (WUF) is a prestigious international conference, organized by UN-Habitat for urban growth and human settlements. This is the most important global event concerning municipal policies, transformation and development.
It is held every two years and hosts over 20 thousand participants representing governments, regions, cities, non-governmental organizations and financial institutions.
This will be the first time that the WUF, convened by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), will take place in Eastern Europe.
The WUF was established in 2001 by the United Nations to examine one of the most pressing issues facing the world today: rapid urbanisation and its impact on communities, cities, economies, climate change and policies. The first WUF was held in Nairobi, Kenya in 2002 and has been held around the world ever since.
Representatives of national, regional and local governments, academics, business people, community leaders, urban planners will be among the thousands of people are expected to attend WUF11 which is co-organized by Poland’s Ministry of Development Funds and Regional Policy and the Municipal Office of Katowice.
Read more on the official webbsite

WUF11: Networking Session - Unleashing the transformational potential of the New Leipzig Charter
2022-06-27 13:30 - 15:00 UTC | International Congress Centre (MCK), Plac Sławika i Antalla 1 40-163 Katowice, Poland.
The New Leipzig Charter is a key policy framework document for sustainable urban development in Europe, endorsed by the informal council of EU ministers on urban matter. It focusses on the transformative power of cities for the common good and calls for cities to have a stronger role in decision making at both national and EU level. Furthermore, the New Leipzig Charter identifies three dimensions for urban transitions – the just city, the green city, and the productive city. While each priority calls for dedicated actions, the interrelationships, synergies, conflicts and interdependencies between these dimensions must be considered to truly achieve sustainability and climate neutrality.
This session aims at discussing the thematic linkages, potentials and critical issues in and between the three dimensions of the New Leipzig Charter and cities’ needs to drive urban transitions along these dimensions in an integrated approach. It will highlight key issues to empower cities to unleash their transformative potential in terms of rethinking governance processes, openness to innovative approaches and learning loops to make evidence based decisions. The session will consist of short inputs / key statements by the panellists à 7-8 minutes, followed by a panel discussion. Participants are asked to provide their input and feedback via an interactive conference / workshop tool. The session will be co-organised by JPI Urban Europe and the German Federal Ministry for Housing, Urban Development and Building.
Session speakers

Margit Noll, CEO, Driving Urban Transition Partnership

Dominique Breier, Officer for the department for urban development policies, German Federal Ministry for Housing, Urban Development and Building

Luc Faraldi, Coordinateur Politiques Internationale, French National Agency for the Cohesion of Territories

Lead organizations

German Federal Ministry for Housing, Urban Development and Building
JPI Urban Europe

WUF11: Ensuring equitable and inclusive urban transformations leaving nobody behind: the role of science-policy- society cooperation
2022-06-28 12:30 - 14:00 UTC | International Congress Centre (MCK), Plac Sławika i Antalla 1 40-163 Katowice, Poland.
Track: “Transforming European Cities” – Equitable and inclusive, perspective: NGO and academia
In the last years, numerous global and European strategies, frameworks and policy agendas have been published and agreed which underline the need for transforming urban areas to address the biggest challenges of our time. In order to leave nobody behind, inclusiveness and equity need to be at the centre of the transformation processes. Research and innovation projects can provide a platform to tap upon the transformative potential and local knowledge of civil society actors and urban stakeholders to drive change towards sustainable and livable urban futures.
The session moderated by Margit Noll, Chair of the JPI Urban Europe Management Board will highlight selected cases, local initiatives, projects which aimed at transforming urban areas on a neighbourhood scale and offer good practice on how to achieve inclusive and equitable urban transitions.
Speakers

Chiara Tornaghi, Coventry University
Jim Segers, City Mine(d)
Simon Pemberton, Keele University
Matthew Bach, ICLEI Europe
Martina De Sole, European Network of Living Labs
Cristina Robledano Noreña, Porticus

Visit the website to learn more about the European Track of WUF11

WUF11: Training session Urban Living Labs: Let’s co-create! But how to start?
2022-06-29 09:00 - 12:00 UTC | International Congress Centre (MCK), Plac Sławika i Antalla 1 40-163 Katowice, Poland.
There is a lot of fuzz around experimental methods such as urban living labs since recently as contributing to urban transitions implies per definition to so things differently. However, talking about experimental approaches seems to be much easier than planning and implementing them in existing (governance) structures, let alone, making experimenting part of full urban development processes. This training sessions allows participants to playfully lay out the cornerstones for experimental approaches and to discuss all the relevant questions such as Where to start? how to plan? … and what are the right methods / tools to tackle a specific urban challenge or implement global/national/regional sustainability strategies? Who should be involved? What if we fail? etc.
This training session aims at addressing these questions in a structured way addressing concrete urban challenges. By using (parts) of the URB@EXP Urban Lab Kit, participants will decide on a concrete urban challenge which they want to address. The Urban Lab Kit guides the participants to ask all relevant questions which are essential for planning, starting, conducting an experimental project / urban lab as well as how to boost its impact. Thus, the training session will allow participants to plan the main elements of their “experimental project in a day”, build capacities to work with experimental projects and allow them to discuss what benefits experimenting would have in their concrete urban context.
Training instructors

Johannes Riegler, Stakeholder Involvement Officer – JPI Urban Europe
Margit Noll, Management Board Chair of JPI Urban Europe – Strategy and Coordination

Lead organization

JPI Urban Europe

WUF11: Green and Blue Infrastructure in Cities - Innovative Solutions for Governing Food-Water-Energy Nexus in Cities
2022-06-29 16:00 - 17:30 (Europe/Paris) | International Congress Centre (MCK), Plac Sławika i Antalla 1 40-163 Katowice, Poland.
This event will be based on the results of the projects supported by JPI Urban Europe and the Belmont Forum as part of the Sustainable Urbanisation Global Initiative – SUGI: Understanding Innovative Initiatives for Governing Food, Water and Energy Nexus in Cities (IFWEN) and Climate Resilient Urban Nexus CHoices: operationalising the Food-Water- Energy Nexus (CRUNCH). Participants will learn about the importance of Green and Blue Infrastructure (GBI) to improve Food-Water-Energy Nexus (FWEN) in urban settlements. This is important for advancing sustainable urban development because urban resource systems are under stress due to climate change and growing populations, and many urban and environmental experts would agree that conventional siloed approaches often miss opportunities to manage these resources more efficiently. Food-Water-Energy Nexus is a powerful concept for showing the interdependencies between systems. Cities can play an important role in managing resources, but are often unable to integrate different mandates or work across sectors.

Program
The program will be comprised of:

Introduction to the training (5 minutes) – Introduction of the participants and objectives of the meeting
Project presentations (40 minutes) – Each project will present to the participants the key results related to Food-Water-Energy Nexus in cities;
Discussions (40 minutes) – Participants will reflect on the opportunities and challenges for using GBI in their cities
Concluding remarks (5 minutes) – Discuss the main takeaway points from the FWEN in cities

The event takes place at the JPI UE/DUT booth.

Profile of the training instructors
Jose A. Puppim de Oliveira is a faculty member at FGV (Fundação Getulio Vargas), Brazil. He leads the consortium of the research project IFWEN.
Johannes Riegler is the Stakeholder Involvement Officer at JPI Urban Europe.
Joanna Bach-Głowińska, (Dr. Eng. Arch.), is an Adjunct Professor at Gdansk University of Technology in Poland, the Principal Investigator at both ERA-Net Urban Transformation Capacities (ENUTC) and of the research project CRUNCH.

Lead organizations
ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability
FGV – FUNDAÇÃO GETULIO VARGAS
JPI Urban Europe

Opportunities for Technological Collaboration: Sustainable Cities - Uruguay
2022-07-05 15:00 - 18:00 UTC | Digital
This joint webinar organised in collaboration with the Eurocámara Uruguay aims to provide learning on the national challenges arising from ecological and digital transitions and opportunities for technological collaboration between Europe, Latin American, and Caribbean countries. The webinar will focus on Uruguay on the topic of sustainable cities with particular emphasis on Electric Mobility. Experts from will provide valuable insights about the mobility sector in the country.
Register to participate here

International Symposium: Territorial Turn!
2022-09-15 - 2022-09-16 | Graz University of Technology, Kronesgasse 5, 8010, Graz, Austria
Join us for the International Symposium Territorial Turn! held by the Institute of Urbanism, TU Graz, and elaborate together with our keynote speakers and presenters on changes, values and framework conditions of urbanism. The discussion on theoretical concepts and ideas, as well as pioneering practical urban design propositions will contribute to actively think, plan, design, and implement an ecological and equitable urban future on a territorial scale.
The symposium will offer 1,5 days of presentations and discussions with international scholars and practitioners of the disciplines of Urbanism, Architecture, Landscape, Planning, Urban Studies and Design such as Susanne Eliasson (GRAU), Stefan Rettich (University of Kassel), Eva Pfannes (OOZE), Paola Viganò (EPFL Lausanne, IUAV Venice), who will present their perspectives on the Territorial Turn.
It will also feature testimonies of Ali Madanipour (University of New Castle),Christian Schmid (ETH Zürich), Maarten Van Acker (University of Antwerpen), Erik Wieërs (Flemish Government), Judith Schwentner (City of Graz) and Chris Younès (École spéciale d’architecture and École nationale supérieure d’architecture de Paris La Villette), while Philipp Misselwitz (TU Berlin, Bauhaus EARTH) will present an excerpt of the Bauhaus EARTH Charter.
In addition, paper presentations will be followed by discussion panelled with Juliette Bekkering (Eindhoven University), Han Meyer (TU Delft ) and Marcel Smets (KU Leuven), among others.
Click here to find more information on the symposion and purchase a ticket!

5th Annual Place Making Week
2022-09-27 - 2022-09-30 | Pontevedra, Spain
Placemaking Week Europe is Europe’s founding and largest placemaking festival. In the spirit of collaboration and inspiration, over 400 practitioners meet every year to share knowledge, learn and network. The host of the fifth edition is the city of Pontevedra in Spain. A place that for the last twenty years has been an example of how to organise a city around people. Drawing on their positive example, we will look to the future together.
The CUE Transition Pathway has planned a workshop session titled “Building radically regenerative public spaces” for the Place Making Week. The workshop invites participants to envision urban areas in 2050 and how regenerative urbanism can help human societies address and cope with anthropogenic climate events that are currently increasing both in frequency and magnitude. Using fictional city typologies as point of departure, participants will explore and build a vision for 2050 streetscapes.
Find more information about the event!

A European task: Integrating refugees in the housing market
2022-09-27 16:00 - 18:00 UTC | Digital
With the so-called refugee crisis in Europe from 2015 onwards, the immigration of refugees to several European countries has massively increased. This has resulted in enormous pressure for adequate short-term accommodation for these people and their long-term access to the housing market. With the influx of refugees from Ukraine since February 2022, access to the housing market as well as the provision of affordable housing are once again extremely pressing issues. In addition, the question of affordable housing does not only arise for refugees, but also includes other disadvantaged groups on the housing market in different European cities.
Experiences and approaches from Austria, Germany, and Sweden provide indications of the prevailing barriers at the housing markets and strategies to overcome them. During the Online-Event, representatives from academia and practice will highlight existing approaches and strategies in the housing market.
The registration deadline is September 26, 2022. Read more about the programme and register here!

Driving Urban Transitions launching event
2022-10-04 - 2022-10-05 | Brussels
Save the dates 4-5 October for the official launching event of the DUT partnership taking place in Brussels, which will be a hybrid event that combines activities on-site as well as online. Be inspired and engage in conversations that:

Demonstrate ways to improve impact, replication, and peer-to-peer learning throughout Europe and beyond.
Reflect the accomplishments of research and innovation projects.
Explore ways to link research and innovation with local action.
Highlight examples of best practice.

Learn and contribute with your experience on dilemmas and integrated development issues related to urban energy transitions, circular economy and sustainable urban mobility as key areas for urban transformation.
Whether you are an interested citizen, activist, politician, public administrator, entrepreneur or academic, we gladly invite you to join our sessions.
An invitation with program will follow and registrations open in August.

7th UCLG World Congress - Daejeon, South Korea
2022-10-10 - 2022-10-14
UCLG organises its world congress every three years; the 2022 edition will take place in Daejeon, Korea, from 10-14 October. At this milestone event with 3000 representatives from local governments worldwide, UCLG will present its ‘Pact for the Future’ – a renewed strategy for the organization and its members. Working on ecological transition and resilience is one of the pillars of this Pact, under the heading of ‘Planet’.
More information about the programme will be available in the coming months.
Visit the official webbsite.

Natural Gas-Free Neighbourhoods Workshop
2022-10-13 - 2022-10-14 | Rotterdam
Within the Dutch ‘Natural Gas-Free Neighbourhoods’ (PAW) programme, city districts are currently trying different methods to achieve the transition to a low-carbon energy system.
At the two-day workshop in Rotterdam you will get the opportunity to have a first-hand look at these projects. Join us to exchange insights with the people who are leading the transition – both from the Netherlands and other countries in Europe.
Register here!

Urban Lunch Talk #20: Envisioning a sustainable future: Public infrastuctures – what will they be and look like?
2022-10-21 12:00 - 13:00 (Europe/Helsinki) | Zoom Webinar
Welcome to this Urban Lunch Talk about sustainable urban futures and infrastructural transition. How will this be addressed and approached, and what is to be achieved?
Save the venue into your calendar today (ics)! The webinar will be easy to join without the regular pre-registering.
Zoom: Join the webinar
The webinar was recorded in Zoom, and published for the JPI Urban Europe’s Youtube channel. You may watch the episode by clicking this link.
New envisioned future theme
The Urban Lunch Talk concept has newly shifted focus to the partnership Driving Urban Europe (DUT) part about sustainable futures. The upcoming talk about public infrastructures will involve discussions on the envisioned future of urban infrastructures based on the latest research and innovation knowledge. What are the dilemmas with public infrastructure development, technically and socially, and which are the ways to address the challenges? What is there to be achieved – what will sustainable urban infrastructure in the future be and look like?
Guests from ENUTC
For the Urban Lunch Talk #20 the invited guests for the panel on public infrastructure are all from projects in the ERA-NET Cofund Urban Transformation Capacities (ENUTC).

Christian Peer (OPUSH), Senior Scientist, TU Wien, Future.lab Research Center
Tanu Priya Uteng (CARIN-PT), Ph.D. Research Leader, Regional Planning and Development, Institute of Transport Economics (TOI), Norwegian Center for Transport Research
Johanna Rivano Eckerdal (ILIT), Head of Center for Oresund Region Studies, Reader/Associate Professor in Information Studies, Departement of Arts and Cultural Sciences, Lund University
Milena Maj (City&Co), PhD Student, Center for Evaluation and Analysis of Public Policies, Jagiellonian University Krakow

Call topic about urban infrastructure
In ENUTC, urban transformation capacities are related to call topics addressing a wide variety of urban challenges, such as robust and resilient urban infrastructure. This topic, including built environment, implies an urban infrastructure that can resist natural, environmental, social, economic and technological threats on smaller and larger scales based on efficient use of resources. It also implies fair access to urban infrastructure and the built environment.
>> Learn more about ENUTC at the call website

The 2022 Urban Research Conference
2022-10-27 - 2022-10-28
2022 was the year that cities would recover from the woes of the pandemic and tackle rising social and economic inequality. Then Putin invaded Ukraine.
Now cities are faced with heightened geopolitical tensions, alongside increased violence, demonstrations and divisions following, among other things, the COVID-19 pandemic, the extreme weather events associated with climate change, the rise of alt-right and left movements, fallen democracies, reinvigorated authoritarianism and unequal treatment of migrants.
This year’s conference is concerned with, on the one hand, emerging conflicts, seen as a dynamic interplay between different discourses and actors in «the politics of conflictual governance». On the other hand, it pays attention to social forces that draw in the opposite direction, uniting ordinary citizens in political mobilisation through practices of daily life, and paving the ground for new forms of interaction between citizens and city representatives in «the practices of collaborative governance». We scrutinise the role of institutions and institutional adaptiveness towards new inclusionary initiatives.
Find the full programme here.

PED webinar series: PEDs & ENVIRONMENT
2023-01-13 12:30 - 13:30 UTC | Digital
We invite stakeholders in the energy transition processes and all interested in driving urban transformation to join a DUT webinar series on key elements for accelerating the implementation of Positive Energy Districts. Go to the DUT website for more information!

PED webinar series: PEDs & PEOPLE
2023-01-20 12:30 - 13:30 UTC | Digital

PED webinar series: PEDs & MONEY
2023-01-27 12:30 - 13:30 UTC | Digital

PED Pilot Call Final Meeting / PED Call II Kick-off Meeting
2023-01-30 09:00 - 2023-01-31 16:30 UTC
JPI Urban Europe PED Projects Meeting

PED Pilot Call Final Meeting / PED Call II Kick-off Meeting
JPI Urban Europe hereby invites projects from PED Pilot Call (2020) and PED Call II (2021) to participate in the combined JPI Urban Europe PED Projects Meeting on 30/31 Jan in Copenhagen, hosted by Innofund Denmark.
Date: 30 and 31 January 2023
Location: Soho, Flæsketovet 68, 1fl, 1711 Copenhagen, Denmark
