IURC Highlights the Importance of Global Collaboration at DUT Policy Conference 2026

10 June 2026 — Today, the International Urban and Regional Cooperation (IURC) Programme contributed to the Driving Urban Transitions (DUT) Policy Conference 2026 in Brussels participating in the spotlight session “Beyond Europe: A Global Lens to Urban Transformations.” The session explored how international cooperation can help cities address increasingly complex urban challenges shaped by climate change, resource dependencies and evolving geopolitical realities.

Bringing together experts and practitioners from Europe, Asia and other regions, the session examined why global collaboration remains essential for sustainable urban development and how cities can move beyond knowledge exchange towards joint action and co-creation. Discussions focused on the value of international partnerships, the transferability of successful urban solutions and the role of global networks in accelerating innovation.

Representing IURC Asia & Australasia and IURC Latin America & the Caribbean, Oscar Prat van Thiel delivered a keynote highlighting the importance of transferring and scaling proven urban solutions across borders. He argued that cities increasingly innovate not by reinventing solutions from scratch, but by identifying, adapting, financing and replicating approaches that have already demonstrated success elsewhere.

Drawing on IURC’s experience, he showcased the successful adaptation of smart parking and curb management solutions from La Réunion to Shimla, India. The example illustrated how international cooperation can accelerate urban innovation by enabling cities to build on tested solutions while adapting them to local contexts and needs.

Cities around the world face many similar challenges,” said Oscar Prat van Thiel. “The opportunity lies not only in creating new solutions, but in finding effective ways to transfer, adapt and scale innovations that have already proven their value elsewhere.”

The keynote emphasized that one of the greatest barriers facing cities today is often not a lack of innovation, but the difficulty of scaling successful solutions across jurisdictions, governance systems and geographic regions. Strengthening international cooperation mechanisms, building trusted partnerships and creating pathways for implementation were highlighted as critical elements for accelerating sustainable urban transformation.

The DUT spotlight session featured a series of short keynote interventions followed by an interactive discussion on the future of global urban knowledge, the importance of internationalisation and the role of initiatives such as DUT and IURC in connecting cities, funders and knowledge communities worldwide.

Through its work across Asia, Australasia, Latin America and the Caribbean, IURC continues to support city-to-city and region-to-region cooperation, helping local governments identify common challenges, exchange practical solutions and develop collaborative pilot actions that deliver tangible benefits for citizens.

As cities navigate an increasingly interconnected and uncertain world, the session reinforced a clear message: global collaboration remains essential, and the future of urban innovation will depend not only on generating new ideas, but on successfully scaling and adapting the best ideas wherever they emerge.