Author: Franziska Walther

IURC Annual Event – Highlights

"This is a make-or-break decade" for climate change and the just transition, so said Normunds Popens, Deputy Director-General of the European Commission’s DG REGIO as he opened the International Urban and Regional Cooperation (IURC) programme’s Annual Event on 23 & 24 November 2021. With this quote from Commission president Ursula Von der Leyen, Popens drew the audience’s attention at once...

IURC Annual Event: registrations are open!

Join us for the first International Urban and Regional Cooperation (IURC) Annual Event, where over the course of two days you will have the chance to deep dive into the European priorities for cities and regions in the framework of the programme, hear about success stories from different stakeholders and learn about the doors that IURC can open for you....

New international collaboration opportunities

A new programme from DG Regio is giving European local authorities the opportunity to collaborate with their peers in Canada, South Africa, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong. The topics for collaboration are circular economy, air quality, energy transition, and integration of migrants and refugees. The deadline to apply is 15 November via this online questionnaire. The International City...

A festival of ideas

What if sharing research and ideas to solve the world's problems could look more like a music festival than a stuffy old scientific conference? Officials from Umeå who travelled to Kamakura as part of the last phase of International Urban and Regional Cooperation were inspired by that city's approach to local participation - organising a kind of 'hackathon' with a...

The future of Latin American food markets

What is the future of food markets? Though many large wholesale food markets have been moved to the peripheries of our cities over the years, those that remain in urban environments continue to be highly valued by their communities. This can be because of the fresh, cheap food and the social ties between vendors and customers. We invite you to...

IURC develops city-to-city cooperation opening the door to a 50 million USD public-private partnership between Los Cabos, Mexico and Spanish private investment

As a result of the cooperation between the cities of Los Cabos, Mexico, and Almería, Spain, within the framework of the IURC 1st phase (IUC ), the contract for the new Los Cabos’ water supply network was awarded to the Spanish company Aqualia. The Los Cabos- Almería partnership through the IUC (1st phase of IURC) programme made possible the introduction...

European city or region? Apply Now To Go International

Did you miss our Landing IURC event? Watch the recording here or consult the presentation here. The doors are open for you to apply for the International Urban and Regional Cooperation programme, an opportunity for your city or region and local stakeholders to pair up with cities in Asia, Australasia and Latin and North America to exchange on sustainability and innovation,...

Why EU cities and regions must be international

“We are major advocates of the need for a territorial justice and for territorial development and we have been now 30 years in this business.” This passion for justice, according to Ronald Hall, Senior adviser to the Directorate General for Regional and Urban Policy, made the International Urban and Regional Cooperation programme a natural step for DG REGIO. Watch or...

A digital international city

Looking for a neat interactive experience strolling through a digital international city? Our virtual brochure is populated by characters and quotes that will help guide you to understand the virtues of international cooperation, how the programme works, and what it holds for you. This animated experience lets you browse the geographical areas of the world and discover how they benefited...

IUC to IURC

Interview with Sandra Marín (Team Leader & KE IURC Central Coordination Service) What is IURC? What is the vision for what it will achieve? I personally like to define this programme as a “Facilitator” to open opportunities for cities and regions to go a step further in their sustainable urban development or regional innovation strategies. What kind of opportunities? Those...