Author: Franziska Walther


Albacete and Gangtok: Celebrating a Year of Partnership and Progress for a Greener Future

The partnership between Gangtok, India, and Albacete, Spain, has reached a significant milestone. The cities began their partnership in 2022 and have conducted two productive exchange visits, enabling them to share insights, best practices and ideas for creating more sustainable communities, with a focus on solid waste management awareness.  Based on the learnings of this partnership, a poster on waste...

IURC Portuguese Eco-School Delegation to Seberang Perai

11-16 September 2023 The Seberang Perai City Council hosted the Camilo Castelo Branco School Group (AECCB) delegation which was jointly led by Ms. Raquel Azevedo, Coordinator of the Eco-Schools Programme and Chef Ricardo Lanção, Professional Cooking and Pastry Technician at the AE Camila Castelo Branco (AECCB) of Famalicão. Two top students Mr. Gabriel Torres and Mr. Joāo Fontes were selected...

Dublin delegation visits Seoul to initiate a pilot project on Urban Mobility and Digital Transition

26-30 August 2023 Supported by the International Urban and Regional Cooperation (IURC) programme funded by the European Union (EU), Dublin City Council sent a 3-person delegation to Seoul (Republic of Korea) to initiate pilot project implementation in the fields of urban mobility and digital transition. This study visit is part of the competitive award given by the European Union, aiming to further develop the cooperation in building data-analytic...

Call for Companies to enter the Joint Open Innovation Online Pitches on New Energy Technologies and/or Hydrogen

Companies (large, middle-sized or SME) from our IURC partner cities of Essen (Germany), Grenoble-Alpes Metropole (France), Toyota or Koriyama (Japan), looking for solutions on new energy technologies and/or hydrogen to address climate change challenges, are eligible to participate in the Joint Open Innovation Online Pitches. Participants will benefit by being connected to 4 innovative energy ecosystems of the partner cities....

Nurturing Start-ups and Driving Innovation in Gwalior and Leuven via Joint Actions

As part of the cooperation between Gwalior, India and Leuven, Belgium, Leuven MindGate and the Flanders Business School co-funded with IURC the participation of 3 Gwalior start-up representatives and a representative from G.Incube, Mr Paritosh Goel in the And& Connect event in Leuven from 2-5 May 2023 to promote innovation, connectiveness and inspiration. The And& Connect festival brought together professionals...

A Case of Mutual Enrichment between an Indian and European City

A three-member delegation from Alto Minho, Portugal visited Jamshedpur, India from 18 – 21 April, 2023 as part of the ongoing cooperation between the Intermunicipal Council of Alto Minho (CIM Alto Minho) and Tata Steel Utilities and Infrastructure Services Limited (TSUISL) Jamshedpur. The focus of cooperation is solid waste management.  Post meetings with MD Brainstorming sessions with technical team Meetings with...

Karlsruhe and PMRDA Exchange Best Practices on Urban Planning

The high-level exchange visit of the City of Karlsruhe to the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) focused on best practices for the mutually beneficial pilot projects of (i) the Eco-Industrial Township (EIT) design development and (ii) the establishment of a Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Urban Planning. The 3-day exchange visit agenda from 24th – 26th April 2023 was planned to...

A Model Cooperation Between Various Stakeholders on Flood Warning

A water-based city, Kochi has 48 km of waterfront development, a water transport system that converges with other modes of transport. Being a city that lies near sea level, any change in ocean levels will affect the city. The city faced one of the worst floods in 2019. Critical assets like main power substations and arterial roads were flooded. Flash...

Turin Delegation visits Nagoya on Cooperation on the City as a Laboratory for Open Innovation

Turin City, Italy and Nagoya City, Japan are cooperating on the promotion of the city as a laboratory for open innovation. In November 2022, a delegation of Nagoya City visited Turin City to observe Torino City Labo, an open-air laboratory for co-developing and testing solutions to urban challenges and studied Turin’s CTE NEXT project and the activities of Torino Social...

Delegation visit of Lemvig, Denmark to Whakatū (Nelson), New Zealand / Aotearoa

From 20-24 March 2023, the IURC co-organised a delegation visit from Lemvig, Denmark to Whakatū (Nelson), New Zealand. The delegation included Claus Borg (Director at Lemvig Municipality), Lars Holmegaard (CEO Klimatorium Lemvig) and Sarah Lund (Director of International Collaborations and Strategic Sustainability Initiatives of Klimatorium). The visit was hosted by Wakatū Incorporation based in Whakatū (Nelson), Aotearoa/New Zealand. As Wakatū...