Author: indy

Eco-Schools & Circular Economy – Students from Portugal and Malaysia exchange experiences online

Youth Action Matters - under this motto, the pilot cities of Vila Nova de Famalicao and Seberang Perai organised an online exchange involving selected pupils from three schools: SMK Convent Butterworth (Seberang-Perai), Camilo Castelo Branco (Vila Nova de Famalicao), and Colegio Nova da Maia (Maia). Each school presented current initiatives in areas including energy saving, waste segregation, as well as...

Seoul and Dublin partnership advanced through reciprocal visit in Ireland

Seoul and Dublin conducted the second study visit in Dublin on 6-10 February this year through the IURC programme (International Urban and Regional Cooperation) sponsored by European Union. Since it was a reciprocal visit, Seoul and Dublin delegates were able to refine the ideas for the future activity plans that were initially drafted during the last visit in Seoul. The...

Back to normal: Christchurch and Vitoria-Gasteiz experts meet online to define smart city cooperation

As a follow-up to the bilateral study visits conducted in Europe and New Zealand in November and December 2022 respectively, experts from Vitoria-Gasteiz and Christchurch city councils discussed online the next steps for the collaboration in the smart city area. The action identified is the adaption of Christchurch's smart city interface "SmartView" to Vitoria-Gasteiz's open data portal. The portal was...

Spanish city delegates’ study mission to Christchurch, New Zealand / Aotearoa

Delegates from the Spanish cities of Málaga and Vitoria Gasteiz visited the New Zealand city of Christchurch to deepen pilot project cooperation in the fields of climate resilience, open innovation and citizens' engagement. The mission aimed at deepening the results obtained during the preparatory online meetings as well as during the study visit of Christchurch to Málaga and Vitoria-Gasteiz in...

New Zealand: Christchurch delegation mets counterparts in Brussels, Malaga and Vitoria-Gasteiz

A delegation of four delegates from Christchurch City Council institutions supported by Prof. Paul Dalziel from Lincoln University - who coordinates IURC activities in New Zealand - participated in a series of meetings on climate action, innovation ecosystems and smart city strategies in Europe. The programme started with a two-day workshop in Brussels consisting of a regional event for cities...

Regional Workshop for European, Asian and Australasian city experts in Brussels

More than 50 delegates from 26 EU cities and regions as well as from 6 cities from Australia (Brisbane), New Zealand (Christchurch), Japan (Nagoya), the Republic of Korea (Sejong) and India (Chennai, Kochi and Pune) met on 7 November 2022 in Brussels to exchange on the implementation of the IURC programme. The workshop provided the opportunity for cross-country cooperation among...

Delegations from Hamburg and Barcelona visit Australia

Two delegations from Hamburg and Australia held meetings with their counterparts in Melbourne, Brisbane and Canberra. Meetings started in Melbourne on Monday 25 July 2022 with a meeting at Melbourne City Hall. Brisbane and Canberra city representatives joined the EU cities and Melbourne for a shared program on Monday and Tuesday. Delegates were welcomed by Melbourne's Lord Mayor Sally Capp...

Rotterdam visits Busan and Sejong as the first study visit of the IURC EU-Korea partnerships

From 4-8 July 2022, Rotterdam visited South Korea as part of the IURC programme to connect with Busan, its partner city, and Sejong, whom it is expanding cooperation with outside of the programme. Rotterdam and Busan launched their study visit with a kick-off conference at Busan Metropolitan City Hall. First, IURC introduced the programme to orient the delegates for their...

EU – New Zealand: Vilnius visits Taranaki / New Plymouth

From 5 to 7 July 2022, city officials from Vilnius, Lithuania, visited New Plymouth / Taranaki in New Zealand to further explore their cooperation topics (urban / mobility) and better understand the host city’s context for urban development. This is the first time that New Zealand has been part of the IURC programme, and this was the first visit by an...

Japan: Delegates from Koriyama and Toyota visted Essen and Grenoble

Koriyama and Toyota completed the study visit to Essen and GAM (Grenoble-Alpes Metropole) from 22-29 June. During their visit, Koriyama and Essen were able to see Essen and GAMs’ action to promote a “hydrogen-based society” and their utilization of “open innovation” platforms to support innovation for industrial transitions. The delegation from Japan was membered by municipality officials responsible for the...