Category: News from Asia & Australasia

EU and Vietnamese cities discuss flood control and mitigation of urban heat island effect

On 19 January 2022, city officials from Da Lat and Ha Tinh in Vietnam met with those from Stuttgart in Germany and Colleferro and Latina in Italy to share their best practices in flood management as well as nature-based solutions to combatting the urban heat island effect. The Stuttgart Regional Association supports its municipalities by developing mandatory regulations, providing reliable...

Exchanging thoughts on micro-mobility, walking, and cycling with EU and Korean cities

As part of the IURC programme, Sejong, Sofia, Seoul, and Dublin started the New Year with two bilateral meetings. Sofia and Sejong leapt into 2022 with a bilateral meeting on 12 January 2022. Reflecting the previous meeting, the two cities are now narrowing down their interests and sharing in-depth knowledge on the topic of micro-mobility. Seoul and Dublin followed them...

1st bilateral meeting between Semarang and Sofia

Representatives from Semarang City of Indonesia and Sofia City of Bulgaria met online on 13 January 2022 to discuss possible cooperation with a focus on urban mobility. The representatives had an exchange on various projects, looking at the current challenges of both cities and sharing their solutions, some of which also involve the private sector. Elitsa Panayotova, Coordinator of SOfiaGREEN...

EU – New Zealand Cities: Climatorium Lemvig and Nelson Wakatu

After the joint EU-NZ cities meeting on 27 September 2021, further online meetings were organised by partners from Lemvig (Climatorium) and Nelson (Wakatu Incorporation) without requiring input from the Australasia Helpdesk. The IURC project team has met online with Sarah Lund from the Danish Climatorium. Meetings are currently taking place every fortnight, focused on collaborative planning for a conference scheduled...

Urban mobility: Common area of interest for cooperation between Sejong, Sofia and Rotterdam

On 15 December 2021, Sejong held two bilateral meetings with Sofia and Rotterdam to further share their best practices in the area of urban mobility. As the administrative capital of the Republic of Korea, Sejong is a planned city where bicycle lanes were incorporated into the build of the city. Since its inception, Sejong has been implementing a bicycle sharing...

3rd Round of EU-Malaysia Cities’ Bilateral Exchanges

For the third time since the kick-off meeting, Malaysian and Portuguese pilot cities representatives met online and agreed on cooperation areas, possible pilot actions and possible schedules for the study visits. Two bilateral encounters were organised in December 2021 online: EIXO Atlántico and George Town (Penang State) Vila Nova de Famalicão and Seberang Perai (Penang State) At the events, representatives...

EU – New Zealand Cities: Christchurch and Málaga / Vitoria-Gasteiz Collaborations

After the joint EU-NZ cities' meetings on 13 and 27 September 2021, further online meetings with the three cities took place on n 26 October 2021. Overarching potential topics included climate action (mobility, food systems, green infrastructure, risk mitigation); diversifying economic development (new sectors such as cultural sector, high tech sectors in cooperation with universities); and inclusive urban planning (shape...

EU – New Zealand Cities: New Plymouth and Vilnius Collaboration

After the joint EU-NZ cities' meetings on 13 and 27 September 2021, bilateral events between New Plymouth and Vilnius took place on 5 October, 19 October, 3 November, 23 November, and 14 December. The topics discussed at these meetings covered: waste management; local partnerships; hydrogen; emission neutrality; the 2050 roadmap; energy-efficient buildings; and central city strategy. In all of these...

IURC experts in India underscore importance of multi-stakeholder engagement

Our urban development experts in India, Prachi Merchant, Ansu Susan Alexander, Ashish Verma and Panagiotis Karamanos published an article in the Shashwat journal discussing the significance of the IURC programme’s emphasis on the quadruple helix approach, or the engagement of government, academic, the private sector and civil society, in sustainable urban development. Meaning “eternal” or “sustainable” in Sankrit, Shashwat is the annual magazine of the GRIHA...

EU-Australian Cities: Follow-Up Meeting

The four European and three Australian pilot cities met online to crystallise where substantive work will start in the new year. Whereas the city pairings were confirmed, it was agreed that during the 1st half of 2022 cities would work together in thematic groups, involving experts according to the needs and demands. Herefore, the IURC project team proposed a series...