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Article
URP2020 – Sustainable and Resilient Urban-Rural Partnrships
Under auspices of the Minister of the German Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) Anja Karliczek, the conference Sustainable & Resilient Urban-Rural Partnerships – URP2020 will take place in Leipzig, Germany, 25–27 November 2020.
Regions are of critical importance to implement the UN 2030 Agenda including the Sustainable Development Goals, the HABITAT III objectives and the European Green Deal.
By focusing on sustainable and resilient urban-rural partnerships, the international URP2020 conference aims at developing new urban-rural imaginaries, integrating strategies and projects that explore present and future potentials in terms of sustainability and resilience.
URP2020 contributes to the implementation of the New Leipzig Charter 2020 and is part of the events of the German Presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2020.
URP2020 will bring together outstanding keynote speakers and connect scientific insights with enlightening experiences of on-going projects in practice. Join a stimulating conference that fosters learning on various levels, i.e, from the local level via entire regions to the broader European understanding of integrated urban-rural development.
UPR2020 is a forum for exchange and support the co-design of ideas to tackle the challenges for sustainable and resilient regional development. -
Article
IFHP: AFFORDABLE HOUSING AND THE INCLUSIVE CITY
Summit: Cities are for people, ideally for all people. But when adequate housing becomes increasingly unaffordable to a growing part of cities’ citizens, who is the city then for? Affordable housing is at the root of citizens’ ability to thrive in their city, and to their resilience to economic and social shocks.
Masterclass: How are cities to tackle the aggravating housing crisis and foster inclusive economic growth for their citizens to thrive? 2,5 billion more people are expected to be living in cities by 2050. That equals a staggering 80 million per year that cities around the world must accommodate and offer liveable conditions for. Recent research reveals that only 13% of the world’s cities have affordable housing – a situation exacerbating during the covid-19 pandemic. Despite adequate housing being recognized as a human right, the housing crisis seems to only intensify. -
Article
What comes next, after the adoption of the Leipzig Charter and Territorial Agenda of the European Union? What role do metropolitan regions play?
During the German EU Council Presidency, decisive steps are being taken for the development of Europe’s cities and metropolitan regions. At the end of 2020, the revised Leipzig Charter and the Territorial Agenda of the European Union will be signed by the national governments.
Both strategies set new standards for European spatial planning and urban policy. Metropolitan regions play an increasingly important role in this, because a city alone cannot meet the challenges of the future. Topics, such as sustainable mobility, affordable housing, industrial settlements in times of structural change, infrastructure measures, open space protection and development, as well as the provision of renewable energies can only be successfully tackled in cooperation between cities and their surroundings. The three metropolitan regions of Stuttgart, FrankfurtRheinMain and Rhein-Neckar provide best practices for this.
What happens after the two strategies have been adopted? What necessary measures and steps are being taken for a successful implementation? How can metropolitan regions foster this process? These and other questions will be discussed in a dialogue with representatives of the European and national level in the Representation of the State of Baden-Württemberg to the European Union in Brussels. The event will be live streamed in German & English. -
Article
Role for planners: Integrating Spatial Planning and Design with society, ‘Planning for all’
This debate will focus on the repositioning of the spatial planner or designer as an orchestrator and enabler of sustainable regional futures. With the current pressing global issues in mind, it’s high time to embrace and promote the unique qualities and attributes of spatial planning and design, and explore the new roles planners and designers should take on. Some of the questions that we will address are;
– How should planners and designers operate in addressing the big-ticket issues of the 21st century?
– What capacities are essential to create an impact on sectors related to new planning, that will encompass distinctive collaborations?
In the format of a debate, we will look at the paradigm shift in the roles of spatial planning and the capacities that challenges the new age planners. Some of the main discussions will revolve around;
– Paradigm shift in spatial planning and design
– Big challenges and differences in sectoral boundaries
– Changing roles: Planner as a boundary spanner
– Capacity building in of planning that is needed to interact with other sectors (social, economic, cultural, energy, technological)
– Expectations from various sectors from planners?
– Additional capacities necessary for 21st CE planners and designers
– Unprecedented times: Prioritization of monumental shifts in the field of planning -
Article
‘Improving international passenger rail’
Het RLI organiseert een internationaal online event over een Europese corridoraanpak, een van de belangrijkste aanbevelingen uit de brief aan de Europese Commissie.
Vooraanstaande sprekers uit de sector (waaronder Kabinet Frans Timmermans, DG Move, European Infrastructure Managers (EIM), Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER), European Union Agency for Railways (ERA)) gaan in gesprek met de aanwezigen over de stappen die gezet (moeten) worden om internationaal personenvervoer per trein te verbeteren.
Brief aan Europese Commissie ‘Improving international passenger rail’
De Rli heeft samen met vier andere onafhankelijke Europese adviesraden op het gebied van duurzaamheid en milieu een brief geschreven aan de Europese Commissie over het stimuleren van internationaal passagiersvervoer per trein. In de afgelopen maanden hebben nog eens vier adviesraden (uit Ierland, Portugal, Duitsland en Hongarije) hun steun betuigd en hun ‘endorsement’ aan de brief gegeven. -
Article
Changing Values and the Role of Metropolitan Authorities
The current pandemic has shown its seismic character, bringing our activities to a standstill, almost overnight, with long-lasting consequences for the economy and most probably for our lifestyle. The ‘freeze’ also shifted our focus towards the opportunities that come with having experienced close Proximity opposite the concept of Globalisation in the last decades.
Many answers and actions addressing climate change are already being developed on a metropolitan and local level. The current situation is an opportunity to understand better how to find a sustainable AND resilient balance in our behaviour: the necessity to travel, the distance between locations of food production and consumers, etc. And behavioural change often is preceded by changing values: e.g. how do we value the proximity of work, the importance of a local social network, access to services, etc. It is an opportunity to reset our thinking and our plans.
In Lyon we will explore new structures in life; we will focus on the concept of proximity in housing, workplaces, food and health, and consequences/opportunities for the Role of the Metropolitan Regions.