1. Structure Activities Needs December 2002
Massimiliano Rumignani PWG on Urban Research

2. Massimiliano Rumignani - 5-12-02 PWG on Urban Research
Members
115 major cities in 14 European Union countries and 19 other European countries
Aarhus
Amsterdam
Antwerp
Athens
Barcelona
Belfast
Bergen
Berlin
Bilbao
Birmingham
Bologna
Bonn
Bordeaux
Bradford
Bratislava
Bristol
Brno
Brussels City
Brussels Region
Bucharest
Budapest
Cardiff
Charleroi
Chemnitz
Copenhagen
Den Haag
Dortmund
Dublin
Düsseldorf
Edinburgh
Eindhoven
Espoo
Frankfurt am Main
Gdansk
Geneva
Genova
Gent
Gijón
Glasgow
Göteborg
Graz
Grenoble
Helsinki
Heerlen Stadtpark
Katowice
Kiev
Klaipeda
Köln
Krakow
Leeds
Leipzig
Lille
Lisboa
Liverpool
Ljubljana
Lódz
Lyon
Madrid
Malaga
Malmö
Manchester
Marseille
Milano
Montpellier
Munich
Münster
Nancy
Nantes
Napoli
Newcastle
Nice
Nicosia
Nis
Nizny Novgorod
Nottingham
Novi Sad
Nuremberg
Oulu
Oslo
Palermo
Paris
Plovdiv
Porto
Prague
Reykjavik
Riga
Rome
Rotterdam
Saint Etienne
St Petersburg
Sevilla Sheffield
Southampton
Stockholm
Strasbourg
Szczecin
Tallinn
Tampere
Timisoara
Torino
Touluse
Trieste
Turku
Utrecht
Valencia
Valladolid
Vantaa
Varna
Venezia
Vienna
Vilnius
Warszawa
Zagreb
Zaragoza
Massimiliano Rumignani PWG on Urban Research

3. Massimiliano Rumignani - 5-12-02 PWG on Urban Research
EUROCITIES AIMS
Ensure that urban affairs are placed high on the European Union’s policy agenda: Most decisions taken at EU level affect cities and their citizens. We take the lead to make the “Voice of large cities in Europe” heard.
Promoting exchange of best practices and networking amongst Europe’s large cities (whilst having different cultural, socio-economic and political realities they share common challenges and solutions. We encourage our members to exchange their expertise, and to be proactive in shaping national and EU policy).
Promoting transnational cooperation projects between its member cities across Europe, (we facilitate their coordination and help provide access to EU-funding).
Massimiliano Rumignani PWG on Urban Research

4. EUROCITIES ACTIVITIES
Lobbying the EU institutions
We want to see a dynamic Europe that gives greater weight to cities in Community and national government policies. Our political action is steered towards all the European institutions: The European Commission, the European Parliament, the Committee of the Regions and the Council.
Sharing expertises
Therefore we co-ordinate a broad range of projects between EUROCITIES members. Our knowledge of urban challenges and successes, and the assessment of their trans-European dimension, is the basis of our political strategy.
Monitoring progress and raising awareness
We constantly assess and monitor our work in progress. We contribute to major events organised by our partners from the EU institutions. But managing our large network remains a necessity.
Massimiliano Rumignani PWG on Urban Research

5. Massimiliano Rumignani - 5-12-02 PWG on Urban Research
COMMUNICATION TOOLS
Eurocities publishes policy papers covering the relevant fields of activity and developing the organisation’s position;
The Flash: is a fortnightly Electronic newsletter that reach more than 1200 municipal officers and managers;
The website:
The EUROCITIES Magazine is a complementary information tool, designed to convey our message to a larger audience.
Massimiliano Rumignani PWG on Urban Research

6. Massimiliano Rumignani - 5-12-02 PWG on Urban Research
FIELDS OF ACTIVITIES
Culture
Enlargement
Employment
Environment
Governance – Strategic development plans
Liberalisation
New technologies
Social inclusion and emploiment
Transport
Urban Research
Massimiliano Rumignani PWG on Urban Research

7. Massimiliano Rumignani - 5-12-02 PWG on Urban Research
CONTEXT
Eurocities main objective is to improve the quality of life in urban areas.
Decision makers must be aware of the consequences or impacts of different possible policy options that are presented to them.
Research can supply the knowledge to allow decision makers to make the most informed choices.
The main challenge to be addressed is how can we make scientific know-how available to the policy debate.
Massimiliano Rumignani PWG on Urban Research

8. Massimiliano Rumignani - 5-12-02 PWG on Urban Research
MEMBERS
Chair: Helsinki,
Cities: Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Lille, Munich, Nuremberg, Oulu, Porto, Stockholm, The Hague, Turku, Turin, Venice;
Research Institutes: DIFU (Berlin), EURA (Bristol), EURICUR (Rotterdam), IERM (Barcelona), Dep. of Economics (Venice University), Inst. Geography (Copenhagen), Centre for social innovation (Vienna).
Massimiliano Rumignani PWG on Urban Research

9. Massimiliano Rumignani - 5-12-02 PWG on Urban Research
CITIES NEEDS
COMPLEXITY, DYNAMICS AND DIVERSITY are characteristics of the large cities, for this reason simple solutions often are not able to achieve the planned aims.
Cities have to cope with different and multi faceted problems;
They need a lot of resources to implement high level research activities able to help them;
They need to be aware of the existing research results and innovative ideas;
They need to know which are possible policies and actions that can be undertaken to enhance the quality of life of their citizens.
Massimiliano Rumignani PWG on Urban Research

10. Massimiliano Rumignani - 5-12-02 PWG on Urban Research
PWG’s AIMS
To identify research needs for cities;
To promote exchange and debate of ideas, knowledge and data;
To look for new co-operation with EU institutions and DGs
To stimulate a stronger use of the existing research results;
To implement joint projects with partnerships among Eurocities members and the researched Institutes involved;
To support the transfer of best practices in the field of urban research and policy;
To stimulate co-operation among local universities and research institutes dealing with urban issues and cities.
Massimiliano Rumignani PWG on Urban Research

11. Massimiliano Rumignani - 5-12-02 PWG on Urban Research
ACTIVITIES
The instruments and actions that we will use to achieve our aims are:
Organizing 2 meetings per year to monitor existing situation and to update the work programme and to meet experts to bridge the gap among theoretical and practical studies and activities;
Submitting some surveys to understand the research needs and the attitude toward urban research in cities;
Inform EC members on existing successful research results using Eurocities Flash and Eurocities website;
Marketing the idea that research activities can really help decision makers in their choices;
Develop contacts and collaborations with EU INSTITUTIONS.
Massimiliano Rumignani PWG on Urban Research

12. Regarding URBAN AUDIT THE QUALITY OF LIFE IN URBAN AREAS KEY OBJECTIVE
Next year
THE QUALITY OF LIFE IN URBAN AREAS
will be our
KEY OBJECTIVE
THE AIM: Approve a Quality of Life Action Plan
and a paper that explains
how quality of life looks like
and how cities can enhance it.
Massimiliano Rumignani PWG on Urban Research

13. Massimiliano Rumignani - 5-12-02 PWG on Urban Research
RECENT SURVEY’S RESULTS ON CITIES’ MAIN PRIORITIES REGARDING RESEARCH ACTIVITIES, INFORMATION AND RESULTS
SECURITY IN CITIES
NOT ONLY LINKED TO THE REAL SAFETY OF CITIES, BUT ALSO TO THE PERCEIVED ONE
SOCIAL INCLUSION, EXCLUSION AND COHESION POLICIES
LINKED NOT ONLY WITH PROBLEMS AMONG DIFFERENT ETNICS GROUPS AND DIFFERENT INCOME LEVELS, BUT ALSO WITH CITY PLANNING
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Massimiliano Rumignani PWG on Urban Research

14. Massimiliano Rumignani - 5-12-02 PWG on Urban Research
WE ARE AWARE OF THE PRESENCE OF DIFFERENT ACTORS AND OBJECTIVES in this context CITIES NEED TO ACHIEVE THESE AIMS :
TO MONITOR THE CHANGES AFTER IMPLEMENTING THE DIFFERENT POLICIES AND ACTIONS;
TO HAVE INSTRUMENTS TO COMPARE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE DIFFERENT POLICIES IN THE DIFFERENT SITUATIONS;
TO RECEIVE RELEVANT INFORMATION ON NEW EFFECTIVE PARAMETERS AND THEIR POTENTIALITIES FOR CITIES;
Massimiliano Rumignani PWG on Urban Research

15. Massimiliano Rumignani - 5-12-02 PWG on Urban Research
TO ACHIEVE OUR GENERAL MAIN AIM (ENHANCE THE QUALITY OF LIFE IN URBAN AREAS) IN PRACTICAL TERMS WE NEED
TO RECEIVE INFORMATION AND SUPPORT
FROM HIGHER POLITICAL LEVELS
FROM DIFFERENT AND HIGHER CENTRES OF KNOWLEDGE
Massimiliano Rumignani PWG on Urban Research

16. REPRESENT POTENZIAL USERS TO IMPLEMENT URBAN POLICIES (PRO-ACTIVE) AND
WHAT CAN WE OFFER? Keeping in mind the: IMPORTANCE OF COMPARABILITY OF DATA
CLOSER LINKS WITH
LOCAL AUTHORITIES
REPRESENT POTENZIAL USERS TO IMPLEMENT
URBAN POLICIES (PRO-ACTIVE) AND
(AD HOC) PROJECTS
Massimiliano Rumignani PWG on Urban Research

17. IT’S EUROCITIES’ INTEREST
DISSEMINATE THE DATA AND THE RESULTS OF THE URBAN AUDIT II AMONG MUNICIPALITIES AUTHORITIES
TO STIMULATE LOCAL AUTHORITIES TO USE THEM DURING THE POLITICAL DISCUSSION AND THE DECISION PROCESS
Massimiliano Rumignani PWG on Urban Research