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BORDELOT Federica
In Impact community Society, Local democracy, Local Insights

Boost Migration Integration

Inclusion Europe - News 2022

European towns exchange good practices to boost migrants’ integration

Cooperation and knowledge exchanges between European towns can play a key role in integrating newcomers, experts say, adding that their inclusion strategies can also serve as a model for larger
European cities.

“The local communities are where integration happens, through working and studying,” said Katerina Dimitrakopoulou from the Commission’s directorate-general for migration, pointing to the key role of local authorities in integrating newcomers.

Around 8.4% of the EU population are people born outside the bloc and between two and three million third-country nationals settle in the EU for work or study every year, according to the Commission.

To support European cities and regions facing new arrivals, in March 2021 the EU executive and the Committee of the Regions launched a partnership aimed at increasing capacity and fostering know-how exchanges between local communities.

“Our role is to connect people, states, regions and cities and make sure that all the good practices […] are properly disseminated,” Dimitrakopoulou said.

Sharing good practices

Knowledge exchanges are particularly important for smaller towns, which often do not have the same capacity and means to welcome migrants as large cities, according to experts.

“We have cities that already know how to live with migration,” Barbara Kuznik from the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) told EURACTIV, adding that these can serve as a model for other EU towns managing new arrivals.

Kuznik is currently working on the IncluCities project, which allows medium-sized cities to mentor smaller towns on integration practices.

“Sharing our own experiences helps us reflect on the way we promote our services and improve them,” said Juan Carlos Hernández Navas, technical director for city projects in Fuenlabrada, which is mentoring the Greek town of Livadia on employment opportunities for newcomers.

This article was first published by EurActiv. Read the whole text.

GRIFFON Axelle
In Environment, Impact community Climate, Local Insights

Parks and green spaces 

Green Spaces - News 2022

Podgorica: one of Europe’s greenest cities

Green spaces are a great way to have cleaner, healthier cities and encourage people to get out and about. That’s why Podgorica has been renovating old parks, building new ones and creating children’s playgrounds.
 
So far, 16 new parks and 51 children’s playgrounds have been created by the city administration. That’s 230,000 square meters of public green space created and 10,000 tree seedlings planted.
 
The city is proud that in February 2022, the European Environment Agency ranked Podgorica among the five greenest cities in Europe in the category of “urban green areas.”
 
Podgorica’s parks are varied. One features pine trees as a backdrop, with fields for football and other sports, as well as the 2.5-kilometer-long fitness track, the longest in Montenegro. Another, the forest park of Tolosi, hosts a recreational trail for all ages.
 
The development of parks and increased funds for green areas continue to be high on the city’s list of priorities.

GRIFFON Axelle
In Environment, Impact community Climate, Local Insights

Noise pollution 

Noise pollution - News 2022

​French cities deploy ‘Medusa’ sound sensors to tackle noise pollution

Nantes, Nice, Toulouse, Paris: many French cities and towns are setting to trial noise cameras called ‘Medusa’.

Their role? To crack down on vehicles breaking noise limits. The Medusa sound sensors are equipped with a camera and several microphones detecting vehicles such as cars, motorbikes and lorries making noises over a certain decibel level.

The sound radars are expected to be officially approved by the French Ministry of the Interior by the end of 2022 and are currently in the test phase.

The significant noise pollution’s health effects on Europeans

According to the European Environment Agency, at least one in five Europeans are currently exposed to harmful levels of noise pollution. And more than half of Europeans living in urban areas are exposed to road noise levels of 55 decibels or more.

Just as alarming, the EEA estimates that long-term exposure to environmental noise causes 12.000 premature deaths every year.

Further measures to reduce noise pollution in cities

Against this backdrop, mayors and local leaders have been deploying a wide range of other measures to reduce noise pollution in cities. These include replacing old cobbled roads with smoother asphalt, better managing traffic flows, introducing 30 km/h speed limits, or encouraging as much walking, cycling and public transport use as possible.

While reducing noise pollution to “zero” is a lost cause, many towns and cities across Europe have made noise pollution a top priority. As the EEA puts it, many EU Member States will need to do more in the future to reduce noise pollution, including by implementing the EU Environmental Noise Directive.

THOMAS Carol
In Impact community Labour, Local Insights, Skills

Elderly Support Line

Elderly Support Line - News 2022

Turkey’s Serdivan municipality develops comprehensive system for seniors’ emergency and daily care

Like many territories across Europe, the city of Serdivan in northwest Turkey is facing the challenges of caring for an aging population.
 
That is why the municipality has developed the Elderly Support Line. Seniors can apply to have the device and emergency support system installed in their home.
 
Once set up, the senior can call municipal assistance 24/7 by pressing an emergency button worn on a necklace. Thus, elderly people can call for help whether because of falling, heart attack, blood pressure, diabetese or any other problem.
 
The button can also be used on the move as the wireless device enjoys a certain range. The municipality’s call centre can be reached without even the hassle of dialing a phone.
 
With the aid alarm, the municipality’s response team takes action quickly and reaches the needy, if necessary transporting the patient to the hospital by patient transport or ambulance.
 
If the person cannot reach the municipal call centre for any reason, the call is automatically transferred to the 112 Emergency Call Centre.
 
Caring for seniors
 
Serdivan municipality also provides other services to the elderly, such as house cleaning once a month, food according to demand, personal care, bathing once a week and changing the clothes of bedridden people.
 
The municipal support team also makes doctor’s appointments for seniors and takes them to the hospital for examination or routine controls.
 
The project especially supports seniors who may lack nearby relatives. It aims not only to meet seniors’ urgent health and household tasks, but also to accompany them and show them they are not alone.
 
Thanks to the Elderly Support Line, Serdivan’s seniors can live longer, happier lives as valued members of the community.

BORDELOT Federica
In Gender equality, Impact community Society, Local Insights

Urban Planning

Urban Planning Sweden - News 2022

Gender-sensitive urban planning enables safer, more inclusive streets in Umeå, Sweden

As women are still underrepresented in the world of urban planning, we are often confronted with cities that are planned by men and so informed by their experience of the public space. Spotlighting gender equality when developing and planning our municipalities can enable to create safer and more inclusive urban spaces for all.

One success story comes from the Swedish city of Umeå (population 130,224) which has been working to integrate gender equality in urban planning since the late 70s. Signatory of the CEMR European Charter for Equality since 2008, the city was selected as the lead partner in the EU-funded 2019 programme Gendered Landscape network organised by URBACT.

In 2009, Umeå launched an innovative and ongoing initiative: “The Gendered Landscape” bus tour throughout 25 stops representing municipal initiatives that integrate gender considerations and urban planning. It raises awareness of the importance of a gendered and long-term perspective on urban planning, showcases successful work on gender equality and draws attention to issues that still need to be addressed. In constant adaptation, in this article, you can find some of the highlights of Umeå’s innovative action.

The municipal parking company Upab has worked to transform the Nanna parking garage into a safe and accessible-to-everyone environment: it was repainted, new and better lighting and more easily opened doors were introduced, and the brick walls in the stairwells were replaced with glass walls for better visibility.

Umeå Municipality has built the Free Zone in Årstidernas Park in close collaboration with a group of young girls who have shared their experiences of the public space and their sense of safety or unsafety. This led the municipality to work on visibility, lighting and proximity to the road with other people, in an attempt to make the Free Zone a safe and convivial meeting place for socialising, with seating areas, electrical outlets, Wi-Fi and the possibility to listen to music on speakers.

A dark and narrow station tunnel was transformed into a safe and accessible place, with a large light intake and rounded corners for better visibility. Moreover, the tunnel is animated by a work of art that offers a cosy and sheltered feeling: the artistic creation is a tribute to local author Sara Lidman, whose quotes, reads and talks – along with a loop of environmental sounds – can be activated by pressing buttons.

These are only some of the many examples that Umeå can showcase. As the city has experienced, the benefits of having a gendered landscape are multiple: and designing for women contributes to the creation of a sense of belonging, welcome and safety for people of different generations and different backgrounds.

Having inspired her work from other cities’ realities, Umeå gender equality officer Linda Gustafsson argues that is crucial for cities to compare and exchange on each other’s work. In this way, each city can find solutions, suited to the local context, on how to approach gender equality and integrate it into urban planning.

THOMAS Carol
In Impact community Society, Local democracy, Local Insights

Spatial development

Spatial Development - Turkey News

Multi-level cooperation in practice: How Marmara Region, Türkiye, pioneered a participatory approach

The Marmara Region in Türkiye is home to astonishing cultural treasures and diverse landscapes. But it is also a territory of great risks in terms of earthquakes, droughts, flooding and other natural disasters. As a result, disaster planning and resilience are essential to people’s safety. Cities in the region must find more interactive, comprehensive, responsive and innovative solutions to these challenges.

To meet these challenges and broader development goals, the Marmara Municipalities Union (MMU) partnered with Istanbul Technical University and initiated the Marmara Region Spatial Development Strategic Framework Research Project in June 2020. The project, funded by the MMU, aimed to identify problems with the participation of all stakeholders at the provincial and regional levels and to find solutions in harmony with the projects and activities of the various organisations in the region.

Specific objectives included:

  • Strengthening the integration of sub-regional plans, which have been prepared by sub-regional development agencies and which have not been adequately integrated so far
  • Creating a dialogue platform and a road map for local governments and other relevant stakeholders
  • Minimising the side effects and externalities of big infrastructure projects such as airports, bridges, etc
  • Creating a regional approach to maximise the common interests of all cities
  • Raising awareness of inter-city and interregional planning
  • Contributing to regional development in line with the New Urban Agenda and SDGs

Staff collected data from governorships, provincial special institutions, local governments, trade associations and NGOs located in the 14 cities covered by the project. This enabled the identification of the cities’ and region’s problems. A series of workshops with the participation of relevant stakeholders were also held to get their recommendations and ideas on the earliest results of the analysis.

The project identified themes requiring cooperation between cities in the region and prepared sectoral programmes, short-term action plans and spatial development schemes.

The conclusions were outlighted in a three-volume Marmara Region Spatial Development Strategic Framework presented in October 2021. This action-oriented, flexible and participatory strategic document seeks to reduce territorial disparities, increase global competitiveness and local cooperation, and respect climate and ecological sensitivities in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

With this future-oriented strategic framework and the creation of an effective platform for exchange, all the players in the Marmara Region are now working together for a prosperous, sustainable and safe territory.

TARAN Stanislav
In Bridges of Trust, Local Insights, Projects and Programmes

Summer camp for Ukraine

Bridges of Trust Branding - News 2024

The summer camp organised by Siauliai District municipality impressed the children of Dolyna municipality

On 8 August, the 10-day summer camp for Dolyna Municipality (Ukraine), organised by the Šiauliai District Municipality, came to an end. 36 children from Dolyna municipality, accompanied by 4 adult educators, camped in a children’s summer camp near Lake Elongatis in Švenčionys district and by the sea in Melnragė.

Children from Dolyna municipality camped from 29 July to 5 August in the “Sunny Krantas” camp near Lake Pailgio in Švenčionys district. Here, the Ukrainians, together with other campers, participated in various activities, sports competitions and educational activities. As many of the children were visiting Lithuania for the first time, their camp manager Greta organised study trips to Trakai, Kernave and Vilnius for the Dolyna delegation. For three more days, the Ukrainians camped by the sea in Melnragė, enjoyed the beautiful beaches of the Baltic Sea and visited Klaipeda. On the way from the camp in Švenčionys district to the camp on the seaside in Melnragė, the Ukrainians went to Šiauliai district – they really wanted to see the most beautiful and famous places in Šiauliai district as well as meet its leaders.

First of all, the Ukrainian bus went to visit the world-famous Hill of Crosses, located in the Šiauliai district. Impressed and surprised by one of the most famous and visited sacred places in Lithuania, the Ukrainians erected a cross on the Hill of Crosses for Ukraine to win the war. In this delegation were children whose parents were fighting or had died in the brutal war that was ravaging their country.

The Ukrainians came to Kuršėnai, to Laurynas Ivinskis Square, wearing traditional national clothes – “vyšyvankas”. The children from the town of Dolyna and their educators Victor Yatskiv, Olha Listkova, Iryna Krekhovetska, Mariana Boberska were welcomed by the mayor of the Šiauliai district municipality Antanas Bezaras, his deputy Česlovas Spartas and his deputy Rita Žadeikytė.
Mayor Antanas Bezaras spoke briefly about the Šiauliai district, the guests presented the mayor with their drawings on the theme of friendship between Ukraine and Lithuania, which they created during their stay in the “Saules Bank” camp.

The guests were escorted to the Kuršėnai manor by taking one of the longest pedestrian bridges in Lithuania, where the history of the town of Kuršėnai was told, traditional “Kuršėnian” sweets and herbal tea were enjoyed.

Dolyna’s children loved the Kuršėnai manor, and especially the welcoming owners of the manor, Alina Milašienė and Lina Šukienė, who not only welcomed the guests, fed them, but also told the history of the town and the Kuršėnai manor. To the hostesses, the Ukrainians sang Ukrainian songs and the anthem of the town of Dolyna as a token of their thanks.

After their stay in Kuršėnai, the guests travelled to Klaipeda, Melnragė. In Klaipeda, activities and sightseeing tours were organised for them. On 8 August, the guests returned to Dolyna. This trip for the children of Dolyna municipality is a gift from the Šiauliai District Municipality. The Municipal Council of Šiauliai District approved the cooperation between the municipalities of Šiauliai District and the town of Dolyna. On 12 July, the mayor of the Šiauliai district municipality, Antanas Bezaras, mandated by his municipal council, signed a cooperation agreement with Ivan Dyriv, mayor representing the Dolyna municipal council. The mayors of the two municipalities, at the signing of the contract, expressed their satisfaction with the fact that, even before the contract was signed, the municipalities of Šiauliai and Dolyna district were already connected by fraternal ties, which were established in autumn 2021 when they started to participate in the “Bridges of Trust” project.

The leaders of Dolyna Municipality stated that the significant humanitarian support of Šiauliai District Municipality and farmer Česlovas Karbauskis, contributing 1000 euros to the Gruzdžiai dispensary, for a total of more than 100,000 euros is an important sign of sincere friendship and an example to follow.

The Šiauliai District Municipality pays great attention to children’s summer recreation – this year financial support was allocated to fund no less than 16 children’s summer camp and summer recreation projects.

The summer school has been supported by the U-LEAD with Europe Programme, a multi-donor action of the European Union and its member states (Germany, Sweden, Poland, Denmark, Estonia and Slovenia).

Šiauliai district municipality information

GAUDRON Marine
In Impact community Cohesion, Local Insights

Rural concierge service

France - News Section

A French rural and solidarity-based concierge service to encourage local development and integration

Already popular in large cities, concierges provide residents with a range of everyday services, from childcare to shopping deliveries to clothes alterations. The concierge service concept is also taking root in rural areas, as shown by the example of the Ô Taquet concierge service in Saint-Sauvant, France.

The Ô Taquet rural concierge service offers a multitude of services to all individuals, whether they are working or retired, alone or with their family. The aim is simple: to make life easier for the inhabitants of the commune. Elderly people who can no longer perform certain tasks or working people who lack the time to do some of their tasks particularly appreciate the establishment of such an initiative.

The Ô Taquet conciergerie was created by the association Solidarité Environnement Insertion (SEI). This association was founded in 2011 by a small group of inhabitants who wanted to contribute to the local development of Saint-Sauvant while facilitating the integration of people.

The establishment of the concierge service has had multiple beneficial effects on the territory. First of all, it creates a social link between people with social difficulties and those who have the means to hire them. In addition to creating jobs, the concierge service has increased the activity of local businesses. In this sense, Ô Taquet represents a real public service for the village.

THOMAS Carol
In Impact community Society, Local democracy, Local Insights

Local Best Practices

Twinning - News 2

LGA’s case studies database: a wealth of local best practices from climate to COVID

Local and regional governments are genuine laboratories for democratic politics and policymaking. Decentralisation enables each locality to experiment with different approaches, enabling the discovery of what works best.

The Local Government Association, our English and Welsh member, has a dedicated database of case studies which showcases the many innovative actions its local councils are taking. The database includes over 2000 entries searchable by date and topic, including youth, health, safety, culture, data and much more. LGA also maintains a dedicated page on COVID-19 best practices and case studies.

English and Welsh councils’ actions are striking because of their sheer diversity and the range of topics covered. For example, Devon County Council’s Apricot Centre is training local farmers to transition to regenerative farming. In contrast to the overuse of pesticides and monocultures, methods such as growing hedgerows and diversifying produce can restore local biodiversity and increase resilience to climate change.

Meanwhile, the Manchester Council has developed a programme to reduce overweight among South Asian women, a group at particular risk of obesity. The city has created Bollyfit Active, a simple scheme for South Asian women to come together to exercise and bond. The scheme responds to the isolation experienced by many during the COVID crisis and to the fact South Asian women may be less likely to use mixed-gender gyms.

These are just a taster of the wide variety of case studies undertaken by local councils in England and Wales. Have a look to discover for yourself and find inspiration for local action!

BIZARRO Pedro
In Local Insights, Projects and Programmes, Reference Framework for Sustainable Cities

Residents service points to improve access to public services

Poland services - News 2022

In Rzeszow (Poland), resident service points as a tool for improving residents’ access to public services

In Poland, the city of Rzeszow set up four Residents Services Points (RSPs) in 2011. Easily attainable in shopping malls that have widespread parking capacities and are accessible to people with disabilities, RSPs intend to boost the approachability and provision of public services. In these RSPs, citizens can, for example, receive their ID cards and driving licenses, register their cars or inform themselves about local events.

The creation of RSPs was based on a participatory approach. In a survey, residents indicated their needs and expectations for such service. Once the first RSP was launched, satisfaction surveys were conducted to improve its functioning.

RSPs largely gained in popularity over the years. As such, in 2013, 20,000 cases were handled in the RSPs. In 2016, the number of administrated cases totalled 50,000. This can be explained by the high level of satisfaction of users due, among others, to the extended working time of the office, the greater availability of civil servants, the ability to handle many official topics in one dedicated place and the possibility to visit the RSPs on one’s way to everyday activities.

To learn more about this and other local best practices, check out the website of URBACT, the European territorial cooperation programme which aims to promote sustainable integrated urban development in cities all over Europe.

Since 2021, the RFSC tool is used by cities and partners of the “Global Goals for Cities” URBACT network, supporting the localisation of the SDGs across 19 European cities.

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