Cities Forum 2023 – Upcoming

Overview:

The 5th edition of Cities Forum will be held in Torino, Italy from 16 to 17 March 2023. The event brings together key urban stakeholders at European, national, regional and local levels who are committed to a green and just future of cities.

The Cities Forum is a biennial event of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy. For this edition, our host is Torino, a city with a vast history in urban transformation due to its transition from factory town to a city of knowledge, culture and innovation.

The Cities Forum 2023 will offer high-level debates, participatory sessions and interactive workshops on cohesion and recovery in cities. It will provide participants with a unique opportunity to network and discuss the recent developments of various EU initiatives and policies as well as to explore our host city through several site visits. Make sure to review the programme section for a detailed description of each session.

A new tool to support cities

As the EU is one of the most urbanised areas in the world, focusing more resources on the development of cities is crucial. At least 8 % of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) resources are set aside for sustainable urban development investments in the Cohesion policy programmes for 2021-2027. The Cities Forum is the place and moment to exchange on the urban dimension of Cohesion Policy for 2021-2027, key policies and initiatives such as the Urban Agenda for the EU, the EU Mission for 100 Climate Neutral and Smart Cities, and explore how the New European Bauhaus can be used to make a difference in local development.

One of the highlights of Cities Forum 2023 will be the official launch of the European Urban Initiative (EUI) a new cohesion policy instrument to support cities of all sizes to implement the green and digital transitions and ensure an inclusive Europe.

The sessions

Each session will focus on one of the four headings of the forum: green and just cities, innovation and capacity-building, governance and strategic frameworks, and financing sustainable urban development.

• Green and just cities will discuss greening cities by tackling environmental and climate challenges, the New European Bauhaus, systemic change by tackling the twin transition, and the inclusion of migrants, refugees and marginalised groups. A panel of senior European Commission, municipal and national representatives will look at ways to make effective use of EU opportunities and local implementation of the Green Deal, particularly through greater use of renewable energy.
• The workshop on the New European Bauhaus will highlight projects that successfully incorporate sustainability and inclusiveness goals.
• The launch of the European Urban Initiative will take place as part of the block of sessions on innovation and capacity-building. Participants will also learn more about upcoming activities to be proposed under the EUI as well as regarding support for the UAEU
• Two workshops will be held on these themes: how cities can build sustainable urban development capacity under the EUI, and innovation in cities. The latter will allow participants to explore factors that promote creativity and innovation, such as good governance and preventing brain drain.
• The Governance and strategic frameworks heading will comprise a session on international cooperation to inspire sustainable urban development, where participants can learn about good practices financed by the International Urban and Regional Cooperation programme. A second session will discuss the next generation of UAEU partnerships.
• Two additional workshops under this heading will explore functional areas in the EU and the role of small and medium-sized cities.
• Lastly, the forum will tackle the subject of financing with a debate between EU mayors about achieving economic, social and territorial cohesion and the COVID-19 recovery, and a workshop on financing sustainable urban development in times of crisis.

The venue - Turin

Participants will have the opportunity to go on site visits to explore the host city, Torino, a model of how cities can adapt to changes. Once a centre of the automobile industry which reached its peak in the 1960s, the oil crisis caused the city’s fortunes, and population, to decline in the 1970s and 80s. Since then it has reinvented itself as a centre of culture, business and innovation. To find out more about the programme, agenda and speakers, visit the event website!

Registration to the Cities Forum 2023 is open! You can enrol as a participant or as a speaker / exhibitor / journalist.