Year: 2021

The Success of IURC North America’s Second Phase">

Cities Learning from Cities:
The Success of IURC North America’s Second Phase

In 2021, the second phase of the IURC North America (IURC NA) program was launched, marking a significant milestone in the collaborative effort towards sustainable urban development. The IURC NA network, comprising over 50 cities from the European Union, the United States, and Canada, was strategically divided into four thematic networks: Waste Management and Circular Economy, Sustainable Urban Mobility and...

Synergies and Partnership for Sustainable Development: EU-China Urban and Regional Cooperation

IURC- China facilitated both EU and Chinese cities and regions for their commitment to sustainable goals like Agenda 2030 (SDGs) and the New Urban Agenda. It enhanced cities and regions´ diplomatic and cooperative efforts in a decentralised approach, focusing on ecological transition, urban regeneration, and developing sustainable ecosystems. Distinctive policies aligning with global agendas IURC-China recognised the different approaches in...

City resilience at the forefront of EU-India city partnerships

The International Urban and Regional Cooperation (IURC) Programme was formally launched in India in February 2022 and worked with 14 Indian cities and 9 European cities, through 9 city pairings and five single cities. The programme focused on exchange of best practices, thematic cluster workshops, exchange visits, bi-lateral meetings, etc. For three city pairings it was possible to design and...

IURC-LA Programme Celebrates Three Years of Transformative Collaboration in Urban and Regional Development

The IURC Latin America programme proudly announces the conclusion of its three-year journey, leaving an indelible mark on urban development and regional innovation. Established in 2021, the programme's success is underscored by meticulous city-to-city and region-to-region pairings across six Latin American countries and their European counterparts, resulting in 12 city and 10 regional partnerships involving 14 countries. In 2022, the...

Portugal-Malaysia Pilot Action: Penang Eco-School Delegation to Famalicão

From 20 to 25 November 2023, Vila Nova de Famalicao (VNF) hosted the second cohort of the eco-school student exchange programme “Famalicao-Penang Youth Climate Action”, which has been awarded the support of IURC's competitive fund. The mission focused on closing the loop on food waste and other waste streams. The Malaysian delegation consisted of one principal and two top students...

Last IURC-LA webinar “IURC Latin America: Final lessons from the City-to-City cooperation”

Join us for the last IURC webinar "IURC Latin America: Final lessons from the City-to-City cooperation"! The event is organized by the International Urban and Regional Cooperation Latin America (IURC-LA) Programme, and will take place on Thursday, December 7th at 09:00 CST/ 17:00 CET. The webinar will have a duration of 75 minutes and offer simultaneous interpretation in English, Spanish,...

Kochi-Messina collaboration leads to pilot flood management warning system in the city of Kochi

As part of the IURC Programme, five water level sensors were installed in Kochi, India from November 13-16, 2023, in cooperation with Kochi Municipal Corporation, Centre for Heritage, Environment and Development (C-HED), Kochi, City of Messina and University of Messina. The water level sensors were developed by the University of Messina and were deployed in the city of Kochi by...

EU-Japan Region-to-Region Innovation Cooperation: A culmination of project activities and results

The EU-Japan Region-to-Region Innovation Cooperation, launched in November 2021, focused on fostering collaboration between EU regions and Japanese prefectures. It emphasized knowledge sharing and mutual learning in policy areas of innovation, entrepreneurship, and start-up ecosystems at the regional level. It acknowledged the common objectives and challenges faced by both EU and Japanese regions, such as green recovery, decarbonisation, renewable energy,...

Japanese hydrogen energy companies visit Essen and Brussels

Three representatives of the Japanese energy company Nihon Koei from Koriyama along with city officials travelled to Europe to participate in the bootcamp on hydrogen energy offered by the economic promotion agency of Essen (an IURC pilot city).  The agenda included business meetings with several counterparts in Essen. It also included participation at the EU Hydrogen Week 2023 taking place...

Peer to Peer Collaboration Leads to a Circular Economy Pilot in Chennai

As part of the IURC Programme, Chennai (Chengalpattu district) in India, the City of Trier in Germany, the Hindustan Institute of Technology and Science (HITS), Chennai and the Trier University of Applied Sciences (TUAS) have been cooperating on a sustainable campus concept. To set the basic framework for a circular economy, a biogas pilot plant was constructed at the HITS...