Category: News from Asia & Australasia

Seoul and Dublin step further to more concrete partnership with a study visit

Seoul and Dublin conducted the first study visit in Seoul from 29 August to 2 September 2022 through the IURC programme (International Urban and Regional Cooperation) sponsored by the European Union. Since it was the first time for both cities to meet in person after a year long online communication, Seoul and Dublin delegates were very excited to step further...

Team Europe and Thai cities commit to sustainable food systems

The European Union, the Embassy of Italy to Thailand, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, Chiang Mai Municipality and the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact (MUFPP) are cooperating to make Bangkok’s and Chiang Mai’s food systems more sustainable through the definition of each city’s food strategy. The two Thai cities are participating in the International Urban and Regional Cooperation (IURC) programme of...

Multistakeholder partnership on flood management between Kochi, Messina and key academic institutions

The Kochi-Messina city-to-city cooperation on flood management as part of the EU funded IURC programme is enabling the cities to ‘learn from each other, set ambitious targets, forge lasting partnerships, test new solutions and boost their international profile’ as envisioned in the EU Urban Agenda. With support from the programme, the governments of Kochi and Messina are now building multistakeholder...

1st MUFPP Asia Pacific Regional Forum with support from EU

With support from the European Union, the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact (MUFPP) Secretariat, the City of Bandung, and the University of Parahyangan co-organised the 1st MUFPP Asia Pacific Regional Forum on 3-4 August 2022 in support of Indonesia’s U20 Mayors Summit and G20 Summit, to be held at the end of August and in mid-November this year respectively. Titled...

Ranchi and Patna visit Reggio Emilia

Two delegates from the Indian city of Ranchi and one delegate from the Indian city of Patna visited Reggio Emilia (Italy) from the 20th to 23rd of June 2022. The delegation included: Mr. Mukesh Kumar (IAS), Municipal Commissioner, Ranchi Municipal CorporationMr. Amit Kumar (IAS), CEO, Ranchi Smart City & Director, State Urban Development Agency, JharkhandMr. Ravi Kumar, Team Lead Revenue...

Achieving Social and Economic Equity through Food System

The MUFPP & IURC has been running an Asia Pacific food policy training since March 2022, having covered two aspects of food policy: 1) Governance of Food System and 2) Sustainable Diets & Nutrition. The third webinar, held on 22 July 2022, addressed the topic of “Social & Economic Equity”. It presented how cities tackle inequality and poverty related to...

Delegations from Hamburg and Barcelona visit Australia

Two delegations from Hamburg and Australia held meetings with their counterparts in Melbourne, Brisbane and Canberra. Meetings started in Melbourne on Monday 25 July 2022 with a meeting at Melbourne City Hall. Brisbane and Canberra city representatives joined the EU cities and Melbourne for a shared program on Monday and Tuesday. Delegates were welcomed by Melbourne's Lord Mayor Sally Capp...

Rotterdam visits Busan and Sejong as the first study visit of the IURC EU-Korea partnerships

From 4-8 July 2022, Rotterdam visited South Korea as part of the IURC programme to connect with Busan, its partner city, and Sejong, whom it is expanding cooperation with outside of the programme. Rotterdam and Busan launched their study visit with a kick-off conference at Busan Metropolitan City Hall. First, IURC introduced the programme to orient the delegates for their...

Early success story from Asia & Australasia and much more

The exchange of knowledge and best practices between EU and non-EU cities in the Asian and Australasian geographical area has been dynamic. Since the start of 2022, the project team has provided support to the ongoing discussions between cities and organised a series of webinars on topics such as innovation precincts, flood management and food policy, involving almost 500 people...

EU – New Zealand: Vilnius visits Taranaki / New Plymouth

From 5 to 7 July 2022, city officials from Vilnius, Lithuania, visited New Plymouth / Taranaki in New Zealand to further explore their cooperation topics (urban / mobility) and better understand the host city’s context for urban development. This is the first time that New Zealand has been part of the IURC programme, and this was the first visit by an...