URBACT III 1st Call for Action Planning Networks now Open!
Following the decision of the URBACT III Monitoring Committee on 11 March 2015, the first call for proposals for Action Planning Networks for 2014 – 2020 is now open. Deadline for applications: 16 June 2015.
The main objective of Action Planning Networks is to improve the capacity of European cities to manage sustainable urban policies and more especially to strengthen their ability to design integrated strategies for sustainable urban development. By taking part in an Action Planning Network, cities exchange and share experiences, problems and possible solutions, generating new ideas to address challenges related to sustainable urban development.
To learn everything about the call for proposals and how to apply, please consult the page of the CALL and all the related documents.
A PARTNER MARKETPLACE is available for potential applicants to look for partners and project ideas. Whether you have a project idea and are looking for partners, or are simply willing to join a proposal on a specific issue, please use the form HERE.
A call for URBACT experts to support the networks in designing and implementing transnational learning activities will be open shortly.
Deadline for online submission of applications: 16 June 2015 - 03.00 pm CET
Main objective and expected results
The main objective of Action Planning Networks is to improve the capacity of cities to manage sustainable urban policies and more especially to strengthen the capacity to design integrated strategies for sustainable urban development.
Action Planning Networks are expected to support an organised process of exchange and learning among peers across Europe, with a view to improving local policies through concrete action planning.
By taking part in an Action Planning Network, cities exchange on specific policy challenges and share experiences, problems and possible solutions, generating new ideas to address challenges related to sustainable urban development.
As a starting point, cities willing to get involved in Action Planning Networks shall identify a policy challenge they want to address at local level. Then, they shall commit to develop an Integrated Action Plan that will address this challenge. This Integrated Action Plan will thus be both a driver of the exchange and learning activities, and a key concrete output of their participation in the Action Planning network.
Cities willing to get involved in Action Planning Networks shall also commit to work on their policy challenges with a participatory approach involving all relevant stakeholders (from within the local administration and beyond, civil society, private sector, associations, etc.) in
the action-planning process. These key stakeholders will be gathered in an URBACT Local Group. They will be actively involved in the transnational exchange activities and in the development of the Integrated Action Plan to be produced by the city. The participatory approach shall improve the action-planning process and the subsequent delivery of the local policies (strengthening the evidence base, ensuring ownership of the problems identified and of the solutions/ policies developed, creating the conditions for a successful delivery, etc.).
Beneficiaries
For transnational exchange and learning activities (and thus for Action Planning Networks), the URBACT III Operational Programme identifies the Programme area and defines two categories of beneficiaries: the main beneficiaries (city partners) and other beneficiaries
(non-city partners).
The URBACT III programme area consists of:
The 28 EU Member States
Partner States Norway and Switzerland. Partners from Norway and Switzerland
cannot make use of ERDF allocations, but as official partner states in the URBACT III
programme partners are co-financed at 50% by national funds.
Instrument for Pre Accession (IPA) countries. Partners from IPA countries can
participate in networks using IPA funding, without receiving ERDF co-financing
Other countries. Partners from other countries, anywhere in the world, can
participate with their own funding.
The main beneficiaries (city-partners) for Action Planning Networks shall be cities from EU 28 Member States, Norway and Switzerland willing to develop integrated strategies and action plans for sustainable urban development.
Under URBACT III, the beneficiary “city” refers to the public local authority representing:
• Cities, municipalities, towns;
• Infra-municipal tiers of government such as city districts and boroughs in cases where they are represented by a politico-administrative institution having competences for policy-making and implementation in the policy area covered by the URBACT network concerned in which they are willing to get involved;
• Metropolitan authorities and organized agglomerations in cases where they are represented by a politico-administrative institution having delegated competences for policy-making and implementation in the policy area covered by the URBACT network.
