Cities' networks

The City of Bologna participates in many thematic associations and networks of local authorities, both European and international. Participation in the scheduled activities (meetings of thematic forums, preparation of documents, conferences and seminars, etc.) enables Bologna to strengthen its relations, to exchange information and best practices, collaborate on projects and realise actions regarding issues of common interest, obtain co-funding by the European institutions and international organisations for the activities of decentralised cooperation.

EUROCITIES
http://www.eurocities.eu

Eurocities is an association that brings together 130 major cities from 31 European countries. Membership is open to any local government, democratically elected, of cities with a population of minimum 250,000 inhabitants, that are a major regional centre and develop an important network of international activities.
Eurocities includes among its members other actors such as Chambers of Commerce and Universities.
The City of Bologna is member of Eurocities since 1991; it has been President of the association from 1995 to 1996 and member of the Executive Committee from 1993 to 1999.

The network objectives are the following:

Raising awareness in the European institutions as regards urban policies
Favouring the exchange of information, experiences, staff and "best practices" between member cities
Promoting projects and cooperation actions on matters concerning urban development

Eurocities is governed by an Executive Committee of 12 member cities, coordinated by a President city (now The Hague). The Executive Committee’s role is to set up the network’s strategic-political orientation and propose it to the Annual General Meeting, together with the related financial plan for each activity. The Executive Committee is also responsible for the implementation of the Work Programme of the organization and it monitors the thematic Forums’ activities.
Current members of the Executive Committee, elected in November 2010 and in charge until November 2011, are the cities of:
Copenhagen (Denmark)-President, Warsaw (Poland)-Vice President, Budapest (Hungary), Genoa (Italy), Gent (Belgio), The Hague (Netherlands), Leipzig (Germany), Lyon (France), Nantes (France), Stockholm (Sweden), Zaragoza (Spain), Vienna (Austria).

EUROCITIES includes 6 permanent thematic "Forums", which deal with specific subjects and take care of developing common projects among cities, preparing documents of analysis and proposal within the European policies, regulations and programmes concerned with the various matters:

Social Affairs Forum (Chair: Birmingham, UK)
Economic Development Forum (Chair: Poznan, Poland)
Environment Forum (Chair: Malmö, Sweden)
Mobility Forum (Chair: Utrecht, Netherlands)
Culture Forum (Chair: Eindhoven, Netherlands)
Knowledge Society Forum (Chair: Vienna, Austria)

The City of Bologna in EUROCITIES

IAEC
http://w10.bcn.es/APPS/eduportal/pubPortadaAc.do

The International Association of Educating Cities is a network aiming at creating a common working methodology as regards Education and Lifelong learning. The Education Department of the City of Bologna follows the network’s activities constantly, with the aim to exchange experiences and skills and develop joint projects with other European cities.

ICLEI - INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL FOR LOCAL ENVIRONMENT INITIATIVES
www.iclei.org

ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability is an international association of local governments as well as national and regional local government organizations that have made a commitment to sustainable development.
This association currently reckons more than a thousand members, among which the City of Bologna since 1993.
The cooperation of Bologna with ICLEI has been linked in particular to the EcoBudget® issue, i.e. an environmental management system for local governments developed by ICLEI in the 90s.
By the time being, Bologna’s Environment Department is working with ICLEI on a "peer-to-peer" validation process of the project "Bologna Ambiente Comune" (Bologna Common Environment), concerning environmental sustainability.

ECCAR
http://portal.unesco.org/shs/en/ev.php-URL_ID=10629&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

The European Coalition of Cities against Racism is an initiative launched in 2004 by UNESCO with the objective to create a network of cities interested in sharing experiences to improve their policies against racism, discrimination and xenophobia.
The Coalition obtained the support of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and of the greatest world organisation of Cities, UCLG (United Cities and Local Governments).
The "European Coalition of Cities against Racism" was established in Nuremberg (Germany) on 10th December 2004 and adopted a "Ten Point Plan". In the following 2 years also regional coalitions were founded, so as to consider the specific needs and priorities of the different areas of the world and therefore develop specific action plans.
ECCAR is governed by a Steering Committee that decides about the eligibility of cities as members of the Coalition, provides for preparation and promotion of medium and long-term action plans for the Coalition and sends the Scientific Committee, for the annual evaluation, the Reports received from ECCAR members.
The Administrative Secretariat of the Coalition is based in Nuremberg (Germany), at the Human Rights Office.
The City of Bologna in ECCAR – The Municipality of Bologna, lead city in Italy for the Coalition, hosted the 2008 General Meeting.

Ten Point Plan (PDF, 75 kb)

UNESCO - CREATIVE CITIES
http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php-URL_ID=35257&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

The "Creative Cities" Network is promoted by UNESCO and aims at creating a connection between cities that are able to support cultural creativity and make it an essential point for its own economic development. In order to promote business and culture, the network offers to local operators an international platform on which to convey the creative energy of the Cities, thus paving the way to share local experiences in a global context.
Through this network Cities can share their experiences and support each other, highlighting their own abilities and increasing the presence of their own cultural products in internal and international markets respectively.
Cooperation amongst member cities is also centred on the ability to provide assistance for the creation of new regional and international distribution channels.
Today, the network of Creative Cities includes:

Creative cities for Music
Bologna (Italy)
Gent (Belgium)
Glasgow (United Kingdom)
Seville (Spain)
Bogotá (Colombia)
Creative Cities for Literature
Dublin (Ireland)
Edinburgh (United Kingdom)
Iowa City (Iowa, USA)
Melbourne (Australia)
Creative Cities for Film
Bradford (United Kingdom)
Sydney (Australia)
Creative Cities for Craft and Folk Art
Aswan (Egypt)
Icheon (Republic of Korea)
Kanazawa, Japan
Santa Fe (New Mexico, USA)
Creative Cities for Design
Berlin (Germany)
Buenos Aires (Argentina)
Graz (Austria)
Kobe (Japan)
Montreal (Canada)
Nagoya (Japan)
Saint Etienne (Francia)
Seoul (Republic of Korea)
Shenzen and Shanghai(China)
Creative Cities for Media Arts
Lyon (France)
Creative Cities for Gastronomy
Chengdu (China)
Östersund (Sweden)
Popayan (Colombia)

The City of Bologna has given PromoBologna - its local development Agency - the task to map the network of associations, agencies and private bodies related to music production.

The survey had the objective to evaluate the economic relevance of musical life within the city, and the measures that need to be developed in this sector, focusing the strategic promotion of the city on the creative and cultural dimension of the urban economy.

On the occasion of the visit in Bologna of the Mayors of Glasgow, Santa Fe and Popayan, on 20th November 2008, a Creative Cities’ Memorandum of Understanding was signed, in which the member cities commit themselves to promote cultural industry and creativity both as a tool to enhance the local economy and as a cooperation area among them.

Creative Cities’ Memorandum of Understanding (PDF, 13 kb)

The Similar Cities Network was launched in 2008, following the initiative of the City of Utrecht (The Netherlands).
Today the network includes, besides Utrecht, Aarhus (Denmark), Bologna (Italy), Edinburgh (United Kingdom), Gent (Belgium), Malmö (Sweden) and Stuttgart (Germany).
The size of the city, its university vocation, the inhabitants’ composition, its accessibility as well as the issues related to the undergoing developing phase are similarities that bring the network members closer to each other.
Each of the above mentioned cities is indeed a European city with a young population and a high education level, beside hosting an important university centre within its territory. Each of them is an attractive pole, innovative, creative and contributes to the implementation of the Lisbon strategy.
Moreover, these cities share the ambition of being considered key centres in the European context and work to obtain European funding for the development of local strategies. The network activities allows member cities to make comparison and to coordinate their activities with simplified processes, increasing the efficiency and productivity of the planned actions.
At present, the priority issues selected to be thoroughly investigated and as possible common strategies to be developed are city marketing, culture and urban planning.

The Healthy Cities Programme is promoted by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the United Nations agency specialised in health that – since 1948 – operates with the aim of ensuring a high health level to the world’s population.
The Italian Healthy Cities Network is an association of municipalities, created in 1995 as a cities’ movement and that in 2001 became a no-profit association.
The network promotes the role and the commitment of Italian municipalities in health policies at the local level. The associated Cities (today more than 100), aim at building a shared path for the collection, analysis and dissemination of best practices in health promotion, for instance as regards pollution, health prevention, transplants and fund raising.

The Italian network is currently chaired by the Municipality of Bologna, represented by the Deputy Mayor for Health, Mr Giuseppe Paruolo. The projects and the activities promoted by Bologna within the framework of the network are conceived and planned in close cooperation with the local Health Bodies, Public administrations, Universities, Schools, associations, and other public and private actors involved in health promotion, by means of specific partnerships, targeted according to the needs and the objectives of the actions.
The City of Bologna has in fact realised – within the framework of the Healthy Cities Network – many conferences, information campaigns and projects of international relevance. The network also promotes the Healthy Cities Award, given every year to the best practice as regards health promotion at the local level.

CLIP - European network of cities for local integration policies for migrants

In 2006, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, the city of Stuttgart and Eurofound established a 'European network of cities for local integration policies for migrants' (CLIP).
The network is characterised by an innovative combination of the "peer-to-peer" exchange method between public administrations and an important scientific research activity.

The Scientific Support Group of the network is coordinated by the European Forum for Migration Studies in Germany (University of Bamberg, Germany), with the participation of the Center for Migration Policies in the Society (University of Oxford, UK), the Institute for Migration and Ethnic Studies (University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands), of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the Center for Migration and Ethnic Studies of the University of Liege.
All five research centres are part of the Network of excellence for the analysis of migrants integration policies (IMISCO), sponsored by the European Commission within the 6th Framework Programme on research and technological development.
The City of Bologna joined in the network in February 2009.
www.eurofound.europa.eu

The Association of Significant Cemeteries in Europe (ASCE) was founded in Bologna in November 2001. The European network comprises public and private organisations which care for cemeteries considered to be of historical or artistic importance. ASCE in a not-for-profit organisation that aims at cooperating in order to promote, protect, restore and maintain European cemeteries. In order to fulfil its purposes, the Association promotes the sharing of experiences and best practices, the implementation of common projects, the promotion of new technologies and the involvement of media and tourist publishing in its activities.
At present, ASCE has more than 140 members.
The City of Bologna is member of the Steering Committee.

European Cities Marketing (ECM) is a network that aims to provide a platform for cities to exchange knowledge and best practices in the field of tourist promotion and city marketing. It currently has 125 members (local public bodies and other actors dealing with tourism marketing), from more than 100 cities in 32 countries.
The City of Bologna is a member of ECM since 2004.
ECM exchange activities take place through thematic “Knowledge Groups”: Tourism information Centers, Online Marketing & Sales, Research & Statistics, City Cards.
The network also organizes conferences and seminars, where the members can not only meet and share their experiences, but also promote special initiatives of their own cities.
Beside that, ECM promotes surveys and research on the tourism sector and offers training opportunities to experts and operators.

For further information, please contact:
Francesca Martinese
Municipality of Bologna
Mayor’s Cabinet and Staff
International Relations, Cooperation and Project Office
Francesca.Martinese@comune.bologna.it

International Relations - Municipality of Bologna

EUROPEAN PROJECTS