A Bottom -up feed

1. A Bottom-up feed EUCANET project and the conversation about how to reframe the role City Agencies in the policy-makingprocess

2. EUCANET- Urbanityis a EU value • our common EU urban values (openness, coexistence, diversity, etc.) are the most reliable glue that can help us hold the Union together • the public discourse on space (i.e. the use, government, transformation, management of lands and buildings in the city) can work as a “trading zone” between different instances, interests, languages and concerns • empowering local communities in the processes of urban change is not only a “good intention democracy”, but an opportunity for integration of minorities, social justice, civicness, creation of a new sense of belonging, acknowledgement and share of common democratic values, bridge of intercultural and societal gaps

3. EU framework for cities: the Pact of Amsterdam • the process seems to remain quite distant from the daily life of EU citizens, who currently have rather small chances to learn about it or influence it (language gap, skills gap, …. It is not mainstream!). • policies/processes at EU level overcome by on-the-ground practices that test innovation beyond the constraints and boundaries of the Pact itself • mobilization on urban issues often takes place in spite of, if not in conflict, with or without any linkage to more institutional strategic frameworks, at times valuably intercepting some of the same “priorities”

4. Settlingthis conversation: in theory, but also in practice! • diverse partnership- 2 city agencies+ 1 metropolitanagency + 2 cities • discussing and confronting - thematicseminars and policy workshops involvingpartners and their networks • gatheringknowledge - collection of EU wide best practices, call for papers, questionnaires (to involveexternal contributions) • spreading the word– blog, policybrief, scientific publications • multiple interlocutors – policy-makers, scientificcommunity, city-makers and practitioners, NGOs, local organizations, groups of citizens

5. How to stimulate active participation in city life… Building bridges, establishing connections, raisingawareness, providingtools to participate the debate, translating « fuzzy » concepts, explaining the implication of local policies, etc… How? Makingitpractical! • Cultural activities • Information and debate • Mapping and data visualization and collection • Co-design workshops • …

6. The role of City Agencies • CA show different specificities, original features and privileged fields of action according to their contexts - key elements are  the methodology and the approach and a strong relationship with local systems of stakeholders • CA intercept “in action” some of the most relevant “priorities” highlighted in the Pact of Amsterdam (often without being aware of it) • CA can helpa more radical and practice-based discourse on urban development take the stage facilitating a bottom-up feed for the Pact of Amsterdam • CA could more pro-actively fuel this policy-making and implementation process enacting a new bijective relationship between the local and the EU level

7. …nextsteps • concretelycontribute the Pact of Amsterdam (how to?) • a network to beexpanded and activated (how do we use it for?) • a brand new role for CA to be (re)designed • new skills to make the EU Urban Agenda mainstream

8. Want to learn more? Have a look here