This week marks the adoption of the NEB Facility, the first multi-annual budget support tool for the New European Bauhaus from 2025 to 2027. Its aim is to create and scale up innovative solutions that can revitalise European neighbourhoods through design for sustainability and inclusion.
The European Commission launched a call for technical assistance to support communities of stakeholders working with ports, islands and fisheries. Set within the sea basins of the Mission Ocean and Waters - the Mediterranean, Atlantic & Arctic, Danube, and North & Baltic Sea - this technical assistance aims to empower and guide these communities towards impactful and sustainable feasibility studies for their projects to achieve the Mission objectives. The first cycle will close on 24 May 2024.
On 20 March, the Commission published the first report on the state of play of the New European Innovation Agenda, following its launch in July 2022. The document outlines the progress and achievements with regard to the 25 actions under Agenda’s five flagships, including the Regional Innovation Valleys. On the same day, an EU R&I Days debate on the way forward for RIVs was also held.
On 12 October, the European Commission awarded the first ten European cities with the Label of ‘EU Mission Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities’ for their plans to achieve climate-neutrality by 2030. The EU Mission Label symbolises a crucial milestone, not only recognising the comprehensive plans of these cities to achieve climate neutrality by 2030 but also serves as a catalyst for facilitating access to both public and private funding to support these ambitious goals.
On 10 October, a collaborative and interactive event was jointly hosted by ERRIN, MOSAIC and the European Commission during the European Week of Regions and Cities. This session brought together experts and stakeholders from across Europe to explore the significant role of multi-stakeholder engagement in advancing the journey towards climate neutrality for European cities.
Last week, the European Commission opened new calls for proposals under the 2023-2024 Work Programmes of the Digital Europe Programme to strengthen digital capacities across the EU. Over €12 million has been allocated for projects under these calls focusing on continuing support for the creation of data spaces, a cornerstone of the EU data strategy.
Voices of Culture (VoC) – the structured dialogue between the European Commission and the cultural sector – has published a Brainstorming Report on the Culture and Creative Sectors and Industries, the green transition and the energy crisis.
The last edition of ICLEI’s flagship Breakfast at Sustainability’s series took place on 5 October 2023 from 10:00-12:00 CEST , in collaboration with ERRIN and as part of the Be.CULTOUR project. On this occasion, ERRIN members had the opportunity to take the stand and showcase inspiring examples of good practices demonstrating how circular approaches to tourism, human-centred destinations, and heritage-led transformations can contribute to building a sustainable future for all.
In view of the annual strategy workshops that we will organise with all the Working Group (WG) and Task Force (TF) leaders in the second half of November, all members are invited to provide input on priorities, topics, and activities that should be addressed in 2024. The input can be provided by 31 October 2023.