URBACT II has the following specific objectives:
To facilitate the exchange of experience and learning among city policy makers and practitioners in the field of sustainable urban development among local and regional authorities. Taking into account the acquis of the URBACT I Programme, it will draw lessons to increase their impact on local policies;
To disseminate widely the experiences and examples of good practice collected by the cities, and especially the lessons drawn from these projects and policies, and to ensure the transfer of know-how in the area of sustainable urban development;
To assist policy-makers and practitioners in the cities and managers of operational programmes under the Convergence and Competitiveness Objectives to define action plans on sustainable development of urban areas, which may be selected for Structural Funds programmes.
The URBACT II programme is structured around 3 priority axes, 2 of which are thematic priorities:
- Priority Axe 1 - Cities, Engines of Growth and Jobs
There are three themes identified within the Priority Axe 1:
Promoting Entrepreneurship
Improving Innovation and Knowledge Economy
Employment and Human Capital
- Priority Axe 2 - Attractive and Cohesive Cities
There are four themes identified within the Priority Axe II:
Integrated development of deprived areas and areas at risk of deprivation
Social integration
Environmental issues
Governance and Urban Planning
- Priority Axe 3 - Technical Assistance
The programme has an overall budget of just over €68m
There have been some new features introduced some of which directly address some of the issues raised in Urbact I:
- An independent external evaluation panel has been established. This consists of 6 assessors who have been recruited by the means of calls for tender. These people are meant to be “independent from the cities and from national and European networks.”
- Assessment criteria for evaluation have been produced fro the first time.
- A two stage process has been established:
o Phase one –six months development phase. At the end of this phase a further more detailed application for phase two has to be submitted and then evaluated and then approved by the MC.
o Phase two-30 months implementation phase
- A fixed budget for thematic networks has been set-€670,000. Which is the total available for both phases.
- Each Thematic Network has to support the development of Local Support Groups in each partner location and a minimum budget of €7000 has been set for each LSG(this is part of the total fixed budget)
- Thematic poles have been established in the programme to create cross- project working from the outset.
The first call for proposals was issued in December 2007 and first 23 networks and 8 working groups were approved by the MC in April 2008 and the work of these approved projects began on 21 April for the initial Six month phase.
You can find the approved projects on the following website http://urbact.eu/thematic-poles.html
CALL FOR CHANGE
In discussing the setting up of this community one of the issues that has arisen is what will be the “consequences” for individuals who post critical comments or call for change. This issue has arisen directly from the experience of Urbact 1, where those who were seen as “critical” found their relations with the Urbact secretariat damaged. This treatment had a “knock-on” effect on many other stakeholders in that it stifled any criticisms that they had. This was unfortunate as it meant that the programme, through the secretariat, locked out real debate. The lack of real open discussion was one of the key reasons why Urbact 1 had no impact on the local level. This was the conclusion of the evaluation report of the programme. This is a big failure, given that the whole rationale and key objectives depended on making such an impact.
PURPOSE
The purpose of this rolling blog is to ensure that there is better participation in the programme by all stakeholders. To be precise, the stakeholders are :
· cities, regions, universities etc, involved in the programme through a thematic network or working group, ·
members of the Urbact Monitoring Committee;
members of the EP Regional policy committee,
· thematic experts and other experts directly involved in the programme,
· participants in events/workshops that take place at network/working group level and the programme level ,
· and anyone else directly connected to the delivery and monitoring of the programme.
The idea is to create an ongoing dialogue of the Urbact 2 programme . In short , it is to ensure that there is a multi –level, multi –professional perspective developed which will ensure that the impact of Urbact 2 will be qualitatively improved. The aim ultimately is to break the traditional separation between “decision- makers” and “doers”. Hopefully , “decision makers” will take on board the reflections emerging from the agents executing their decisions. These are the implementation bodies and actors involved in the programme through thematic networks and /or working groups
· cities, regions, universities etc, involved in the programme through a thematic network or working group, ·
members of the Urbact Monitoring Committee;
members of the EP Regional policy committee,
· thematic experts and other experts directly involved in the programme,
· participants in events/workshops that take place at network/working group level and the programme level ,
· and anyone else directly connected to the delivery and monitoring of the programme.
The idea is to create an ongoing dialogue of the Urbact 2 programme . In short , it is to ensure that there is a multi –level, multi –professional perspective developed which will ensure that the impact of Urbact 2 will be qualitatively improved. The aim ultimately is to break the traditional separation between “decision- makers” and “doers”. Hopefully , “decision makers” will take on board the reflections emerging from the agents executing their decisions. These are the implementation bodies and actors involved in the programme through thematic networks and /or working groups
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
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