The International Urban Cooperation Programme for Latin America and the Caribbean (IUC-LAC), funded by the European Union, presents IUC-LAC Open Dialogues, the first publication on lessons learned and recommendations to help cities face the ‘new normality’, the post-COVID 19 deconfinement period.
Some results of the collaboration between Berlin and San Pedro de la Paz (Chile)
Redesigning urban spaces, promoting greater use of renewable resources or reshaping our industries are some of the conclusions of this project, which has brought together more than 30 cities in Europe and Latin America with the aim of rethinking their cities in the face of this unprecedented scenario. IUC-LAC Open Dialogues looks to capitalize on the added value created by international urban cooperation between European cities that were heavily impacted by the pandemic, and those in Latin America and the Caribbean, which are currently at the peak of the pandemic.
Tourism, public space, mobility and transport, green and smart economy and climate resilience are some of the issues addressed by this publication. According to Sandra Marín, head of the publication and City to city cooperation Coordinator of the IUC-LAC Programme, the aim of the publication “is to serve as an inspiration for governments to rethink their cities from innovative and people-centred perspectives”.
Some of the voices included in this publication are mayors, technicians, companies, networks, associations and representatives of the European Union who are bringing their particular expertise to this publication. European cities such as Madrid, Rome, Turin, Porto and Zagreb share their points of view with Latin American cities such as Cartagena, Buenos Aires, Rosario, Arequipa and Barranquilla, among others. Good practices in cities One of the best practices in terms of public space is the City Card service in Genoa (Italy), one of the cities participating in the publication.
This service is a new tool that calculates the spatial and temporal distribution of visitors in tourist attractions and allows the reorganization of services, guaranteeing that the safety distance is met. With regard to mobility and transport, the case of Turin (Italy) stands out. This city has launched a pilot project for the use of hybrid cars with geofencing, a system with an algorithm that allows them to change their engine to electric when they enter the city centre.
The one in Turin is the first pilot using this technology in the world. In terms of the green economy, the case of Pavlos Melas (Greece) is remarkable. They are boosting their economic recovery by giving priority to environmental recovery, investing in drinking water, clean air or clean energy, and organizing their investment on the basis of spatial justice criteria, whereby the most vulnerable communities receive more financial support.
Concerning climate resilience, the publication reviews the case of the municipality of Almada (Portugal), which works as a “global player”, since, according to the Head of the Department of Innovation and the Environment, Catarina Freitas, “it is necessary to review the financing framework in order to meet global demands while carrying out local management”. The publication, developed by the Latin America and Caribbean regional delegation, is part of the International Urban Cooperation programme (IUC), led by the European Union’s Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy (DG Regio) and the Foreign Policy Instrument (FPI).
Throughout the IUC programme, 165 cities from 23 EU member states and 11 other countries from all regions of the world have participated. The publication examines this new pandemic, a unique moment in history for cities, from an optimistic perspective. In fact, according to Vilnius (Lithuania) Urban Development Director, Ruta Matoniene, “it is a time to learn and reinvent ourselves, for new plans, designs and ideas”.
Verónica Ramírez, from the Smart City Cluster in Spain, comments that “municipalities did not respond to the need for digital transformation before, and now this need is being used to respond to the challenges posed by the pandemic”. About IUC The International Urban Cooperation Programme (IUC), funded by the European Union, supports cities in different regions of the world to connect and share solutions for common problems in sustainable urban development in the framework of the New Urban Agenda and the fight against Climate Change.
More information here.