Are you planning to attend or follow the European Week of Regions and Cities ("OPEN DAYS") on 8-11 October this year? Do you own a smartphone or other mobile device?
If so, don't forget to download the mobile application that has been developed for the 2012 OPEN DAYS. The app offers the following great features:
Find out what is happening where and when
See the event venues on an interactive map and get directions
Get involved in online discussions, and find out what people are sharing about the OPEN DAYS on Twitter, Facebook and Flickr
Make sure you don't miss out on practical information, including real time announcements during the event
Receive alerts reminding you when the events you are attending will start
As coordinator of the European Cooperation Day campaign, INTERACT is organising a kick-off information event at the European Parliament in Brussels under the patronage of Marie-Thérèse Sanchez-Schmid, member of the European Parliament (MEP) and rapporteur for "Objective 3: a challenge for territorial cooperation". The event will bring together Brussels media and major EU policy makers involved in European Territorial Cooperation, such as MEP Riikka Manner, rapporteur for the ETC Regulation.
Schaerbeek's (Belgium) involvement in the struggle against global warming and climate change is the topic of a EU 2020 Going Local project (20 September, Brussels) organised by the Schaerbeek Municipality. Focusing on exchanges of good practices related to sustainable mobility and energy, the seminar will follow a bottom up approach, implying a substantial political involvement and a dialog between politicians and citizens.
The Brussels Capital Region organises the visit of two projects from the 'Priority Intervention Zone' (PIZ): The AJJA Building project, i.e. the reallocation of the old tobacco factories AJJA into a social restaurant, a local board of community service and other innovative initiatives; The renovation of the BELLE-VUE Breweries with the creation of an hotel and development of a training program-integration of young unskilled to help them finding a job.The visit is planned on 11 October 2012, 08:30-13:00. If interested, pleaseregister before 28 September.
Is Europe 2020 delivering on both short-term priorities and structural reforms? How to ensure the involvement of the EU local and regional authorities in implementing Europe 2020? What should the growth-related priorities for 2013 be from the perspective of local and regional stakeholders? The workshop "Towards the 2013 Annual Growth Survey: Presentation of the 3rd CoR Monitoring Report on Europe 2020" (10 October) will be the occasion to exchange ideas and concerns on these issues with representatives of other local and regional authorities, the European Commission and the European Parliament. You can register here.
16 workshops on Community-Led Local Development (CLLD) are organised as part of the OPEN DAYS Meeting Place. This will offer a discussion platform for local and regional authorities interested in exploring the potential of CLLD and the bottom-up approach in the new financial framework 2014-2020. Participants and workshops organisers will be looking into CLLD best practices in different Member States (including the management of LAGs). Most Meeting Place workshops have a networking session allowing workshop organisers and participants to continue the discussions in a more informal forum.Enter the workshop code in the search option, and register!
For regional and local authorities, CLLD can be a surprisingly versatile tool for dealing with the specific challenges facing coasts and areas with important inland lakes and rivers. The workshop "Turning the Tide - Local Development in coastal and fisheries areas" (10 October) will explore how the territorial, bottom-up approach can be used to create jobs, promote innovation, strengthen links between sectors, diversify local economies, promote environmental sustainability and empower local communities. Interested to participate? Please register here.
Smart specialisation is a strategic approach to economic development through targeted support to Research and Innovation (R&I). This year six seminars are targeted at this concept that is seen as a key to enhancing the growth potential in the regions. They cover a wide range of topics, from innovation in maritime regions, through territorial cooperation etc.
Do you wish to discuss the smart specialisation and the entrepreneurial discovery process with high level speakers, including Johannes Hahn, the Commissioner for Regional Policy? Join the 10C08 workshop! It will focus on the ways in which regions can contribute to fostering entrepreneurial discovery processes and how companies/businesses can benefit from and be involved in them. Register here.
Are you keen to know how regional policy works outside the EU, and how innovation is supported at the regional level? And cross border cooperation in particular? Join one of the workshops organised with speakers from the third countries. You will have the possibility to compare different policy concepts and exchange and share views about their effectiveness and results.
As it was not possible this year to have the usual tent in front of the Directorate-General for Regional Policy building as a Registration Point for OPEN DAYS, the Delegation of the Catalan Government to the EU has graciously made available their "Catalunya Europa" office: as from Monday October 8th, 9:00 am participants and speakers at the Open Days 2012 will discover this beautiful space where registration desks and an o point will be in place to pick up badges, programmes and documentation. Throughout the year Espai Catalunya Europa serves as an information platform with the aim of promoting the image of Catalonia in the European capital and to facilitate access to European information to Catalan society. More information about the delegation of the Government of Catalonia to the EU and their agenda at : http://www.gencat.cat/unio_europea
