OPEN DAYS 2012 kicked off yesterday with the traditional Opening Session in the European Parliament. View our pictures on the OPEN DAYS Flickr account.

The Opening Session of the 10^th European Week of Regions and Cities marked the beginning of a week of more than 100 events on regional and urban development. Hosted by the European Parliament, the session was the occasion of keynote speeches by Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament, Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council, José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission and Eleni Mavrou, Minister of the Interior, Cyprus, on behalf of the Presidency. Panelists Valcárcel Siso, President of the Committee of the Regions, Johannes Hahn, Commissioner for Regional Policy and Danuta Hübner, Chair of the EP REGI Committee, then engaged in a discussion with the audience, tackling issues such as: the role of regions and cities in revitalising Europe's economy, the importance of defending and promoting economic, social and territorial cohesion in the midst of the crisis, or how can one justify maintaining a high level of regional spending at a time of austerity.

During the OPEN DAYS opening session Committee of the Regions President Valcárcel Siso announced a series of conferences - one for each of the seven Flagship Initiatives of the Europe 2020 strategy - under the header "Regions and cities supporting Europe's growth strategy". Organised by the CoR, the series will be kicked off by the 'Youth on the Move' Conference to be held in Brussels on 13 December 2012. The series culminates in the 6th European Summit of Regions and Cities in spring 2014 and the mid-term assessment of the Europe 2020 strategy from the perspective of the CoR. 

Whilst most of the OPEN DAYS workshops are fully booked, a couple still offer some free seats. These are the seminars with the following workshop code: 10A04, 10A05, 10A08, 10A13, 10B08, 10B09, 10B10, 10B12, 10C01, 10C03, 10C04, 10C05, 10C06, 10C07, 10UNIV02 and 11C01. You can register on the spot.

To celebrate the 10th edition of the OPEN DAYS, the European Week of Regions and Cities, the organisers have invited 10 artists to illustrate the participation and cooperation of European regions and cities as events partners since 2003. Starting from the regional partnership maps which visualise the OPEN DAYS partner regions and cities year after year, the artists present a series of 10 surprising individual art works. You can discover the resulting colourful collection of blurring boundaries and mingling maps at the 5th floor foyer of the Committee of the Regions building (JDE).

The Region Västra Götaland is organising tomorrow a local event on how territorial cooperation can be used as a tool for local and regional development (10/10/2012 - 18:00-20:00 - Gothenburg City Museum). The event will also show some examples of how cooperation can contribute to smart and inclusive growth for a society as well as for a private person. The event will be aimed at elected local politicians, officers and practitioners from local authorities, the regional development agency, social partners, universities, non-governmental organisations and project partners from across Europe. It is designed to engage the audience including people who have little or no previous experience of European work and funding, to raise their awareness of the available opportunities. More

As part of the celebrations of the 10th anniversary of OPEN DAYS, the Committee of the Region's will be hosting a one-day seven-a-side football competition.  Nearly 100 players from across Europe's regions and the EU institutions are expected to take part in this side-event. This funday competition is open to anyone regardless of age or gender.

When? From 9am all day on 14 October 2012. Where? Kraainem Football, Rue au Bois 85, 1950 Kraainem, Belgium

If you want to participate or simply come along and enjoy the fun then contact Serafino Nardi or David French.