Understanding and Reinforcing the Urban Dimension in Cohesion Policy
Seminars
January 14, 2026 · 9:00am CET
Roma Eventi Fontana di Trevi - Piazza della Pilotta 4 - 00187 Rome
Hybrid
A big thank you to all of you who participated in this event as moderator, speaker, panelist or participant! Please find the photos of the event here.
Please find the PPT presentations at the bottom of the page.
In case you have missed it, you can watch the replay of the event above or on our YouTube channel.
About the event:
By comparing governance models, funding synergies, and institutional innovations across diverse cities, the ESPON URDICO targeted analysis identifies practical lessons for more effective multilevel urban governance. URDICO sheds light on both the good practices and the challenges related to cities role, providing evidence to support implementation in 2021–2027 and to inform thinking on potential developments after 2028.
A keynote on the EU Agenda for Cities outlined future priorities for EU support to urban areas, feeding into the debate on the post-2027 Cohesion Policy framework.
High-level speakers joined representatives of leading cities – Budapest, Florence, Ghent, Prague, Rotterdam, Strasbourg, Valencia, Warsaw - and networks - such as ANCI, Deutscher Städtetag, Eurocities, European Urban Initiative, France Urbaine, VNG – to exchange insights on strengthening urban governance across Europe.
Key objectives of the conference:
- Presentation of the urban dimension of the EU Cohesion Policy from the ESPON URDICO Project, based on evidences collected from 8 cities.
- Discussion on how the URDICO evidence could be useful in implementing the urban dimension of the Cohesion Policy.
- Provide a platform for dialogue and discussion with representatives of cities and key EU institutions in charge of Cohesion Policy.
Target groups:
- Local stakeholders, in particular city representatives involved in the implementation of the Cohesion Policy.
- National and regional stakeholders, in particular authorities involved in the negotiation and strategic designing of the Cohesion Policy.
- European-level policymakers and institutional representatives engaged in Cohesion Policy and territorial development.
- Media covering EU policy and urban topics.