Since March, we have almost forgotten what personal meetings mean – almost everything went online. It was only between June and August that the pandemic seemed to soften, thus even larger meetings could be organised. So it happened that the leaders of the 27 EU Member States could meet in Brussels. To be more precise: […]
Archives for 2020

Active Travel to School as a Trigger for Healthy City Planning
Do you remember how you travelled to school? In the past, most children walked to school and modern neighbourhoods were designed around schools. A short and safe walk to school was understood as an indicator of the quality of life, social equality and cohesion. Cities throughout Europe are fully engaged in promoting active mobility. The […]

Moving from Lockdown to Hybrid Working
Out of the frying pan; into the fire… In the recent months, much has changed and quickly. For many of us, the move to wholly remote and digital working methods has been rapid and all-encompassing. “A baptism of fire” would be a reasonable description for the experience of being thrown suddenly into lockdown and a […]

Technology in the time of Covid
How will digital innovation help cities navigate these uncharted waters? Digital Innovation in cities has been an area of focus for years. Over time, how we understand the term has also gradually evolved, with the pace of change accelerating notably as we sped towards the 2020s. Where previously the cutting edge was about online forms […]

Re-imagining physical meetings in the post Covid-19 era
These last few months the Covid-19 crisis has implied remote working and social distancing measures, putting most of the ‘’frequent flyers’’ – European citizens and professionals in the position to thinks back at the time, when planning and implementing a physical meeting in the frame of a transnational project could be a two-months’ process. From […]

The rise and fall of creative revitalisation of the old Tobacco factory in Ljubljana, Slovenia
In its fruitful 130 years of operation, the Tobacco factory in Ljubljana (Tobačna) was like a city within a city. It offered employment to many workers, especially women, as well as good conditions and above-average services. Its cast-iron construction was exemplary for many industrial buildings in this part of Europe. Even though the factory was […]

Supporting creative industries in times of Covid-19: what cities can do
Since the 1990s, urban cultural sectors have been more and more focused on events as drivers of media interest, visibility and tourism. Events such as the Olympic Games or the European Capital of Culture, to name the two largest examples, have also become frameworks and justifications for creating funding for creative and cultural industries (CCI) […]

Cooperation, cities & digital tools in the light of Covid-19
I will confess. When I heard about the possibility of a lockdown in Paris one of the first thoughts was “I’ll finally have some time to write”. Of course that was superficial and inconsiderate of all those out there much more affected by the pandemic than I am, but that was that. For the […]

My takeaways from the World Urban Forum #10
It’s 5 AM on a Saturday and I cannot sleep. It is partly because of the time difference, partly because my head is buzzing from the last week in Abu Dhabi, at the 10th edition of the World Urban Forum. More than 13000 participants and 500 sessions, countless encounters and business cards exchanged, this is […]