the european sustainable cities and towns campaign

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The goal of Medcities is to reinforce the awareness of interdependence and common responsibility regarding the policies of urban environmental conservation in the Mediterranean basin, to strengthen the role and the means of municipalities in the implementation of local conservation policies and to involve citizens and consumers in decision processes. Quite simply, Medcities encourages cities to find the equilibrium between economic growth, social justice and ecological issues. The network’s normal working procedure is based on environmental audits and medium-term environmental plans. It also organises training through seminars, visits by technicians and exhibitions. The association publishes a newsletter, which provides information on activities and strategies adopted by cities as well as on specific actions taken by the network itself. p Contact details: Medcities Contact person Mr Joan Parpal E-mail: Desurb@amb.es Web: http://www.medcities.org Union of Baltic Cities (UBC) Created in 1991, and now with 100 member cities from all 10 Baltic countries, the Union of Baltic Cities was the first wideopen forum for the local authorities in the Baltic Regions. The members of this association are cities located in the sub-regions and states adjacent to the Baltic Sea and cities, which are traditionally, economically and culturally connected with the Region. UBC aims to promote and strengthen co-operation and exchange of experience among the cities in the Baltic Sea Region in order to build a cohesive strategy that could contribute to the sustainable development of the Baltic Region in general. Recognising the importance for European stability of ever closer links between the Baltic Region and the EU, the UBC acts on behalf of the cities and local authorities in common matters towards regional, national, European and international bodies. The Union has based its operational activities on nine working Commissions on Business Cooperation, Culture, Environment, Education, Health and Social Affairs, Sport, Tourism, Transportation and Urban Planning. A key aspect of the work of the Environment Commission (located in Turku, Finaland) is the 2-year UBC Agenda 21 Action Programme, developed by the Agenda 21 working group. The program contains several projects, workshops and training etc. as well as the publication of a bulletin dealing with specific matters and creating alliances. The consequences of all this is a better communication between actors and the achievement of sustainable actions. p Contact details: UBC Environmental Co-ordinator Risto Veivo E-mail: risto.veivo@netti.fi Team members at the Secretariat E-mail: ubcenv@netti.fi and ubc@turku.fi Web: www.ubc.net The World Federation of United Cities (FMCU-UTO) The World Federation of United Cities, formerly named the United Towns Organisations (UTO), is an international organisation gathering over 1500 local and regional authorities. As the independent voice of local authorities has become inevitable on the theme of urban development, FMCU-UTO makes sure that the towns and their associations are recognised as partners by international institutions and that a direct co-operation between local authorities at international level is accepted. It contributes to sustainable urban development through decentralised co-operation and exchanges of experiences. In order to achieve such goals, FMCU-UTO has developed three main activities. It represents local authorities at the international level and ensures the recognition of the role of local authorities in the implementation of environmental policies thanks to its consultative status with the Council of Europe, UNESCO and the United Nations Economic and Social Council. It organises seminars, conferences and working groups to foster discussion on environmental, urban management and social problems. Moreover, it implements and collaborates in many projects with a sustainable development focus. Within the FMCU-UTO, the power to take decisions is in the hands of its member local and regional authorities. The National Committees organise the activities of the member towns in their countries and represent FMCU-UTO before the public authorities in their country. The United Towns Development Agency (UTDA), created in 1989, is responsible for implementing the decentralised co-operation projects organised within FMCU-UTO’s framework. p Contact details: FMCU-UTO Contact person Fulvia Cugini E-Mail: fulvia.cugini@fmcu-uto.org Web: http://www.fmcu-uto.org World Health Organisation (WHO) – Healthy Cities The WHO Healthy Cities Project was launched in Europe in 1987 by the European Office of the World Health Organization. Today in Europe there are 46 cities designated as WHO Healthy Cities, and approximately 1300 cities engaged in national or subnational (regional/provincial) networks of healthy cities in 30 countries of Europe. The WHO European Healthy Cities network aims to engage local governments across the European Region in health and sustainable development, through a process of political commitment, institutional changes and innovative actions for health, equity and sustainable development. The WHO Healthy Cities network is supported and managed by the Healthy Cities and Urban Governance programme of European Office of the World Health Organization (WHO EURO), the specialized agency of the United Nations system for health. Communication and engagement with cities takes place in a number of ways including regular business meetings; newsletter; website. The action focus of Healthy Cities is twofold: promoting political commitment and comprehensive approaches to change, with particular emphasis on the social dimension of sustainability, equity and the social determinants of health, environmental health, urban transport and urban planning. It supports cities develop and implement broad partnership based processes and integrated plans for health and sustainable development. p Contact details: WHO Co-ordinator Dr Agis Tsouros E-Mail: ats@who.dk Web: http://www.euro.who.int/healthy-cities/ The European Sustainable Cities & Towns Campaign
However the potential of cycling still remains largely untapped, and even cities that have been successful in promoting cycling continually have to confront deterrents. The WHO Centre for Urban Health has recently completed a 2-year pilot project with 8 European cities to promote cycling as part of a sustainable, energy efficient transport policy. In Tandem (promotion of energy efficient personal transport in a network of European Cities) used health arguments to help bring cycling and walking into the mainstream of city transport policy and practice. The aim was to support local governments to overcome barriers, and to increase levels of cycling through the use of twinning and exchange of experience. The results and key lessons learned are summarised in a brochure “cycling and health in cities”. The project was partially funded by the European Commission (DGTREN, Energy and Transport), under its SAVE II programme to promote energy efficiency. The following were associate partners in the project: Kosice Healthy City (Slovakia); Örebro Kommun (Sweden); Dublin Healthy City (Ireland); Sandnes Kommune (Norway); Miejski Zarzad Drog w Toruniu (Torun MZ) (Poland); Commune di Ferrara (Italy), Ville de Nancy (France);Ville de Rennes (France). pWHO, T:+45 39 17 14 79, E-mail: cop@who.dk & VI• NEWS F I N A N C I A L INSTRUMENT FROM THE EUROPEAN INSTITUTIONS RELEVANT TO URBAN SUSTAINABILITY THE EXPERT GROUP ON THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT Towards a Local Sustainability Profile – European Common Indicators (ECIs) Since its start in May 1999, the ECI initiative has spread Europe-wide, involving as many as 439 local authorities (corresponding to 81 signatories). The first pilot data submission phase has just been completed, involving 31% of signatories, mainly from Northern and Southern Europe. Those that have submitted data range from the Municipality of Vilanova i la Geltrù (Spain, 52.389 inhabitants) to the Province of Torino (Italy, including 315 Municipalities, representing 2.214.282 inhabitants). The submitted data will provide the basis for an Interim Report on the ECIs. It will be published on the Campaign website (www.sustainhable-cities.org/indicators) once the consultation round with respondents has been completed. Ideas for the improvement of the Initiative, in terms of methodology refinement and integration with existing systems have emerged through the data analysis. Methodological improvements will be discussed with respondents in a dedicated Workshop in Brussels (11 or 12 June, tbc). Refined methodologies will then be published and posted on the Campaign website for use by all signatories in the next data submission round. The policy relevance, applicability and methods of data collection will also be discussed during the Pastille Final Conference (London 12 th -13 th September), where the Pilot Action on the Ecological Footprint will also be presented (See p. XX for more details). Further dissemination throughout Europe of the ECIs will continue in conjunction with the Campaign, ICLEI and Eurocities and through regional networks. Existing and potential synergies will be further fostered with other wellestablished systems to fully integrate ECIs in National bbbnn Reporting Systems. ECIs have already been included into some local and national reporting systems, effectively opening a path toward a “European Common System” of indicators for local sustainability. The continued development of the ECI’s may enhance their strategic role in relation to the Urban Environment Thematic Strategy; possibly acting as potential tool to monitor and steer the development of the Strategy. In the light of such encouraging developments, participating municipalities of the Sustainable Cities and Towns Campaign are invited to join the ECI initiative. And to send their data and reports (by the end of October) for inclusion in the Final Recommendations to be submitted to the European Commission at the end of the Support Services Testing Phase. Relevant experiences will also be reported at the above-mentioned Joint Pastille/ECI Conference. pWeb: www.sustainable-cities.org/indicators E-mail: ecip@ambienteitalia.it The Final Report of the Working Group on Integrated Implementation of Environmental Legislation is now available The working group on Integrated Implementation of Environmental Legislation was established in January 2001 to explore the further steps that the European Commission could take to encourage more integrated approaches to the implementation of environmental legislation in urban areas. The context for this work relates to the role of legislation as the main instrument for environmental policy. The effective implementation of environmental legislation is especially important in securing further improvements to the urban environment. Integrated approaches to the management of urban areas are increasingly seen as necessary for improving legislative compliance and, consequently the quality of the urban environment. Against this background, the working group has been investigating a number of ways of encouraging urban areas to implement EU environmental legislation in a more integrated manner, and the final report is now available. It includes recommendations to the Commission in helping national, regional and local authorities to secure more integrated implementation of environmental legislation at local and urban level. pWeb: www.sustainable-cities.org/legislation/ E-mail: campaign.office@skynet.be DG ENVIRONMENT Conference on Environmental Governance The European Commission (DG Environment) will organise a conference on environmental governance in Murcia, Spain (28/29 June 2002). This conference is the first in a series of decentralised events, which the Commission plans to organise with each successive EU presidency. The Murcia Conference will explore the merits of different models of participation. The structure will take the form of two plenary sessions and three working groups. Each workshop will feature best practice presentations and will draw up recommendations on how to increase the quantity and quality of stakeholder participation in environmental decision-making at the European level. Building Coalitions – The ability to build coalitions between local stakeholders - by increasing their participation - is crucial in developing sustainable urban policy. Moreover, increasing the participation of local and regional government at the European level enables greater implementation of EU law, improved environmental management, and a fairer distribution of the costs of environmental management. Newsletter 25 of The European Sustainable Cities & Towns Campaign 7
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