Panorama

#EURegionsWeek: three in one
Under the motto ‘Restart. Europe. Together’, these
three weeks will unroll in succession the three themes
of the 2020 edition:
kk
5-9 October : Empowering citizens
kk
12-15 October: Cohesion and cooperation
kk
19-22 October: Green Europe, in cooperation with
Green Week.
The Week is the biggest annual Brussels-based gathering
dedicated to Cohesion Policy. In 2019, it reached a record
high of more than 9 300 participants: local and regional
representatives, EU fund managing authorities, project promoters,
experts, academics, etc.) as well as more than
300 representatives from the media.
The 2020 European Week of Regions and
Cities has two major challenges to address:
organising a major event in the post-pandemic
world and managing a record number of
partner applications. The solution?
Three weeks instead of one!
The 18 th edition of the EURegions Week, co-organised by
DG REGIO and the Committee of Regions, should have
taken place ‘live’ from 12 to 15 October 2020 in Brussels,
Belgium. However, hosting 500 sessions and abiding by
the social distancing rules would have been almost impossible
within the one week previously allocated.
Consequently, the event will now be spread over three weeks,
with most sessions provided online, key political events (such
as Citizens Dialogues or REGIOSTARS Awards) in a hybrid –
physical and online – format, while the exhibition and related
presentations will be deployed on the ground.
Applications for this year’s event were more than double
those received last year, with 206 projects submitted for the
2020 REGIOSTARS – another record edition for the annual
competition rewarding excellence and new approaches in
regional development. This outstanding result confirms the
rising trend in participation we are witnessing every year.
The competition is built on the following five categories:
industrial transition; the circular economy; skills and education
for a digital Europe; citizen engagement; and youth
empowerment through 30 years of Interreg.
This year, short presentations by all the applicants are available
on the competition platform used by participants:
https://regiostarsawards.eu/
The independent jury have chosen up to five finalists per category,
which were announced on 9 July. Any votes cast after
this date will be counted further for the finalists competing
for the REGIOSTARS 2020 public choice award. Good luck to
all participants!
38