Project objectives:
The Informed Cities initiative – making research work for local sustainability - is a European project which aims to enhance the connectivity between research
and policy-making in sustainable development, with a focus on tools for urban management.
This will be done by bringing together researchers and policy-makers in a series of events linking into and building upon each other, as well as by examining
the connectivity between research and policy-making by examples, in the course of the explorative application of two research-based tools for urban sustainability
management.
Here you can learn more about the Informed Cities initiative, get recommendations on how to support your local sustainability processes, register for the
upcoming Informed Cities events, subscribe to the Informed Cities update and find out how you can get involved!
The Informed Cities initiative is funded by the 7th Framework Program of the European Union under the name PRIMUS – Policies and Research for an Integrated
Management of Urban Sustainability.
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Project
Summary:
The PRIMUS project has been designed to bridge the gap between research on the European level on one hand, and policy-making at (and for) the local level on the
other hand. The theme chosen for this 36-months coordination action is 'sustainable urban management', thus covering the way how the various policy areas
of urban development (energy/water/waste, transport, planning and design, social inclusion, etc) are integrated, rather than one of these themes in particular.
This focus is based on the assumption that the decoupling of environmental degradation and economic growth can only be achieved through a better management
and governance of the largely inter-dependent issues of urban development. Indicators and information systems, efficient and effective policy processes,
and innovative public participation are the main instruments to set ambitious targets, gain wide acceptance, and implement behavioural changes in society.
¬The project is built around a series of events of different nature - so-called Connection Fora, Linkage Fora and Implementation Fora - linking into and building
upon each other. They convene local governments from across Europe, researchers in the field of urban sustainability management, and national ministries
and agencies dealing with sustainability policies directed at the local level in their respective Member States. A pilot dimension of the project is the 'explorative
application' of two selected research-based tools for sustainable urban management by some 100 local governments throughout Europe. This application should
explore the connectivity between research and policy-making and deliver criteria for its general enhancement in other thematic areas and in the future. With
the European Report on Urban Sustainability - the first of its kind and derived from this explorative application - PRIMUS will demonstrate the fascinating
potential of a better connectivity between research and policy-making.
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Professor Paul Bardos