URBACT Annual Conference 2008

The URBACT programme's Annual Conference will be held in Montpellier from Sunday evening November 30th through Tuesday 2nd December at noon.

URBACT, the European Programme for Urban Sustainable Development, develops exchanges between European cities and disseminates good practices and lessons learned throughout Europe.

More than two hundred and fifty European cities, local authorities and universities are currently active partners in the URBACT programme in Thematic Networks and Working Groups. The annual conference provides an opportunity for all of them to meet for one day, to share their concerns, their projects and their experiences. It is an annual occasion to assess progress that has been made in the integrated management and sustainable development of European cities.
The URBACT conference is open to all city stakeholders, be they URBACT partners or not, as well as to policy makers, administrative and technical managers, consultants, experts, academics, private partners and field workers throughout Europe who contribute to managing and developing European cities and preparing the sustainable development of tomorrow's cities.

Monday, December 1st:

Simultaneous workshops will be an opportunity to present issues and prospects related to URBACT's projects. The workshops are designed to be quickly paced and interactive, allowing participants to learn the essentials about each project, to meet the project lead Partners, and to discuss objectives. Workshops will focus on the URBACT method and implementation tools. Each participant can participate in three workshops of his/her choice.

Tuesday, December 2nd (morning):

Simultaneous field visits will be organised in Montpellier. The themes covered will be determined shortly. They will include: cultural policy and creative industries; relations between cities, enterprises and universities; urbanism plans and city organisation; tourism; mobility policies; deprived neighbourhoods; and more.

Following the URBACT Conference, in the same premises, there will be a "Cities Forum", organised by the French Presidency of the European Union.