Partnership for urban development – Future of the EU Urban Agenda
EESC, room VMA 3 – rue van Maerlant 2, 1040 Brussels, Belgium
Following the lead of the upcoming Dutch EU Presidency, the European urban policy community is actively working on the preparation of an Urban Agenda. The aim is to promote cooperation between European, national and city level representatives and stakeholders so as to stimulate growth, liveability and innovation. In order to better understand how to engage civil society organisations, the Dutch Presidency invited the EESC to express its opinion on this issue.
It is within this context that the EESC is organising a public hearing on Partnership for urban development – Future of the EU Urban Agenda. The purpose of the hearing is to gather suggestions from representatives of civil society organisations as well as experts in the field of urban development, and discuss them with institutional representatives in view of channelling findings into the EESC’s opinion. The event will take place on 14 December 2015 from 2.30 p.m. at the EESC’s premises.
14.30 Welcome address and introduction
Joost van Iersel, President of the ECO Section, European Economic and Social Committee (EESC)
Keynote speaker: Nicolaas Beets, Dutch Urban Envoy, Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations in the Netherlands
14.45 The role of civil society organisations in the EU urban agenda
Kick-off statement: Ivan Tosics, Principal, Metropolitan Research Institute
Lambert van Nistelrooij, Vice-President of URBAN Intergroup, European Parliament
Olivier Baudelet, Team leader in charge of urban policy, DG REGIO – European Commission
Bas Verkerk, Rapporteur of the opinion “Towards an Integrated Urban Agenda for the EU”, Committee of the Regions
Barbara Steenbergen, Head of office, International Union of Tenants, member of EESC Liaison Group
Moderator: Joost van Iersel, President of the ECO Section, EESC
16.00 The implementation of a partnership-based EU urban agenda
Kick-off statement: Peter Ramsden, Pole Manager, URBACT
Alberto Marchiori, Delegate for EU Policies, Confcommercio, Italy
Claude Denagtergal, Advisor, European Trade Union Confederation
Jan Olsson, Co-President, Reves – European Network of Cities and Regions for the Social Economy, delegate to the EESC’s Consultative Commission on Industrial Change
Christian Saublens, former Director, Eurada
Levente Polyak, Managing Director, Eutropian
Moderator: Stefano Palmieri, President of Study Group “Future of the EU Urban Agenda”, EESC
17.30 Conclusions
Roman Haken, Rapporteur of the opinion “Future of the EU Urban Agenda”, EESC
