The search for the 2012 European Capital of Sports is now underway, Dublin, Ireland, being the current title holder for 2010 and Valencia, Spain, having already been designated as such for the year 2011.

Europe’s biggest cities believe the European Commission’s definition of innovation is too narrowly focused on the commercial and research sectors. In an interview with EurActiv, Paul Bevan, secretary-general of Eurocities, said Europe’s urban centres are teeming with examples of social, organisational and market-driven innovation.

The Committee of the Regions last week dived into the debate on the future of EU regional policy, calling on the European Commission to broadly maintain the status quo while paying increased attention to so-called “transition regions”. Debate on the future of EU regional policy has been intensifying since May 2009, when an expert report by Italian Fabrizio Barca called for “comprehensive reform” beyond 2013, notably by introducing more stringent quantifiable targets.

After selling off their electricity and gas networks to large energy corporations in the early 1990s, small towns in Germany are now banding together to buy back their energy infrastructure. Their bid to get into the energy market may provide opportunities to make money, but it also involves taking on the energy giants at their own game. The small German towns of Olfen, Ascheberg, Havixbeck, Billerbeck, Nordkirchen, Senden, Rosendahl and Lüdinghausen rarely make it into the headlines. That will soon change, however. The eight towns, located close to the city of Münster in western Germany, want to wrest away control of the electricity power supply in their region from German energy giant RWE.

The Bristol Partnership has launched a website that allows residents to put forward ideas to improve the city. It includes an online voting system that allows participants to comment and vote for their favourite ideas.

The Regional International Conference SB10mad “Sustainable Building. Revitalization and Rehabilitation of districts”, is one of the preparatory events of the World Sustainable Building Conference, SB2011 Helsinki.

The City Marketing and Development Congress is a long-term international project aimed at assisting Russian regions and cities to improve their image, attract more investment and increase their competitiveness.  

The challenge of European cities is to invent today a tomorrow where quality of life goes hand in hand with low energy consumption. A thousand local authorities are already preparing their futures by committing to the Covenant of Mayors. In defiance of financial and economic pressures, they are changing the direction of their energy policies – with foresight, cooperation and imagination!

The last 20 years have seen a growing interest in cohousing and other alternative forms of living in Sweden as well as internationally. The search for a sense of community remains an important driving force behind demands for cohousing. During the last ten years new aspects have been added, such as housing for the “second half of life” and planning for more sustainable lifestyles. 

SCUPAD is an independent, non-profit, international network organisation of planners and development specialists based in Austria that was set up in 1965. Every year the organisation organises an international conference. The 2010 edition ‘Bringing Production Back to the City’ will focus on the various means of urban production ranging from manufacturing to the emergence of green sustainable industries and urban farming. The conference will explore how these activities provide jobs for the diverse populations that reside in cities and influence the form, patterns of circulation, architecture, urban design and planning of cities.