Urban Agenda for the EU: Ex Ante Assessment

Assessment of the potential to launch two new Thematic Partnerships under the UAEU

Assessment of the potential to launch two new Thematic Partnerships under the UAEU

After its first phase that has delivered 14 partnerships and actions plans, including 139 actions so far, the Urban Agenda for the EU (UAEU) has been renewed according to parameters adopted through the Ljubljana Agreement in November 2021.

These new parameters comprise in particular an Ex-Ante Assessment (EAA) of future priority themes: Sustainable Tourism and Greening Cities.

It has been proposed as a new step towards the creation of partnerships and other forms of cooperation as part of the UAEU. The first Ex-Ante Assessments have been launched in January 2022 as an exploratory process, which allows for the deployment of a pragmatic, effective and result-oriented approach aiming at increasing the impact of future UAEU deliverables.

The EAA has the purpose to optimise focus, timing and activities of the multi-level cooperation, as well as safeguard suitable level of partners’ thematic and procedural expertise, in view of proposing an analysis and recommendations as to the conditions to launch a call to create two new partnerships of the UAEU.

The EAAs propose recommendations for a possible focus of the future Thematic Partnerships in relation to Better Knowledge, Better Funding and Better Regulation pillars.

Both – the Sustainable Tourism and Greening Cities EAA reports – highlight the importance of an immediate launch of the Partnerships, as these are crucial issues to work on in the light of recent events:

  • The year 2022 marks the possible resurgence of urban tourism after the pandemic, but also of its many sustainability challenges and the renewed urgency for a deep reappraisal of the models that had characterized its past growth. As we see that the transition to more sustainable models of tourism has already been accelerated with the re-opening of travel, we must act now in order for sustainability to become the rule, not the exception;
  • A strong emphasis is placed on the green transition with the current regulatory package. Worldwide, cities consume over two-thirds of the energy and account for more than 70% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Against this backdrop, the role of Europe’s major cities in taking a leap towards climate neutrality is vital. To make the green transition a reality, it is of utmost importance to mobilise actors on the ground - to involve local authorities and stakeholders in the planning processes and implementation across European cities.

For more information, please consult the two reports available below.

Sustainable Tourism Ex-Ante Assessment Report
(1.42 MB - PDF)
Download
Nicola Bellini
2022
Greening Cities Ex-Ante Assessment Report
(2.17 MB - PDF)
Download
Venelina Varbova
2022

Note: On the 24 of June, during the meeting of the Directors General on Urban Matters (DGUM) in Paris, the EAA reports on (i) Greening Cities and (ii) Sustainable Tourism under the Urban Agenda for the EU have been welcomed and a decision has been taken to launch a call for selection of partners during the months of July to September 2022. The aim is to launch two new UAEU thematic partnerships on these themes is autumn 2022.

More information on the call for partners will follow this month.

Tags
Sustainable Tourism Greening Cities Ex Ante Assessment Urban Agenda for the EU