The Urban Agenda for the EU Partnership on Sustainable Use of Land and Nature-based Solutions participated in the Polish-Dutch Policy Lab on Functional urban Areas (FUAs) and Nature-based Solutions (NBS) that took place on 25-26 September 2019 in Wrocław, Poland. The European Urban Knowledge Network (EUKN) EGTC, which is involved in the Partnership and supports its actions on FUA cooperation and NBS, prepared a Policy Lab focusing on exchange of experiences and deepening discussions on the topics relevant for Urban Agenda work. The aim of the event was also to contribute to national policies by identifying key challenges and proposing recommendations.

The Policy Lab gathered FUA stakeholders and experts from the fields of FUA cooperation, urban sprawl and NBS, from both Poland and the Netherlands. The participants took part in workshop sessions where they discussed barriers and challenges for mitigating urban sprawl and implementing NBS in FUAs as well as general obstacles for effective FUA cooperation. As a result, the group proposed a set of recommendations and solutions, based mostly on Polish cases, on how to improve policy frameworks for FUAs, as well as funding and knowledge dimensions of FUA cooperation.

The outcomes of the Policy Lab will be used in formulating final results and recommendations of the Partnership’s actions that deal with FUAs (Action 5) and NBS (Actions 6-9).