Urban Agenda for the EU secretariat members Mart Grisel and Lea Scheurer from the European Urban Knowledge Network (EUKN) talked to Polish stakeholders about the Urban Agenda for the EU. Read the results of this exchange in the “Closer to Brussels” online magazine of the Małopolska Region:

Polish representatives of several Partnerships identified their Partnership’s state, achievements, and ideas for the future of the Urban Agenda for the EU. Despite the distinct phases of the Partnerships, all Polish partners are content with the achievements so far. However, they also mention challenges such as prioritising issues and finding a thematic focus, tight schedules, scarce human resources and the search for stakeholders.

The Polish partners seek to tackle these challenges in different ways. For example, dedicated working groups are established to work within the tight schedule (Gdańsk, Energy Transition) and specific internal meetings are organised to discuss Partnership-related issues (Łódź, Urban Poverty). In the area of knowledge exchange, information on the work progress is exchanged and there are internal meetings with other ministries (Ministry of Energy, Air Quality). Furthermore, own experiences in funding innovative solutions are shared (Poznań for Housing and the Ministry Economic Development for Circular Economy & Sustainable Use of Land and Nature-based Solutions). Additionally, the Ministry for Economic Development emphasises the need for better Partnership cooperation on cross-cutting issues.

Many Polish representatives share the opinion that the Urban Agenda for the EU will contribute to enhancing the "urban voice" in European policies. The participation of Polish representatives is said to also have raised awareness on urban issues in the Polish discourse. The outlook on the future of the Urban Agenda for the EU includes high expectations – the city of Kielce, from the Jobs and Skills in the Local Economy Partnership, raises the idea that common work on specific issues and knowledge exchange could be a base of the future of European cooperation.

Read the entire issue of the “Closer to Brussels” magazine here (article on the Polish perspective on pages 18-25).