Àrea Metropolitana de Barcelona

An online technical meeting was held on 8 February with the metropolises of the EMA (European Metropolitan Authorities) network, with the participation of 18 metropolises from 14 different countries.

The aim of the meeting was to talk about how EMA should evolve in the future and about improving the network together, as well as sharing new ideas for EMA Katowice 2022.

The previous EMA meeting, in Porto, was a great success, with the participation of more than 20 metropolitan areas, Commissioner Elisa Ferreira, two European ministers, a member of the European Parliament and local authorities. The implementation of recovery plans was one of the main axes in Porto, and it was found that most metropolitan areas are excluded from the process of drawing up national recovery plans. This line of work must be approached in order to empower metropolitan areas as a relevant stakeholder to achieve the green and digital transition.

Katowice 2022

During the meeting, Metropolis GZM presented the EMA 2022, that will be held in Katowice on 26 and 27 June 2022. This year's EMA forum will share the floor with the WUF 11 (World Urban Forum) on UN-Habitat.

In the meeting, participants agreed on the importance of keeping the network as a political network.

Brussels Capital Region talked about the meeting of European and global networks that they will be hosting on 16 February, which will count on EMA's participation.

Gipuzkoa county region showed their interest in EMA and their willingness to work on mobility and public transport issues.

Amsterdam Metropolitan Area asked for more actions within the network and not just a meeting per year. They suggested to work together in a catalogue of projects.

Greater Manchester proposed, after EMA in Katowice, to organise a webinar on metropolitan international strategies to make them replicable.

The North West City Region reinforced the idea of sharing international strategies together and raised the importance of maintaining the network as informal and volunteer. They asked if EMA was planning an event for the European Week of Cities and Regions, and the answer was that there is nothing organised so far, but that it can be planned together. Sharing a metropolitan cross border voice is important for them and they proposed to organise a meeting with the Association for European Border Regions.