Àrea Metropolitana de Barcelona

On the 15th of March an EMA side event was organized in Torino in the context of the 5th edition of the Cities Forum, a biennial event of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy focused on how to turn cities green and just. In the context of urban debates, the metropolitan dimension was missing, and thus the main objective of the event was to add new arguments on the role of metropolitan areas in Europe as a response to the Green Deal, and the energy and social challenges our metropolises need to currently overcome. 

The event was hosted by the Metropolitan City of Torino, with the collaboration of the EMA network and counted with the participation of more than 60 persons from Torino, its metropolitan municipalities, European metropolises, academia, and networks. 

Have participated Italian speakers representing the European Commission in Italy, the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security, and the Environment, energy and territory Department from the Piemonte Region where Torino is located and representatives from the metropolitan cities of Venice, Genova, Bologna and Milan. In addition, took part speakers from other European metropolises in the EMA like Lyon Metropole, Wroclaw, Helsinki Region and the Barcelona Metropolitan Area. The core of the event was divided in two different round tables, the first one focusing on the European Climate policy and the metropolitan solutions provided, and the second one about how to face the economic recovery in the metropolitan territories.

The session was concluded by Jacopo Suppo, Vice-president of the Metropolitan City of Torino and Rosa Suriñach, Metropolitan Councillor of the Barcelona Metropolitan Area. Both stated as main results of the presentations and debates that metropolitan areas in Europe need a stronger voice to tackle the main challenges, appointing that cooperation among metropolises is crucial to exchange & learn from each other problems & solutions.