REthinking Metropolises

| Subject: International Cooperation

Second seminar for the initiative aimed at analysing the impact of COVID-19

Captura de la reunió online

On 29 June, the second online seminar organised as part of the initiative REthinking Metropolises took place. The main aim of the session was to analyse the impact of COVID-19 on the three participating European metropolitan areas, identify the main challenges ahead following the pandemic and explain the recovery measures implemented to face the future and improve the quality of life of the residents in each of these territories. The new Next Generation EU funds and the importance of a metropolitan vision were also discussed. 

European funds and intra-metropolis cooperation

According to the second online seminar, tourism, public transport and mobility, the creation of jobs, economic development, the energy transition, social inclusion and digitisation are some of the metropolitan competences most challenged by the COVID-19 crisis. In response, participants called for greater consideration for metropolises in policy-making, aid from the new European funds and heightened cooperation between metropolises to move forward with recovery and tackle the main challenges that have surfaced as a result of COVID-19.

The second seminar was organised by the Katowice Metropolitan Area (Metropolis GZM), with support from the European Metropolitan Authorities (EMA) Network. Other participants included Jenny Evjen, member of the Viken Transport Committee (Oslo), along with Francesco Vassallo, mayor of Bollate, a municipality in the Metropolitan City of Milan, and Marja Ruigrok, deputy mayor of Haarlemmermeer and member of both the International Advisory Council and Council of the Metropolitan Region Amsterdam.

The aim of REthinking Metropolises is to foster the exchange of experiences between political representatives from the EMA Network in efforts to find solutions to the new challenges that have emerged as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the life of metropolitan inhabitants and the areas' economies.

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