The Joint Research Centre (JRC) is the European Commission's science and knowledge service which employs scientists to carry out research in order to provide independent scientific advice and support to EU policy.
Urban Data Platform plus (UDPplus) is a joint initiative of the JRC and the Directorate General for Regional and Urban Policy (DG REGIO). The platform provides access to information on the status and trends of cities and regions and to EU supported urban and territorial development strategies.
UDPplus has recently published the document Handbook of Sustainable Urban Development Strategies in which Metrolab appears as a case study of Learning from practice.
In June 2019 Metrolab participated in the validation workshop of Sustainable Urban Development Strategies Handbook in order to explore and discuss the contents.
The Handbook of Sustainable Urban Development Strategies provides methodological support to cities, managing authorities and other stakeholders involved in the design and implementation of urban strategies under Cohesion Policy. In particular, it refers to Sustainable Urban Development (SUD) as supported by the European Regional Development Fund during the current programming period (2014-2020) and the upcoming one (2021-2027). The Handbook is a policy learning tool, adaptable to the needs arising from different territorial and administrative contexts. It considers urban strategies as bridges between Cohesion Policy and local territorial governance systems. The Handbook does not provide a ‘quick fix’, but rather provides suggestions - giving concrete examples and referring to existing tools and guidelines - on how to tackle key challenges during the process of strategy-making.
To download the handbook, browse the JRC website or click here