"Urban Sustainability" Topical Working Group

The setting up of this Working Group, proposed during the plenary meeting of the Network held on February 12, 2004, originated from the need to follow up the implementation of the urban sector projects within the context of the policies co-financed by the Structural Funds.

The activity of the Group is carried on based on the objectives set out within the context of the action plan adopted by the Network for 2005 and 2006.

Urban sustainability is sector having European-wide relevance, besides being one of the themes to which special attention is paid in the ROPs and in the Single Programming Documents, even on account of its implications and close link with the environmental policies (i.e., transport, gas emissions, waste management, air quality).

The Group purposes to give an informative contribution in respect of the level of environmental sustainability of the measures financed in urban contexts by the Structural Funds, the regional implementation of the Thematic Strategy for the urban environment, as well as the application and implementation of governance instruments (i.e., Green Public Procurement, Environmental Accounting, Social Balance, etc.) during the 2007-2013 period.

The activities of the Group include the identification of experiences and tools for transferring good practices, giving access to the outcome of analyses and in-depth studies, the formulation of operational proposals to contribute to the improvement of organizational, procedural and methodological aspects, even with a view to enhancing the integration of the environmental component in the urban context.

The survey of the measures co-financed through the Structural Funds in the Objective 1 and Objective 2 Regions, carried out taking into account the urban programming instruments, has highlighted criticalities, points of strength and good practices, as shown in the documents produced by the Group.

RESULTING DOCUMENT:

• Sustainable development strategies of towns in the Axis 5 measures of the Community Support Framework (CSF) 2000-2006 - April 2004 [it] (pdf, 520 kb)
• Selection/evaluation criteria for the Axis 5 Town measures of the CSF 2000-2006 - June 2004 [it] (pdf, 165 kb)
• Sustainable mobility in urban areas - October 2004 [it] (pdf, 340 kb)
• Communication activity for accompanying the Axis 5 Town building yards - July 2004 [it] (pdf, 206 kb)