External control and audit of expenses

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External control and audit of expenses 

Context

For projects we are implementing with the support of the European Union, the ISOCARP Institute must have its expenses controlled and certified.

For an Horizon 2020 project, we are looking for an auditor to certify our expenses in October 2023.

For an Interreg Europe project, we are looking for a financial controller with whom we would work until the end of the project in 2027.


The terms or reference for the Auditor are available here.

The terms or reference for the Controller are available here.

Interested? Reach out to info@isocarp-institute.org and send your proposal by 31.08.2023

Down TO Earth project kick-off conference in Santiago de Compostela

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Down To Earth Project Launch & Kick-off Conference! 

In the last week of June, Down to Earth partners were in Santiago de Compostela for the Inaugural Management meetings and the Public Kick-Off Conference!

Down to Earth – Tackling depopulation challenges to improve environmental resilience in rural areas – kicked off the first conference to the public, highlighting the main challenges faced in many rural areas across Europe, such as land abandonment and climate disasters, but also supporting an economic fabric that allows the agricultural sector to grow sustainably. The project is co-funded by European Union and aims to optimize the utilization of available tools and resources within the participating regions, including Cohesion Policy funds. By doing so, we aspire to promote sustainable development and increase the disaster risk resilience of rural communities across Europe. 

The Kick-Off Meeting brought together 8 dedicated partners introduced the various components of the project, and laid out the steps ahead for the coming months. The ISOCARP Institute participated in the Kick-Off Meeting and presented its upcoming contribution to the Communication and dissemination work plan. As the leader of Communication and Dissemination, we presented our strategy to aggregate project results in multimedia dissemination and increase and maintain the visibility of the project to the EU-level public.

Stay tuned for more updates! And check out the Press Release to discover more about the project

JUSTNature Call for a Twin City

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Open call for a Twin City for Munich! 

If you are a European city who wants to share experiences and knowledge about Nature-based Solutions! We want to invite you to be the twin city with our City Practice Labs (CiPeLs) the city of Munich.

The city of Munich is currently looking for a twin city to exchange common challenges, barriers and experiences through cross learning workshops aim to identify issues covering engagement, governance, business replication, IT solutions, gender and other relevant aspects of the project. Additionally, bi-annual exchanges through online meetings will be facilitated to ensure a constructive dialogue and knowledge sharing.

The cross-learning activities will include 1 in-person workshop and 5 bi-annual online meetings starting in October. For the in-person workshop, the planned format is a one-and-half-day program, including a pilot site visit to illustrate the NBS interventions regarding the topics mentioned. 

Additionally, The City of Munich will moderate all activities and also covers producing reports, minutes. Travel and subsistence for the twin city are covered by the project. This process will enable a wide-scale replication of effective LOW CARBON | HIGH AIR QUALITY NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS.

The potential city is required to have closely similar conditions:

  1. Continental climate affected by the proximity to the Alps
  2. High urban density
  3. More than 100.000 inhabitants
  4. and experiences climate change
The workshop is expected to happen in October 2023, and the selection process will last until 14 August 2023 (extended).
 
** ๐Ž๐๐‹๐˜ ๐…๐Ž๐‘ ๐„๐” ๐‚๐ˆ๐“๐ˆ๐„๐’ ** If you are interested in joining the cross-learning, please fill the application form via the link.
 
For more information about the programme structure, please send an email to Methi Laithavewat at: laithavewat@isocarp-institute.org or visit our JUSTNature website.

PlusChange project kick-off meeting announced

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PLUS Change Project Launch & Kick off Meeting! 

On the 12th to 14th June 2023, the PLUS Change project was officially kicked-off! PLUS Change (Planning Land Use Strategies: Meeting biodiversity, climate and social objectives in a changing world) is funded by the Horizon Europe programme and aims to develop strategies and decision-making processes for land use that effectively address challenges related to climate change, biodiversity, and human well-being. By bringing together diverse stakeholders and examining case studies from various regions in Europe, the project emphasizes the interconnectedness between urban, regional, and peri-urban areas. The overarching goal is to generate knowledge and drive transformative change towards a sustainable world.

The Kick-Off Meeting took place in Prague and brought together representatives from 14 countries and 23 institutions including the ISOCARP Institute as well as public administrations, universities, and field experts. Together, the partners introduced the various components of the project and laid out the steps ahead for the coming months.

The ISOCARP Institute took part in the Kick-Off Meeting and presented its upcoming contribution for the Dissemination, communication and exploitation plan. As the leader of the Dissemination, communication and exploitation Work Package, we presented our plan to aggregate project results in multimedia dissemination as a central hub for activities within this work package, and acts as the anchor for disseminating project deliverables and fostering their exploitation. This is a multi-format strategy, centred on the project website and online hub, in which we will build a community of knowledge by showcasing practice cases, disseminating artistic output and interactive modules.

Stay tuned for more updates! And check out the Press Release to discover more about the project.

The final intensive study programme of the Erasmus + project WAVE!

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The final Intensive Study Programme of the Erasmus+ project WAVE!

We are in Nรผrtingen until 29th June for the final Intensive Study Programme of the Erasmus+ project WAVE!

University students from Belgium, Estonia, Germany, Italy, and Romania will focus on discovering and proposing alternatives the corridor of the Tiefenbach valley, specifically in Nรผrtingen city center, where the waterway is visually absent. Together with WAVE partners, we will guide them in their efforts to adopt a landscape perspective to envision these alternative futures for the Tiefenbach in Nรผrtingen. 

We are super excited to see new and returning students discover the WAVE methods!

As part of the exploration, students studied the water system, its interplay with natural, social, and economic factors, and their profound impact on land use and landforms. They now have to critically evaluate these cause-effect relationships on the landscape values and ecosystem services and formulate new design prototypes! These will serve as tangible representations of their concepts and will help illustrate the transformative possibilities for the landscape as part of the Landscape Forum on 27th June -1st July, co-organised by IFLA Europe and LE:Notre Institut

Discussing Collective Mobilisation. The ISOCARP Institute at Designing Cities for All: RE-generation In Common.

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Discussing Collective Mobilisation. The ISOCARP Institute at Designing Cities for All: RE-generation In Common.

On 6th of June evening, project manager Samir Amin participated in the concluding episode of the Designing Cities for All series: RE-generation In Common. In the third and last episode with fellow Roberto Rocco, the panel of speakers discussed pathways for collectivisation and re-generative relationships with the commons.  

Samir shared his experiences in community mobilisation, drawing on the many ways we connect communities, policymakers, and researchers in our projects. In particular, Samir explored the value of storytelling as a tool to lobby for co-creative change and to challenge decision-making that is fundamentally removed from citizens.  

The event saw thoughts and experiences shared across an amazing panel of speakers, including activist Martine Doppen, postdoctoral researcher Shahryar Sarabi, and Roberto Rocco, associate professor of spatial planning at TU Delft. Through conversations and meaningful inputs from audience members, moderators, and guests, we came to the point that bottom-up collective initiatives are essential to recognise the intertwined relationships between communities and nature. By working together, we can celebrate biodiversity and human diversity in parallel and work towards healthier and more just cities.

If you would like to watch this episode and the Designing Cities for All series, take a look at the video below. 

External video production services

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External Video production services

Context

For a new interregional policy exchange project DOWN TO EARTH, the Institute and other partners are contracted as a consortium by the European Commission to promote sustainable development and increase the disaster risk resilience of rural communities across Europe.

As part of the project we need to produce a introduction video (max. 180 seconds) presenting the project and its objectives by 31.08.23. To that end, we are looking for external support to produce a video on par with the standards of DOWN TO EARTH funding programme, Interreg Europe 21-27.

Interested? Reach out to info@isocarp-institute.org and send your proposal by 01.06.2023

The terms of reference are available here: Request for external services: Video production services.

Down to Earth – Interregional cooperation for sustainable, resilient and attractive rural areas

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ISOCARP INSTITUTE partners in Interreg
Europe project DOWN TO EARTH

We are excited to announce the launch of our new project “DOWN TO EARTH” funded by the Interreg Europe programme. This project aims to lead to a better use of available tools and resources, including Cohesion Policy funds, in the participating regions, ultimately seeking to promote sustainable development and increase the disaster risk resilience of rural communities across Europe.

DOWN-TO-EARTH gathers a group of organisations working on different aspects related to disaster risk reduction and rural development from regions across Europe, who firmly believe that retaining population and encouraging sustainable practices in key sectors is crucial to curb environmental deterioration, and can greatly contribute to risk prevention.

The partnership is composed of 8 partners, and two associated policy authorities, led byย Axencia Galega de Desenvolvemento Rural, andย will work together to identify and promote win-win solutions to manage, maintain and enhance natural capital to reduce the risk and impact of environmental disasters, while generating economic and social opportunities to attract population to rural areas.

Thanks to mutual learning through interregional exchange of experiences, the capacities of the regional and local authorities as well as relevant stakeholders from the participating rural areas to deal with the identified challenges will be increased.

Or download the documentย here.

Isocarp masterclass 1 - governance thumbnail

Sustainable Urban Planning And Development Masterclass

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Sustainable Urban Planning And Development Masterclasses

The ISOCARP Institute and Think City Institute have partnered to develop a series of three online masterclasses on Sustainable Urban Planning And Development.

This first course will take place over the first three week of May 2023, with one module per week and the final case study workshop in the third week. Through a number of activities, attendees are guided through the modules and equipped with knowledge and strategies that they can apply, to work towards fairer and more sustainable cities. The activities in the course are divided between individual and group work.

The first course, Governace, will touch on topics of policy scale, governing cities in inclusive manners, and involving urban populations in decision-making.

APPLY NOW by filling out the application form
*early bird USD399 if registration is before 15 April

๐Ÿ“จ For any further inquiries, please contactย amin@isocarp-institute.orgย orย duncan.cave@thinkcity.com.my

And for more details about topics, course structures, and timeline, check our the website.

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CONEXUS launches survey for Urban Planning Professionals

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CONEXUS launches survey for Urban Planning Professionals

Attention urban planning professionals!

We would like to invite you to participate in a survey on nature-based solutions (NBS)* in urban areas. This survey was developed by researchers at Wageningen University in the Netherlands and the Technical University of Munich in Germany, in collaboration with partner institutions in the CONEXUS research project.

Whereas most cities have at least some metrics and indicators in place to assess the outcomes of NBS, we know relatively little about the processes of governance, planning, and managing urban NBS. Such procedural aspects are seen as major factors for successful implementation of NBS. This survey was developed to address this knowledge gap.

The survey allows participants to reflect on possible bottlenecks and challenges preventing the uptake of NBS in their city. The goal of this survey is to better understand and potentially improve decision-making processes on urban NBS, not to compare or rank the performance of cities. The results will be used by researchers and practitioners participating in the CONEXUS project to build a better picture of these possible bottlenecks across Europe and Latin America.

We will ask you about your perception of 12 different dimensions of urban NBS governance in your city, which will together be building a comprehensive picture of opportunities and challenges. For each dimension, a scoring rubric is provided within the survey to give additional guidance.

The survey is available in the four main languages of the CONEXUS project:

๐Ÿ‘‰English , ๐Ÿ‘‰ Spanish , ๐Ÿ‘‰ Portuguese (Brazil) , ๐Ÿ‘‰ Italian.

Additional information related to the CONEXUS? research project and your rights as a participant in this survey is provided in the section โ€œconsent formโ€ in the online survey. Please complete the consent form before starting the survey.

You are welcome to forward this survey to other local experts in public institutions, academia, private sector (built environment & other) and civil society in your city.

Thank you very much for participating in this survey!

*Nature-based solutions (NBS) is a relatively new concept referring to interventions based on nature that improve urban sustainability. If the concept of nature-based solutions (NBS) is not yet commonly used in your city, please consider other types of multifunctional urban nature, such as green infrastructure, community gardens or wetlands, when completing the survey.