Smart Cities 2021 "Activities of European cities to achieve climate neutrality"

Submission of abstracts for the scientific part: 9 May 2021

SRIP Smart Cities and Communities in cooperation with the Jožef Stefan Institute, the Urban Institute of the Republic of Slovenia, CER - Partnership for the Sustainable Economy of Slovenia and the Association of Municipalities of Slovenia invites you to a scientific conference entitled Activities of European Cities for Climate Neutrality. We have decided to hold a scientific conference in the light of Europe's efforts to become climate-neutral by 2050, led by new European Commission missions, including the '100 Climate-neutral cities by 2030 - for citizens' mission. In this mission, the Commission will support and promote 100 European cities on their path to carbon neutrality.
 

The topics of the conference will shed light on some of the issues facing and will be encountered by cities on their path to climate neutrality. Cities and their representatives will gain insight into possible proposals and solutions to the problems that await them in establishing climate neutrality.
 

The conference will address three topics, all three of which are equally important in achieving climate neutrality. The first topic concerns the production, storage and distribution of renewable energy sources, the second topic presents possible solutions to tackle greenhouse gas emissions, especially CO2, the highest among them. The third topic will address mobility, and how new forms of mobility can help reduce CO2 emissions.

The conference will host experts from various fields at four round tables/panels, which will shed additional light on the topics that await us on the path to achieving climate neutrality in the coming years.

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57th ISOCARP hybrid Congress "New Times, Better Places, Stronger Communities"

The deadline for abstract submissions is May 16, 2021

We invite you to submit the abstracts and papers for the 57th ISOCARP hybrid Congress "New Times, Better Places, Stronger Communities". The deadline for abstract submissions is May 16, 2021. For more informations see link.

Potentials of Innovative Tourism, Cultural Heritage and Creative Industries for the Green Recovery

transnational seminar/meeting, Urban planning institute RS as part of the project CREATOURES (INTERREG ADRION Programme), 23. 3. 2021 and 24. 3. 2021, online

Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia (www.uirs.si) organized a Transnational seminar/meeting titled: Potentials of Innovative Tourism, Cultural Heritage and Creative Industries for the Green Recovery. The meeting was organized as part of the Project CREATOURES (INTERREG ADRION Programme).

The transnational CREATURES seminar took place online on the MS Teams platform on 23.3.2021 and 24.3.2021. We hosted several prominent keynote speakers such as:

• Pietro Elisei, PhD., President of the ISOCARP (International Society of City and Regional Planners),
• Aša Rogelj, M.Sc., Deputy director, Spatial Planning, Construction and Housing Directorate, Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning of the Republic of Slovenia,
• Mart Grisel, M.Sc. Director, European Urban Knowledge Network,
• Gorazd Jenko, Senior expert, Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy,
• Petra Stušek, M.Sc., Managing director of Ljubljana Tourism
• Neda Rusjan Bric, Nova Gorica/Gorizia - European Capital of Culture 2025, head of the project and
• Anja Zorko, M.Sc., Director, Center za Kreativnost, Centre for Creativity

We welcomed 81 registered active participants on the first day and 57 on the second day. The event also hosted a Round table and a Group interview with stakeholders from different sectors. Since the project CREATURES wants to develop new creative and innovative tourist products, we also organized two interactive virtual Study tours (Metelkova city and Plečnik's Ljubljana).

About CREATOURES project

CREATURES project aims at preserving cultural heritage, promoting sustainable and experiential tourism in the ADRION Region by exploiting Cultural&Creative Industries’(CCI) potential, finding a right balance between innovation and conservation of the Adrion rich cultural heritage.

The Project will develop actions and tools for raising competencies, support decision making processes and test the solution proposed. Boštjan Cotič is managing the project at the UIRS. (bostjan.cotic@uirs.si)

https://creatures.adrioninterreg.eu/

http://www.uirs.si/sl-si/Raziskovanje/Projekt/id/554

About the Urban Planning institute of the Republic of Slovenia

The Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia (UIRS) is the main national scholarly research institution in the field of spatial, regional and urban planning and related discipline. Founded in 1955 as a research and consultancy agency, UIRS was transformed into a public research organisation in 1993, a status which continues to apply to date. The UIRS currently comprises 26 researchers, four administration personnel and one librarian. The strongly interdisciplinary research group is made up of experts with a broad range of academic backgrounds. 

Launch of the “AlpPlan” alpine spatial planning network

The OpenSpaceAlps project and the Academy for Territorial Development in the Leibniz Association (ARL) join forces to support transnational cooperation in spatial planning

The Alpine region is characterised by successful collaboration in numerous cooperation platforms. There is, though, still too little coordination between states and regions in spatial planning. This is considered crucial for tackling alpine cross-border challenges, such as ensuring ecological connectivity or managing traffic. To facilitate exchange with key stakeholders in the Alpine area, the OpenSpaceAlps project is collaborating with the Academy for Territorial Development in the Leibniz Association (ARL) to jointly establish a spatial planning network: the “AlpPlan network”.

The network addresses experts, planners and decision-makers at all administrative levels as well as interested stakeholders from the private sector. The aim of the network is to facilitate the transnational exchange of experience on planning practices and instruments and thus to contribute to the enhancement of spatial planning in the Alpine region.

AlpPlan network kick-off meeting yields promising results

The kick-off meeting of the AlpPlan network took place as an online conference on 29/10/2020. Representatives from the planning practice, ministries and academia discussed the issue of safeguarding open spaces and the future orientation of the network. The discussants agreed that the network must work in close contact with the existing cooperation formats, such as the working groups of the Alpine Convention and EUSALP. As a main benefit of the network, the participants stressed the opportunity to work together on the concrete local and regional implementation of higher-level spatial planning strategies and objectives.

Join the upcoming activities

In 2021, the network is going to host a thematic conference as well as a special capacity-building seminar. In a Memorandum of Cooperation which is being prepared the future members will agree on objectives and working procedures of the network. Moreover, an online platform and a central contact point at ARL will facilitate communication within the network.

We look forward to your participation in the AlpPlan network activities!

For more information and invitations to events please visit the OpenSpaceAlps project website and subscribe to the AlpPlan network newsletter.

New issue of Urbani izziv / Urban Challenge journal

vol. 31, number 2, December 2020

The latest issue of Urbani izziv /Urban Challenge journal brings 5 scientific articles written by Slovenian and foreign experts in the field of urbanism, architecture and spatial planning.

The articles are fully accessible on the Urban Challenge website in Slovene and English language.

Wishing you a pleasant read!