METREX supports this Cities Forum 2023 side event, which is organised by EMA and hosted by our member Metropolitan City of Turin.
14:30-17:00 CET
The next 16th and 17th of March, Torino will host the 5th edition of the Cities Forum, a biennial event of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy that will be focused on how to turn cities green and just.
In this context of urban debates, the EMA network, in close collaboration with the Metropolitan City of Torino, wants to add new arguments on the role of metropolitan areas in Europe as a response to the Green Deal, and the energy and social challenges our metropolises need to currently overcome.
The European Union is a region where metropolitan areas develop in important role as it has been recognized by the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Committee of the Regions, the OECD or UN-Habitat. Metropolitan areas in Europe as drivers of development and opportunities have been deeply touched by the COVID-19 effects for the past two years. In addition, the current economic and energy crisis and the uncertain situation due to the war in Ukraine is reshaping the day to day realities in our territories. Transformation is needed, thus adaption and resilience is the way to lead our metropolitan areas to green, just and sustainable territories for all.
The Cohesion policy and the Recovery Plans are great instruments to achieve these transformations. However Metropolitan Areas are not always fully involved in the planning and delivery of these policy and financial instruments. The MetroESPON project led by Metropolitan City of Torino and with the participation of different metropolitan areas of the EMA network is a good example of this reality.
At the Italian level, the metropolitan cities have been engaged by the Ministry for the Environment and Energy Security, in a broad process of territorialisation of global, European and national objectives, with the definition and implementation of metropolitan agendas for sustainable development. The interaction between the different institutional levels for the improvement of policies and the response to global challenges, is located in the broader framework of Policy Coherence outlined by the OECD.
