Learn about the key highlights of the 21st Edition of the European
Week of Regions and Cities!
Last week, the 21st edition of the European Week of Regions and Cities
[https://regions-and-cities.europa.eu/] took place with over 7000
participants, 500 speakers and 220 workshops. The European
Commission’s Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy
[https://commission.europa.eu/about-european-commission/departments-and-executive-agencies/regional-and-urban-policy_en]
(DG REGIO) and the European Committee of the Regions
[https://cor.europa.eu/en] (CoR) in cooperation with several
institutions, organised this four-day event to highlight the ability
of cities and regions to stimulate economic growth and employment. It
also demonstrated the successful implementation of the European
Union's cohesion policy and underscored the crucial role of local and
regional governance in achieving effective European governance.

During this week, data.europa.eu [https://data.europa.eu/en] hosted a
workshop titled ‘Open data for regional growth: showcasing a
real-life success story’
[https://regions-and-cities.europa.eu/programme/2023/sessions/899] on
the utilisation of open data to foster regional development. During
the workshop, participants had the opportunity to learn more about the
power of open data and how it can support innovative solutions to
boost economic growth, ensure food security or address the energy
crisis. An inspiring real-world success story was presented by the CEO
of geoFluxus [https://www.geofluxus.com/], who is also the winner of
the EU Datathon 2020
[https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eudatathon/2020-edition]competition. He
shared his remarkable journey, demonstrating how open data plays a
pivotal role in driving innovation within regional development.
Sharing his personal experiences, he showcased how open data from the
public sector can be turned into creative solutions. 

The workshop provided an opportunity to engage in discussions related
to the use and re-use of open data and exchange opinions on how to
find new approaches to develop solutions for a more resource-efficient
region, moving towards a circular economy. The workshop concluded with
an exercise in which participants were divided into groups to
brainstorm how to manage waste more efficiently. 

The European Week of Regions and Cities 2023 was an inspiring and
enlightening conference, bringing together professionals from diverse
backgrounds and fostering collaboration to drive better cohesion
policies. The conference served as a platform for knowledge-sharing to
debate on EU cohesion policy and facilitate cooperation across
sectors.

Looking for more information on the European Week of Regions and
Cities? Visit their website [https://europa.eu/regions-and-cities/].
You can still attend all over Europe the Week's Side Events until the
9th of November and if you missed the event or you particular want to
relive the highlights from this edition, here are the recordings
[https://www.youtube.com/@euregionsweek2680]. If you are interested in
learning more on how open data can enable regional development and
better cohesion in Europe, you can read our data story
[https://data.europa.eu/en/publications/datastories/open-data-enabler-regional-development-and-better-cohesion-europe].

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[https://www.linkedin.com/company/publications-office-of-the-european-union/],
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[https://data.europa.eu/en/newsletter].

Publication Date/Time
2023-10-20T08:00:00+00:00
Discover how open data can be transformed into innovative solutions