Cities and regions at the forefront of innovation: Highlights from
European Week of Regions and Cities 2025
The European Week of Regions and Cities 2025
[https://regions-and-cities.europa.eu/] brought together thousands of
participants in Brussels to explore how local and regional authorities
are shaping Europe’s future. With over 200 sessions covering topics
from climate resilience to digital transformations, the event
showcased the future of regional innovation under the theme ‘Shaping
tomorrow, together’. 

In collaboration with Mastercard Europe, the European Data Portal team
hosted a session titled ‘Cities leveraging data for impact –
showcasing real-life success stories
[https://regions-and-cities.europa.eu/programme/2025/sessions/46326]’.
In this session moderated by Katarina Kakalikova, Carlos
Martins-Ferreira, alongside Mani Dhingra and Olaf OSICA highlighted
how the cities of Dublin and Warsaw are using data to drive meaningful
change. Through real-life examples, they demonstrated how
data-informed decision-making is enhancing public services, improving
urban mobility, and promoting inclusive development across both
cities.  

This session, along with the broader European Week of Regions and
Cities programme, underscored the growing importance of open data in
empowering cities. By making data accessible and usable,
municipalities can foster transparency, stimulate innovation, and
engage citizens in co-creating solutions. The EU’s commitment to
open data was reinforced throughout the week, emphasising that data is
not just a technical asset, but a strategic tool for inclusive and
sustainable development. 

As cities continue to evolve, the lessons from the European Week of
Regions and Cities 2025 serve as a call to embrace data, share
knowledge, and collaborate across borders to build smarter, more
resilient communities. 

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Publication Date/Time
2025-10-27T09:00:00+00:00
How European cities are turning open data into impact through
collaboration, innovation, and citizen engagement