The 19th European Week of Regions and Cities took place this year between 11 and 14 October 2021. The annual four-day event was an opportunity for regions and cities to discuss common challenges, facilitate cooperation and networking, feed into the debate on EU Cohesion policy and to provide a platform for capacity-building, learning and exchanging of experience. It brought together entities for over 300 sessions on Cohesion (from emergency to resilience); ecological transition (for a sustainable and green recovery); digital transition (for people); and citizen engagement (for an inclusive, participative and equitable recovery).
After four days of intense interaction, the speakers raised some key points available in the closing video. For example, European Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms, Elisa Ferreira, explained that rebalancing growth is the new paradigm for Europe and that to look at it with the lens of environment and cohesion, but also that digitalisation is the new way to Europe while ensuring that it does not result in a division between Europe’s populations.
The President of the European Committee of Regions, Apostolos Tzitzikostas, insisted that local actors should be adequately involved and that we should start engaging citizens as they know best about what is good for their regions and cities.
An interactive village exhibition was also available to navigate the different stands related to one of the four main themes.