Cities Forum 2025 - Innovation beyond borders: international cooperation empowering European cities

Speakers emphasized the need to align international cooperation with local priorities by customizing thematic focus and ensuring policy relevance. A key insight was the importance of matching pilot projects with appropriate EU funding, particularly through clear, streamlined processes. Coimbra and Sofia illustrated through their experience in IURC, how partnerships with cities in diverse contexts can lead to mutual learning and innovation. Oulu highlighted the value of harmonizing local legislation with international climate goals. UN-Habitat reinforced the need to integrate citizens and use digital platforms for data-sharing and monitoring. Sapienza University stressed the strategic role of universities in linking research with urban governance and co-creation. Across all groups, participants agreed on the need to prioritize clear, shared goals while retaining flexibility to adapt to local contexts. Universities, clusters, and city networks emerged as key enablers of sustainable urban transformation and knowledge transfer.

The most voted insights from the group discussions showed several key lessons. First, cities must leverage technical, human, and financial resources efficiently, this includes improving coordination, accessing the right funding instruments, and maximizing local capacities (Oulu). Second, cities benefit from thematic clusters that offer structured collaboration, “sharing a common challenge helps build shared solutions” (Sofia). Coimbra group stressed the importance of aligning projects with EU missions and ensuring political will. UN-Habitat’s group highlighted the need to include city residents as key actors in finding solutions and to prioritize goals while maintaining flexibility. Sapienza emphasized that sustainability happens where horizontal governance meets vertical coordination, and that researchers must understand political realities to be effective contributors.

The session reinforced the value of international cooperation in addressing urban challenges through locally tailored, but globally connected solutions. The IURC programme’s open call offers EU cities and regions the opportunity to join new partnerships and expand impact. UN-Habitat and IURC will explore synergies to enhance city-level capacity-building in international cooperation. It is also demonstrated that programmes like IURC also position EU cities as ambassadors of European policies, promoting sustainable urban development and innovation beyond the EU’s borders.

International urban cooperation analysed in the session directly supports the EU Agenda for Cities by translating high level goals, such as climate neutrality, social inclusion, and digital transition, into place-based action. The session highlighted how thematic clustering, peer learning, and quadruple helix partnerships help cities align local innovation with EU policy frameworks. By facilitating access to funding and fostering political commitment, programmes like IURC enable cities to act as testbeds for EU priorities while promoting EU values globally through cooperation with partners beyond Europe.