The European Union is launching a three-year program to promote international urban cooperation for European cities that want to link up, build and share knowledge and solutions with other cities and regions.

In this first phase of a long-term strategy of fostering urban diplomacy – a vehicle of EU external relations – the IUC boosts sectoral, transversal and international urban cooperation and exchange with key city partners (public and private) in Asia and the Americas. With a budget of over EUR 20 million, IUC activities support Habitat III goals as well as the Paris COP 21 declaration and the Sustainable Development Goals.

The IUC will build on existing cooperation through:
• City-to-city cooperation on sustainable urban development
• Sub-national action under the Global Covenant of Mayors initiative
• Inter-regional cooperation on innovation for local and regional development

The target countries include China, India, Japan, Canada, Mexico, USA, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Peru. For the Covenant initiative, South Korea, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and countries in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) are included.

The program aims to city-to-city cooperation on sustainable urban development, drawing on the solid approach of the EU-funded URBACT network. City pairs will be supported in their efforts to design, implement and manage sustainable urban practices in an integrated and participative way. Local action plans will be developed through an inclusive multi-stakeholder process and include specific activities and economically viable pilot projects to be implemented in the short term in order to ensure results and open up market opportunities. These plans will help drive thematic clustering of knowledge, exchange and best practices among cities facing similar challenges.

Larissa is selected to participate in the themes “sustainable energy”, green areas and biodiversity” and “urban mobility” and is paired-up with the city of Miraflores in Peru.