City-to-City Exchanges EUI – Capacity Building
The Call for Applications for city-to-city exchanges opened on 4 April 2023 and will close on 17 November 2023 at 12:00 CET. Applications are submitted and approved for implementation on a rolling basis while the call is open.
A city-to-city exchange brings together an urban authority (‘the applicant’) facing a specific implementation challenge related to Sustainable Urban Development and another urban authority from a different EU Member State with expertise which could help tackle this challenge (‘the peer’) for a short-term, quickly implemented visit. In principle, city-to-city exchanges are bilateral in nature, but a second peer may be included, if justified.
A city-to-city exchange is a bottom-up, on-demand activity. The content, timing and format of the exchange are defined by the applicant according to their specific needs related to the design and implementation of Sustainable Urban Development. The peers must be identified by the applicant.
City-to-City Exchanges
A city-to-city exchange is required to focus on a specific policy challenge related to the design and implementation of Sustainable Urban Development within Cohesion Policy.
The objective of a city-to-city exchange is to improve the capacity of the applicant to tackle the identified challenge through a process of peer learning and sharing of expertise. Peers are expected to share practical knowledge and know-how tailored to the identified challenge and the urban context of the applicant.
City-to-city exchanges offer short-term opportunities for peer learning. They can be as simple as one visit between two cities. When duly justified, an applicant may define up to three visits per application to be completed within five months, if a series of events is most suited to tackling the identified challenge.
The applicant selects the most appropriate format for each visit according to their needs - an outgoing visit where the applicant travels to a peer city, or an incoming visit where the peer visits the applicant city. Each visit may last between two to five days.
Applicants are expected to implement the visit as soon as possible following approval.
More information can be found in the City-to-City Exchanges Guidance for Applicants.
Only urban authorities from EU Member States are eligible to apply. There is no minimum population requirement for the city, town, functional urban area or suburb. Relevant stakeholders may also participate in the exchange alongside the urban authority if justified in the application.
Applications are particularly encouraged from cities with less than 500,000 inhabitants and from less developed regions and transition regions.
All applicants are required to demonstrate their interest in integrated, place-based approaches to Sustainable Urban Development, or their involvement in the implementation of Sustainable Urban Development strategies.
Call timeline
The Call for Applications for city-to-city exchanges opened on 4 April 2023. Applications are submitted and approved for implementation on a rolling basis. Notification of approval can be expected within four weeks of application for applications from prioritised urban authorities (see section 2.2.2 of Guidance for Applicants for more details).
A first Applicant Webinar was organised by EUI, on 5 April 10:00 - 11:30 CEST. During this webinar, the EUI capacity building team presented the framework and methodology of city-to-city exchanges and answered questions from potential applicants in a Q&A session. Video recordings are available here.
A second Applicant Webinar was organised by EUI on 3 May 2023.
The Call for Applications for city-to-city exchanges will close on 17 November 2023, at 12:00 CET. Applicants submitting on this date will receive notification of approval by mid-December 2023 at the earliest.
A new Call for Applications for city-to-city exchanges is indicatively expected to open in Q1 2024.
Get support
The EUI Permanent Secretariat assists applicants during the Call for Applications for city-to-city exchanges. This support will be provided via:
- Application Pack: Read the Guidance for Applicants and courtesy Application Form.
- Applicant Webinars: Two webinars were organised on 5 April and on 3 May 2023. A video recording of the first webinar is available here.
- Bilateral consultations: The Permanent Secretariat offers a limited number of appointments for online consultations on a first come, first serve basis with a limit of one per application. Book your consultation here.
- Email support: Contact us with your queries via capacitybuilding@urban-initiative.eu.
- Peer introduction request: Urban authorities may use this form to request to be put in contact with another urban authority from an Urban Innovative Actions project or an Urban Agenda for the EU Partnership. To request contact details from specific URBACT partners, the National URBACT points may be contacted.
Apply for the Call
The submission of the Application Form is 100% paperless and is done via EU Survey with the upload of an Excel file for Work Plan and Budget.
Applicants are strongly advised to prepare their application using the Courtesy Application Form Word template prior to filling out the EU Survey and to save a copy of this Word file.
In addition to reading the Guidance for Applicants thoroughly, applicants are advised to pay close attention to the information bubbles [
] visible in certain fields of the application form and the warnings visible in the excel template for reminders of key requirements and advice.
The deadline for the submission of the Application Form is 17 November 2023 at 12:00 CET. Applications may be submitted on a rolling basis and approved for implementation as soon as 4 weeks later.