The city of Dubrovnik is hosting the General Assembly and the annual conference of the MedCities -network of Mediterranean cities, 10 – 11 November 2015. The two-day-event is organized in the collaboration with the Croatian Association of Historic Towns (HUPG) and it will unite the mayors, deputy mayors and representatives of the city-members such as Barcelona, Tanger, Tunis, Tripoli, Malaga, as well as political representatives of the surrounding cities such as Kotor, Mostar, Sarajevo, Kaštela, Solin, Split together with the international experts in urbanism and international institutions.
The international seminar « Historic cities: Heritage, innovation and social cohesion » is addressed to the representatives of local administrations in the Mediterranean region and the Adriatic and is part of the MedCities Annual Conference 2015.
MedCities is willing to provide tools to its members and others policymakers and experts interested in the subject in order to achieve sustainable urban development and promote policies and practices that are adequate to the needs of citizens. Taking into consideration the importance of the historic centres of the cities members of MedCities and the current challenges that the historic centres represent for the city, in terms of urban planning, economic development, preservation of heritage, quality of life and social cohesion, this seminar focuses on generating debate and exchanging experiences and good practices from all shores of the Mediterranean basin.
The aim is to present innovative interventions in the historic centres of the region regarding cross-cutting issues and discuss the challenges and risks faced by the municipalities.
The issues to be discussed are:
- Economic activities, with special emphasis on those linked to tourism,
- Cultural and heritage activities;
- Social cohesion and improvement of quality of life in these areas;
- Innovation in the development and management of historic centres: urban regeneration projects and the provision of public services, including new technologies (Smart Historic Cities)
The General Assembly will take place on Wednesday 11 November, more than 30 cities of the North and South shores of the Mediterranean represented by mayors and elected officials will participate. In addition, the General Secretariat will present the 25th MedCities anniversary campaign that will be implemented during the year 2016.
The event will be opened with the interventions of Andro Vlahušić, mayor of Dubrovnik, Mohamed Idaomar, MedCities president and mayor of Tetuan and Alfred Bosch, vice-President of the Barcelona Metropolitan Area, which hosts the General Secretariat of MedCities.
MedCities is a network of Mediterranean cities created in Barcelona in November 1991 at the initiative of the Mediterranean Environmental Technical Assistance Programme (METAP).
Being a network of Mediterranean towns and cities belonging to different countries, its purpose is urban sustainable development as a way to improve living conditions in the Mediterranean region.
The main aims and purposes of the network are:
- to develop the awareness of interdependence and common responsibility as regard policies of sustainable development, environmental conservation and social cohesion of the Mediterranean basin
- to reinforce the role, competences and resources (institutional, financial and technical) of local administrations in the adoption and implementation of sustainable local development policies
- to develop citizens’ awareness and involvement in the sustainable development of their towns and cities
- to get under way and develop policies for direct cooperation and partnership between partners and with other associations
Find out more : MedCities Dubrovnik 2015