City-to-City Exchanges EUI – Capacity Building
The Call for Applications for City-to-City Exchanges is now continuously open. Applications can be submitted and approved for implementation on a rolling basis.
The initial call for this service was open in 2023 with a deadline: 17 November. Following this date, it was decided and announced that the City-to-City Exchanges service becomes available continuously.
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 you, according to your specific needs. With the application, you need to outline the city you aim to have as partner for the exchange.
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.
This service is dedicated to urban authorities from EU Member States. 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, from less developed regions, from regions in transition, and Article 11 Cities.
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.
Approved Exchanges
As of August 2024, 40 city-to-city exchanges have been approved and are currently ongoing or have already been completed. With a success rate of over 85%, the vast majority of city-to-city exchange applications are accepted.
In this table you can find the full list of all exchanges and the sustainable urban development topics they cover.
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.
Almost 200 cities took part to this online matchmaking event. The recording is available here
Apply here
Resources to find peers
There are several databases which you can navigate to find urban good practices and potential cities from which you can learn from:
- Contact the Urban Contact Point of your country or country of interest to help you find a relevant city
- Use the Urban Matchmaker of Portico, a dedicated matchmaking tool to help you find peers
- Check Urban Initiative Actions grouped by topic or the Portico urban practices
- The URBACT Good practices database
- The case studies in the Handbook of Sustainable Urban Development Strategies published by the JRC.
- The case studies in the Policy Atlas of Sustainable Urban Development for Small Urban Areas published by the JRC
- The Interreg Europe Good practices database features local, regional and national policy solutions
We can equally help in this endeavour by bridging the communication between you and cities we work with as part of our other activities. You 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.
Get support
We, the EUI Permanent Secretariat, are here to inform and assist all those interested in the City-to-City Exchanges.
- Check the application pack: read the Guidance for Applicants and courtesy Application Form.
- Applicant Webinars:
- Bilateral consultations, we offer the possibility to book an online consultation on a first come, first serve basis with a limit of one per application.
- Contact us with your queries via capacitybuilding@urban-initiative.eu.
- Peer introduction request: you 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.
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.
Applications may be submitted on a rolling basis and approved for implementation as soon as 4 weeks later.
Please note that the Workplan and Budget file was updated as of 1st of August 2024 and includes now adjusted amounts for the return trips. Download and complete the updated file, before submitting your application.