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European Programs / New Entrepreneurship

European Programs and Promotion of New Entrepreneurship

The Department of European Programs and Promotion of New Entrepreneurship:

  1. It ensures the municipality’s continuous connection and independent presence in the European and international arena.
  2. It is responsible for the Municipality’s participation in European and international networks and organizations as an official member and carries out all the necessary actions for this purpose (correspondence, participation in conferences, exhibitions, presentations).
  3. It monitors the European and international institutional framework as well as the possibilities for utilizing European programs and financial instruments, informs and cooperates with the competent services, submits proposals for the Municipality’s participation in Competitive European Programs, and manages and monitors their implementation.
  4. It cooperates with local, regional, and national bodies, services, and agencies, as well as with services, agencies of the European Union, and international organizations.
  5. It implements relevant informational and promotional activities.
  6. It promotes opportunities for the advancement and development of new entrepreneurship by linking contemporary European practices, as derived from the European Commission, with regard to guidelines for the creation of new opportunities in emerging areas of new business activity, in conjunction with opportunities created by the domestic and local markets, and finding ways to support and assist in the further development and success of relevant plans and practices.

Contact the Department of European Programs and New Entrepreneurship Evangelia Gkountroumpi,
Phone: 2413500237
E-mail: euprojects@larissa.gov.gr

European programs of the Municipality of Larissa:

Erasmus+ is the EU program supporting education, training, youth, and sport in Europe.

URBACT is the European Territorial Cooperation program that aims to strengthen sustainable integrated urban development in European cities.

Horizon 2020 was an EU funding program for research and innovation for the period 2014-2020, which is being continued by Horizon Europe.

The following program is being implemented as part of the Horizon Europe program:

The Europe for Citizens program supports initiatives that preserve the memory of recent European history and strengthen citizens’ participation in public life at the EU level.

The Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV) program aims to protect and promote rights and values as enshrined in the EU Treaties and the Charter of Fundamental Rights, in particular by supporting civil society organizations active at local, regional, national, and transnational levels.

The Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) was established for the period 2021-2027 and aims to further strengthen national capacities and improve migration management processes, as well as to strengthen solidarity and responsibility sharing between Member States, in particular through emergency assistance and the relocation mechanism.

The LIFE program is the EU’s financial instrument for the environment and climate action. On May 21, 2022, it turned thirty years old.

The Internal Security Fund (ISF) aims to achieve a high level of security in the European Union.

City Networks

One of the world’s leading trends is the increased percentage of urban population. This means that cities are potentially an important area of intervention in multiple sectors (environment, innovation, culture, social policies, employment, education, etc.)

International Networking is a priority and an exceptional tool for modern cities, as it is an opportunity for the representation of local authorities and the cooperation on the challenges that urban areas have to face. Also, they provide a framework for the promotion of innovative ideas and practices as well as the exchange of experiences in an international level.

Participating in City Networks (European or global), beyond Larissa’s extroversion benefits also include opportunities for the Municipality’s (as well as the entities of the city) participation in partnerships and programs, European and global events and conferences, but also the transfer of experience and technical knowledge.

In this context, the municipality of Larissa participates in the following networks:

http://civitas.eu/

The CIVITAS Forum initiative, launched by the European Commission in 2000, focuses in cities that want to develop and implement measures for the improvement of urban transportation and to apply them on a large scale. Cities wishing to participate should confirm their political and technical commitment to integrated urban mobility and transport strategies. The Network Thematic Groups act as a platform of communication and exchange of experiences and knowledge among experts and representatives of local government on issues of sustainable mobility and, indicatively, refer to:

  • Car-free travel policies (use of a bicycle, on foot movement, vehicle sharing, etc.)
  • Clean fuels and vehicles (hybrid vehicles, alternative fuels, fuel infrastructure, electric vehicles, etc.)
  • Mass transport (access, connection with other forms of travel, pricing, application of logistics systems, etc.)
  • Demand management strategies (parking management, access restrictions, car-free zones, priority lanes, economic incentives and disincentives, etc.)
  • Integrated planning (land uses, housing, new areas, SUMP)
  • Mobility management (advertising and communication, mobility planning, mobility information centers, etc.)
  • Public participation (information campaigns, participatory processes, consultations with many interested parties, etc.)
  • Safety (infrastructure design, bicycle lanes, safe school routes, measures against vandalism, decrease of traffic, etc.)
  • logistics systems on transport (clever transportation systems, communication, cellphone applications, license plates’ recognition systems, etc.)
  • Supply chain within the city (delivery centers, distribution plans, fleet management of transport vehicles, freight transport projects within urban areas)

Participation to the network is made on request, requiring signature of the network’s declaration, while there is no subscription fees.

https://www.eumayors.eu/

The European Covenant of Mayors on Climate and Energy brings together housands of local authorities who are voluntarily commited to implement the EU’s climate and energy goals.

The Covenant of Mayors started in 2008 in Europe, aspiring to bring together local authorities tha are voluntarily to achieve and surpass the EU’s climate and Energy goals.

The iniciative brings together more than 7.000 local and regional authorities in 57 countries and exploit the advantages of a global multilateral movement and depend on the technical and methodological support provided by specialized offices.

The Global Covenant of Mayors exploits the experience gained over the last 8 years in Europe nad beyond and is based on the main success factors of the iniciative: bottom-up management, multilevel cooperation model and concrete accion framework.

The Covenant of Mayors on Climate and Energy is open to all local authorities, with a democratic composition of elected representatives, regardless of their size and the implementation state of their energy and climate policies.

Small and medium-sixed local authorities may also, under circumstances, decide to participate as a group of signatories.

The commitments of the signatories to the Covenant are linked to the EU climate and energy policy framework: the set of measures for the climate and energy by 2020, for the signatories integrated to the Covenant between 2008 and 2015, as well as the Framework for climate and energy by 2030, and the EU’s C;imate Change Adaptation Strategy for signatories that joined after 2015.

The Covenant signatories are commited to adopting an integrated approach to migration and adaptation to climate change. They will need to develop a Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan within the first two years of their accession to reduce CO2 emissions by at least 40% by 2030 and increase climate resilience.

www.iclei.org

http://www.iclei-europe.org/

ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability is an international Network of more than 1500 cities around the world, that are committed to the principles of sustainability, addressing social, demographic and environmental issues, as well as other challenges related to urban areas. The aim is the cooperation of local and regional authorities for the making of changes through collective learning, exchanges and skills development.

ICLEI has also a European Secretariat, based in Freiburg (Germany) with an active presence in the European Sustainable Cities Campaign, while it also supports the Covenant of Mayors.

Participating in the network includes an application and a subscription fee, which depends on the size of the city and the per capita GDP of the country.

The main areas of activation of the network include:

Biodiversity

  • Adaptation to climate change
  • Tackling climate change
  • Sustainability management
  • Urban governance
  • Sustainable Economy and Procurement
  • Energy
  • Waters
  • Mobility
  • Sustainable event planning

https://www.majorcities.eu/

The network of Major cities of Europe constitutes over the last 30 years, a stable frame of reference of the most important representatives of local government of multiple European cities on issues of new technologies and innovative services.

It’s a non-profit, independent community of innovative municipalities that aims to share experiences and good practices, to promote innovative solutions and integrated technologies and business models through an open and cooperative background.

The community of Major Cities is an opportunity for networking and cooperation with experienced suppliers of ICT services, with important national governmental organizations both in Europe and in America. Some of the local authorities that are members of the Network are: Hamburg, Tel Aviv, Dublin, Oslo, Barcelona, Boston, Birmingham, Berlin, Trieste, Uppsala, Rome, Zurich, Geneva, Trikala, Genoa, Eindhoven, Leipzig, Livorno, Prato, Ljubljana

There are also several organizations that are members of Major Cities:

  • PTI- Public Technology Institute, Washington DC
  • CTG- Center for Technology in Government- University of Albany-NY
  • VITAKO The Association of Local Government ICT providers- Germany
  • SOCITM- The society of UK Local Government CIOS
  • CITY PROTOCOL SOCIETY- Building Together Better Cities
  • PIN- PRATO- Educational and Scientific services for the University of Florence
  • IBM

http://www.river-cities.net/

It’s a network of cooperation between not only municipalities but also organizations that aim to promote rivers or coastal fronts in their cities as culture areas. For the participation to the network only signing of a memorandum of understanding is required.

The main objectives of the network are:

  • To strengthen the importance of riverside/coastal areas in the everyday life of cities.
  • To explore the riverside/coastal areas as an urban area for sustainable development and source of artistic inspiration
  • To increase access and citizens’ engagement with public space
  • To overcome obstacles to a successful cross-sectoral cooperation and social integration
  • To encourage cooperation and artistic joint ventures
  • To communicate concepts and practices to a greater audience

http://uil.unesco.org/lifelong-learning/learning-cities

Larissa Learning City

https://learninglarissa2016.wordpress.com/

«Learning City» is an innovative project that aims to intervene dynamically at the level of lifelong learning. In January 2016 the city of Larissa was the first Greek city that became member of the Global Network of Learning Cities – UNESCO which aims to:

  • The promotion of learning without exclusions from basic to higher education
  • The revitalization of learning to families and communities
  • The promotion of learning in the workplace
  • The expansion of the usage of modern learning technologies
  • The improvement of the quality and excellence in learning
  • to build a life-long-learning culture.

https://www.cnigreece.gr/en/

The Cities Network for Integration (CNI) inspires its members to exchange and plan coordinated activities and interventions at local and national level, aimed at promoting social integration of migrants and refugees and strengthening social cohesion.

The CNI launched its operations in January 2018, based on a memorandum of understanding between the two largest Municipalities of Greece, Athens and Thessaloniki, paving the way for a common framework for cooperation.

At the initiative of Athens, since April 2020, the CNI is supported by IOM Greece and UNHCR Greece on the basis of a trilateral cooperation with the Municipality of Athens.

Based on the priorities set by the participating Municipalities, the two international organizations provide the necessary technical means to develop mechanisms and procedures that promote initiatives with long-term benefits for both host societies and refugee/ migrant populations.

Today, the Network consists of 18 Municipalities, with a total population of 3,103,893 inhabitants.

Member Municipalities: Athens, Thessaloniki, Chania, Delta, Heraklion, Thessaloniki, Ioannina, Kalamaria, Karditsa, Katerini, Larissa, Livadeia, Neapoli – Sykies, Nea Filadelfeia / Nea Chalkidona, Piraeus, Tilos, Trikala, Tripoli, Agios Dimitrios.

Ανθρώπινη εικόνα με χάρτη της Λάρισας και της Θεσσαλονίκης, παρουσιάζοντας ευρωπαϊκά προγράμματα και.
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