Reflections from Forum of Networks

The brainstorming session- Forum of Networks, hosted as a part of European Week of the Regions and Cities 2022, took place online on the 9th of November. The meeting was organised by Deltametropolis Association and was held in the form of an open panel discussion.

Deltametropool hosted this session to develop the initiative in a co-creative process. In total 26 attendees were present online, with 3 speakers facilitating and moderating the session. The group consisted of experts from networks and cities, regions. Read more about the project initiative here .

Network of Networks initiative is based on the idea that the network and research organizations are now expected to change with the shift in paradigm of systemic planning and dealing with the climate urgencies. The goal of the meeting was to collectively create an initiative and draft an action-oriented collaboration prospect between the existing networks, catering to the cities and regions for sustainable development. With a group consisting of 20 organisations, bringing in their inputs and ideas to develop this initiative in a co-owned manner, it was a successful first step. Network of Networks: an initiative for a continuous and horizontally organized exchange platform.This idea promotes the exchange between the inspirational projects done by variety of networks at different scales from all the European cities and regions. A strong collaborative group was formed in this first meeting, and we hope to extend this group in coming months. This collaboration is to be evolved as an instrument to build stronger and efficient partnerships, which are needed, in the short, middle, and long term.

After a brief introduction of the experts, the meeting was contextualised with a pitch presentation about the challenges leading to this project initiative. With the explorative idea, an open panel discussion with each expert reactions on their organization challenges around this subject took place. Followed with a discussion on how the networks can contribute and what they can gain from such initiative. The fundamental focus of the discussion was situated on a bigger impact on European and Global agendas and how cities and regions can benefit more from the networks.

Questions raised during the brainstorming session: 

• Where are the gaps in exchange between networks within the European setting?
• How can the networks contribution be more impactful towards the EU agendas?​
• How can the cities and regions receive more support from network organisations?
• ​How to change our working methods with the changing paradigm of urgencies and planning?​
• What can the next generation offer to this change?​

From the discussion, a large number of positive responses towards the Forum of Networks project initiative were received. The conclusion is to continue the discussion, keeping it open and flexible as a knowledge exchange platform, for European and Global networks. This should be reacting to the inter-scaler impact and approaches, empowering local and regional initiatives while establishing a clear goal and learning for next generation.

We will be dialoguing and sharpening the initiative idea and will be proposing concrete next steps to turn this idea into a program.

We are planning for follow-up events and meetings on this subject from January 2023. If you are interested in joining the initiative, write an email to alankrita.sarkar@deltametropool.nl