News & Blog:
📢 Call for Papers | Special Issue in Glocalism
The Jean Monnet Chair RegenEU is pleased to present the call for submissions of a special issue of the scientific journal Glocalism entitled “Urban planning in times of policrisis” that explores the future of urban planning in a time of multiple and interconnected challenges. The topic addressed is importantly related with the focus of RegenEU.
As cities face growing environmental, social, economic, and political challenges, urban planning stands at a critical crossroads. In recent decades, statutory and regulatory planning has increasingly been questioned in favor of more flexible and strategic approaches. While this shift has enabled innovation and adaptability, it has also raised important questions about the capacity of planning to defend the public interest, promote social justice, and guide sustainable urban transformation.
This special issue seeks contributions that critically examine the relationship between regulatory and strategic planning, and reflect on how planning can evolve while retaining its essential role as a key public policy tool. We welcome theoretical, empirical, and practice-based contributions, as well as case studies that help explain contemporary urban transformations and the emergence of what may be a new moment in urbanism.
This special issue has been proposed and will be edited by Sonia De Gregorio, Jean Monnet Chair RegenEU, as part of her ongoing collaboration with Glocalism. It will feature Professor Alessandro Balducci (Politecnico di Milano) as the lead author.
The call is particularly interested in forward-looking perspectives on how urban planning can respond to the challenges of the ecological and just transition, while strengthening democratic governance, spatial regulation, and the common good.
The information on how to submit articles is available in this link: https://riviste.unimi.it/index.php/glocalism/article/view/32291
Publised the report “Resilient Society” in the framework of TRANSFORM-EU, with a contribution of the Jean Monnet Chair RegenEU entitled “Reviewing the urban paradigm. The transition towards resilient European Union cities”
The contribution of RegenEU is integrated in Section 4 and examines the evolving “urban paradigm” in the EU, highlighting cities as central actors in building resilience. With over 75% of the population living in urban areas, cities face a multidimensional “polycrisis” (social inequality, climate change, pollution), yet also act as hubs of innovation—the “urban paradox.”
The section argues for strengthening the urban dimension of EU policy through better multi-level governance, increased funding, and institutional support. Empowering cities’ innovative and regenerative capacities—while prioritizing vulnerable neighbourhoods and local participation—is essential. Ultimately, active city involvement is crucial to achieving the EGD and advancing a resilient, fair, and sustainable European future.
RegenEU thanks particularly Ida Musialkowska and TRANSFORM-EU for the opportunity to contribute to the debate on how to advance EU resilience. A crucial topic in the contemporary framework that we will continue exploring with our colleagues of the Poznan University of Economics. The report is available in Polish and English and can be accessed in this link: https://wydawnictwo.ue.poznan.pl/en/book.html?isbn=978-83-8211-300-6
La Universidad Politécnica de Madrid se hace eco de la asignación de la Jean Monnet Chair RegenEU a la profesora Sonia De Gregorio Hurtado (ETSAM)
EURA Regeneration Talk 8 #United Kingdom
We are happy to announce the next EURA Urban Regeneration Talk that will take place online on November 17th, 2025 15:30 (CET). This EURA event is launched in the context of the EURA Working Group on Urban Regeneration cochaired by Karsten Zimmermann and Sonia De Gregorio Hurtado.
This session focuses on “The socioeconomic impacts of brownfield redevelopment to housing in England”.
Speakers: Danielle Sinnett, Reinhard Weisser, Owen Cranshaw.
More informativo available in this link: https://eura.org/news-wgur-urtalks08/
EURA Regeneration Talk 7 #Denmark
We are happy to announce the next EURA Urban Regeneration Talk that will take place online on July 1, 2025 15:00 (CET). This EURA event is launched in the context of the EURA Working Group on Urban Regeneration cochaired by Karsten Zimmermann and Sonia De Gregorio Hurtado.
The 7th UR talk will focus on the Danish case, counting with the valuable contribution and expertise on the topic of Carsten Jan Hansen from the Department of Sustainability and Planning, Aalborg University. The contribution will focus on “Urban development planning in Denmark – the ‘explosion’ of informal and non-mandatory plans”. The presentation is part of the research project entitled Non-mandatory spatial development planning in Denmark – Planning Spaces for Sustainable Place Development.
Link to the online event:
Next talk: TALK #08 | Date: TBA
The Service-Learning project UPM-UAM “Regenerar los Barrios de Madrid” in the ITGesPub Blog
Moneyba González Medina, Professor of Political Science in Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM), reflects on the collaboration with the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) within the framework of the “Repensar los Barrios de Madrid” service-leraning project that focuses on the urban regeneration of the vulnerable areas of Madrid. In this case the experience has focused on the neighbourhood of Comillas from September 2024 to January 2025.
She underlines the indelible mark on students of UPM and UAM of this experience, who in their evaluations highlight the added value of this learning approach in terms of training and social impact: “The project aims to offer practical solutions to real problems affecting society, which increases its appeal […] by encouraging students to get the best out of themselves. Without a doubt, on a personal level, this project has allowed me to put the acquired knowledge into practice in a way I hadn’t had the opportunity to do until then, and I believe the results achieved are positive.”
She also highlights that at an academic level, the results of the project by UPM students have been collected in the publication entitled “ApS-UPM “Repensar los barrios de Madrid”: La universidad como actor urbano” (2025), coordinated by Sonia De Gregorio Hurtado, which underlines the transformative capacity of this teaching approach based on putting different actors to work together on real problems in the city’s neighborhoods. In the case of UPM the approach is implemented within the teaching activity of the Jean Monnet Chair RegenEU that focuses on urban regeneration. We thank Prof. González Medina for this valuable text that gives visibility to our commitment to enhance teaching with humanistic values to advance urban planning for the common good.
The whole text is available here: https://itgespub.net/fomentando-valores-y-alianzas-entre-la-universidad-y-la-comunidad-local-la-experiencia-del-aprendizaje-servicio-en-el-barrio-de-comillas-de-madrid/
RegenEU participating in the FutureResilience Seminar “Urban Design: From Adaptation to Resilience”
In the face of escalating climate challenges and evolving societal needs, urban planning and design play a pivotal role in fostering resilience. Well-planned public spaces, mixed-use developments, and dynamic accesibility networks create inclusive and adaptive urban environments.
This webinar will explore innovative approaches to urban adaptation and creative regeneration, offering a multidimensional perspective on how cities can respond to environmental and social transformations.
Speakers:
➡️ Ine Vandecasteele from European Environment Agency
➡️ Sonia De Gregorio. PhD from Universidad Politécnica de Madrid
➡️ Gianfranco Franz from Università degli Studi di Ferrara
➡️ Moderated by Fernando Miguel García Martín from Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena
Register here: https://lnkd.in/eSxZrCpn
Previous news
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05/02/2025
The regeneration or urban vulnerable neighbourhoods; an EU policy that matters?
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La Cátedra Jean Monnet RegenEU en el CONAMA 2024
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