Ghent and the Eurocities network
Ghent is a very active participant of Eurocities, the most important network of large cities in Europe.
Eurocities is a network of 190 European cities that share knowledge and advocate a more city-oriented policy focus with sufficient resources to undertake action. Ghent has actively taken part in the creation of this network for many years already because the City believes in the power of cross-border cooperation to make the city a better place to live, work and relax.
What is the role of Ghent in Eurocities?
- Ghent subscribes positions on urban themes like environment and climate, migration, European financing, culture, mobility and digitisation. This way we make our needs clear to the European policymakers.
- Officials and politicians share knowledge about these themes through study visits, reports and projects.
- We conduct campaigns and organise events to bring the EU closer to the citizens and stakeholders.
- We find partners for urban projects in Europe.
We undertake these actions to help build the European Union from the bottom up.
How do we do it in practice?
Ghent has a seat in the Executive Committee and is represented by Mayor Mathias De Clercq. In this committee, the political priorities for the work programme are presented to the members.
The members of the Executive Committee are Barcelona, Braga, Firenze, Ghent, Leipzig, Ljubljana, Nantes, Oslo, Rotterdam, Stockholm, Warsaw and Vienna.
Firenze has been the Chairman of the network since November 2020, Leipzig is the Vice-Chairman.
Our executive councillor Tine Heyse is the vice-chairwoman of the policy group "Environment".
Politicians and especially public officials are the technical experts who cooperate on various policy topics. They share knowledge, carry out projects and advocate their positions with the European political institutions.