Organised by Lyon Metropolitan Authority, Barcelona Metropolitan Area, Lisbon Metropolitan Area, Brno City Municipality, Metropolitan City of Turin, Municipality of Sintra, Region of Sicily, Euroregion North West City Region (Derry City, Strabane District Council and Donegal County).

These local authorities discussed the impact of the COVID-19 crisis in 2020, which has given rise to new challenges, aggravated old ones, but also highlighted the essential role of cities, metropolitan authorities and regions in delivering public services as close as possible to citizens.

The aim will be to present the emergency measures taken locally and the support provided by the European Union through Cohesion Policy. The differentiated management between the partners will be very interesting to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of their governance models.

Looking to the future, it is essential that these local authorities can play an increasing role in the next programming period.

The Metropolitan scale, and its specificities in terms of governance of European funds and legal competences, will be addressed as the partners are involved in the ESPON study entitled "METRO" and are part of the European Metropolitan Authorities network.

Finally, the need to involve Cities, Metropolitan Authorities and Regions at all stages in the implementation of the European Green Deal and Recovery Plan will is essential - watch now

Pietro Reviglio, Policy Officer- Eurocities, Eurocities, Belgium.
Maria Agnello, Policy Advisor, Sicily Region, Italy.
Claudia Fassero, EU&International Projects&Programs Unit Responsible, Metropolitan City of Turin, Italy.
Filipe Ferreira, Metropolitan Secretary, Lisbon Metropolitan Area, Portugal.
Basílio Horta, Mayor and Member of the European Committee of the Regions, Municipality of Sintra, Portugal.
Odile Huiban, Head of Lyon European Affairs Department, Grand Lyon, France.
JOHN KELPIE, Chief Executive, Derry City & Strabane District Council, United Kingdom.
Piera Petruzzi, Senior Project Expert, ESPON, Luxembourg.
Petr Sasinka, Head of Department of ITI Management and Metropolitan Cooperation, Brno, Czechia.
Xavier Tiana, Head of International Relations, Barcelona Metropolitan Area, Spain.