Over the next two years, the municipality of Vila Nova de Famalicão will lead a European action-planning network of URBACT - a European cooperation programme for the urban and sustainable development of cities -, which will work to promote gender issues and equality in the public procurement sector.
Through the "GenProcure" network, Famalicão and the other European cities/associations/intermunicipal communities that are part of this project will have the opportunity to address the issue and work on how public procurement processes can reduce gender inequalities by including social criteria in the contracts concluded, and raise awareness among the target public to change attitudes and behaviours.
In this URBACT project, Vila Nova de Famalicão will be joined by Zagreb (Croatia), Koszalin (Poland), Messina (Italy), Újfehértó (Hungary), Alcoy (Spain), Umea (Sweden) Satu Mare (Romania) and Zenica-Doboj Canton (Bosnia Herzegovina) as partners.
Famalicão is also a member of the URBACT network "IN4Green - Greener Industrial Cities", which is centred on compliance with the PO2 cohesion policy - A Greener Europe, its main objective being to promote the transition to a green and sustainable economy, strengthening industry and making the territory more competitive and inclusive for citizens.
The municipality is also represented in the networks in which the Urban Quadrilateral is integrated: "S.M.ALL", which focuses on sharing urban solutions for sustainable and accessible mobility for all; and the "Cities at Heart" project, which will seek to reverse the loss of attractiveness of cities.
For mayor Mário Passos, Famalicão's participation in these URBACT networks "is yet another example of Famalicão's openness to Europe and the world" and the way in which the municipality is committed to progressing to new heights, strengthening and increasing its capacity and strategic vision. "This exchange of experiences is fundamental for us to grow."
It should also be noted that Portugal is once again one of the most represented countries in the action planning networks of URBACT, the European Territorial Cooperation Programme that aims to promote urban and sustainable development in Europe's cities. Out of a total of 30 networks and 252 individual partners selected, 22 Portuguese partners were approved for URBACT IV.
