At the beginning of March, the councillors approved that the Brno Metropolitan Area (BMA) will apply for participation in the Functional Areas in the EU project, which is a collaboration between the European Commission and the World Bank. Based on a questionnaire and interviews with representatives of both institutions, BMA was selected as the only region from the Czech Republic.
The goalof the project is to increase the capacity of selected functional areas to plan and finance green transformation and sustainable development, as well as to increase interdisciplinary cooperation. A condition for the confirmation of the City of Brno’s involvement in the project is the submission of a letter expressing interest in cooperation with the European Commission and the World Bank. The letter must be sent by 13 May 2022, and the councillors approved its wording today.
“From May 2022 to May 2023, targeted technical support will be provided to selected functional areas to address key challenges in areas such as strategic or spatial planning, public service delivery or the development of civic engagement tools. We will work with the participating areas at working group level. The project will provide our city with the transfer of examples of good practice with other areas and available expertise on metropolitan cooperation issues within and outside the European Union,” described Brno Mayor Markéta Vaňková.
“BMA representatives will be part of a prestigious group of experts and selected functional areas on the topic of metropolitan cooperation and planning, and will thus make their position more visible. We are expected to ensure the availability of subject matter experts and meeting and working spaces, access to datasets, assistance in organising public consultations and various project events, our participation in European dissemination and knowledge exchange activities, and to contribute our in-house technical and administrative expertise to ensure the proper implementation of the project,” added Deputy Mayor Tomáš Koláčný.
No financial contribution is expected from the City of Brno. And since the purpose of the project is to obtain technical support, participation will not bring the Brno Metropolitan Area any additional financial incentive from the European Commission or the World Bank.
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