The FMRM has held an information day for local councils to publicise new opportunities for obtaining European funding
With the aim of informing the City Councils about the opportunities of the new FEDER programming period, the Federation of Municipalities of the Region of Murcia has held the conference “Urban development in the period 2021-2027, from EDUSI to integrated territorial development strategies.
This is a day in which the great opportunity that ERDF funds represent for cities was made known.
The event was held at the Economic and Social Council of the Region of Murcia and was attended by more than fifty people from the local administration, including mayors, councillors and technicians, both from the region of Murcia and from other autonomous communities. The central talk was led by Beatriz Postigo, Secretary General of Urban Development of the Ministry of Finance and Public Service of the Government of Spain, who revealed the keys to this new call for aid.
With a budget of more than 1.700 billion euros, the funding of integrated projects is planned to promote integrated and inclusive social, economic and environmental development, culture and natural heritage, sustainable tourism and safety in urban areas.
To this end, and taking into account the heterogeneity of urban areas, which means that the challenges to be addressed are different, from the mobility and housing problems of large conurbations to the deficiencies in access to public services in intermediate cities and their surroundings, three models of urban development are proposed in this period: large cities, with more than 75.000 inhabitants, intermediate cities, with between 20.000 and 75.000 inhabitants, and functional urban areas, made up of an area of at least 20.000 inhabitants and a capital of at least 10.000.
In order to qualify for these funds, municipalities must first have an urban planning strategy, developed with citizen participation, such as their Urban Agenda, which must frame their integrated action plan.
This year marks the end of the implementation of the Integrated Sustainable Urban Development Strategies that have been financed in the period 2014-2020, so it is an ideal time to evaluate and reflect on the experience of different cities that have implemented their strategies.
For this reason, a round table discussion was also held at this event, in which technicians from institutions in the region who have directed projects within the framework of Edusi in San Javier, Águilas and La Manga participated.
The president of the CES, José Antonio Cobacho, opened the session, and the Secretary General of the FMRM, Manuel Pato, closed it by thanking the town councils for their interest and high participation, as well as mentioning the importance that European projects currently have in the Federation and its objective of trying to turn the 45 Murcian municipalities into sustainable places through European projects with the FMRM as an ally to achieve this.
For its part, Eurovértice Consultores, a company dedicated to projects for obtaining European funding, has been an important part of the talks, explaining the processes and needs.
