SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

LIFE programme

The LIFE Programme s the EU Funding instrument for the environment and climate action.

• The Environment sub-programme includes Funds for nature conservation and biodiversity, environment and resource efficiency, environmental governance and information;
• The Climate action sub-programme includes Funds for climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation, climate governance and information.

https://ec.europa.eu/easme/en/life

Cities and urban development

The Commission is working together with cities to ensure a good quality of life. The Commssion helps cities to grow sustainably through sharing of knowledge, funding and other urban policies and initiatives.

Priority themes for EU cities are:

1) Air quality in cities;

2) Circular economy in cities;

3) Climate adaptation in cities;

4) Culture in cities;

5) Digital transition in cities;

6) Energy transition in cities;

7) Housing in cities;

8) Innovative and responsible public procurement in cities;

9) Inclusion of migrants and refugees in cities;

10) Jobs and skills in the local economy;

11) Sustainable use of land and nature-based solutions in cities;

12) Urban mobility;

13) Urban poverty.

https://ec.europa.eu/info/eu-regional-and-urban-development/topics/cities-and-urban-development_en

Sustainable Urban development

The 2014-2020 period has put the urban dimension at the very heart of Cohesion Policy. At least 50% of the ERDF resources for this period will be invested in urban areas. This could increase even further, later in the period. Around 10 billion euros from the ERDF will be directly allocated to integrated strategies for sustainable urban development. And about 750 cities will be empowered to implement these integrated strategies for sustainable urban development.

https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/en/policy/themes/urban-development/

Landfill of waste

The Landfill Directive defines the different categories of waste (municipal waste, hazardous waste, non-hazardous waste and inert waste) and applies to all landfills, defined as waste disposal sites for the deposit of waste onto or into land. Landfills are divided into three classes: a) landfills for hazardous waste; b) landfills for non-hazardous waste; c) landfills for inert waste.

https://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/landfill_index.htm

Bringing buildings into the circular economy

Sustainable buildings use less energy and materials, and are healthier and more comfortable spaces for occupants. Along with lower environmental impact, sus ainable buildings are relatively low cost to run and in the long term, more valuable properties. To move away from the linear economic model of ‘take, make, and waste’ and towards resource efficiency, Europe needs a sustainable built environment. And the buildings sector is one of the most resource consuming sectors in Europe - it accounts for approximately half of all extracted materials, half of total energy consumption, one third of water consumption and one third of waste generation.

That’s why the built environment is a key target in the European Commission’s policy for circular economy: a regenerative economic system in which resource and energy consumption are minimised.

https://ec.europa.eu/environment/eussd/buildings.htm

Final Circular Economy package

On 4 March 2019, the European Commission adopted a comprehensive report on the implementation of the Circular Economy Action Plan. The report presents the main achievements under the Action Plan and sketches out future challenges to shaping our economy and paving the way towards a climate-neutral, circular economy where pressure on natural and freshwater resources as well as ecosystems is minimised. In 2015, the European Commission adopted an ambitious Circular Economy Action Plan, which includes measures that will helpstimulate Europe's transition towards a circular economy, boost global competitiveness, foster sustainable economic growth and generate new jobs.

The EU Action Plan for the Circular Economy establishes a concrete and ambitious programme of action, with measures covering the whole cycle: from production and consumption to waste management and the market for secondary raw materials and a revised legislative proposal on waste. Key elements of the revised waste proposal include:

• A common EU target for recycling 65% of municipal waste by 2035
• A common EU target for recycling 70% of packaging waste by 2030

https://ec.europa.eu/environment/circular-economy/index_en.htm

EURES. The European Job Mobility Portal

EURES is a cooperation network designed to facilitate the free movement of workers within the EU 28 countries plus Switzerland, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.

The network is composed of: the European Coordination Office (ECO), the National Coordination Offices (NCOs), EURES Partners and the Associated EURES Partners.

https://ec.europa.eu/eures/public/en/homepage

Horizon 2020

By coupling research and innovation, Horizon 2020 is helping to achieve this with its emphasis on excellent science, industrial leadership and tackling societal challenges. The goal is to ensure Europe produces world-class science, removes barriers to innovation and makes it easier for the public and private sectors to work together in delivering innovation. Two year work programmes announce the specific areas that will be funded by Horizon 2020.

https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/en/how-get-funding

Construction and Demolition Waste (CDW)

Construction and demolition waste (CDW) is one of the heaviest and most voluminous waste streams generated in the EU. It accounts for approximately 25% - 30% of all waste generated in the EU and consists of numerous materials, including concrete, bricks, gypsum, wood, glass, metals, plastic, solvents, asbestos and excavated soil, many of which can be recycled.

CDW has been identified as a priority waste stream by the European Union. There is a high potential for recycling and re-use of CDW. Technology for the separation and recovery of construction and demolition waste is well established, readily accessible and in general inexpensive.

https://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/construction_demolition.htm

LEADER

LEADER is a local development method which has been used for 20 years to engage local actors in the design and delivery of strategies, decision-making and resource allocation for the development of their rural arecultureas. It is implemented by around 2 600 Local Action Groups (LAGs), covering over 54% of the rural population in the EU and bringing together public, private and civil-society stakeholders in a particular area.

In the rural development context, LEADER is implemented under the national and regional Rural Development Programmes (RDPs) of each EU Member State, co-financed from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD)

https://enrd.ec.europa.eu/leader-clld_en

In many European cities, libraries are an essential element of contemporary urban planning. City administrators and urban planners place libraries along strategic urban development axes in order to enhance socialization, the aggregation of people and inter-ethnic integration in large as well as in small cities. The regeneration of depressed and deprived city areas has often started with the creation of libraries and their qualification as “meeting places” for citizens. 

Examples of libraries being the focus of, or a chain for, urban regeneration are present in many European cities, from Aarhus to Helsinki, from Paris to Copenhagen.

Cities may also be the ideal ground field from which to develop Citizens Science projects. In Belgium The air seekers is developed by Transport and Development, an NGO with its headquarters in Brussels. T&D allied with several Belgian libraries to develop a citizen science project that aims at creating as much data as possible on air pollution. Sensors detecting the air quality are given to users of public libraries and data are transmitted to research centres analysing the quality of air. The air seekers project is a perfect match for SDG 11.6.

Book heritage projects qualify for Target 11.4 which aims to protect and safeguard the world’s cultural and natural heritage. Most library cultural heritage projects create links with Europeana, which provides access to millions of books, music, artworks and more – with sophisticated search and filter tools.

In Bulgaria, a number of projects on cultural heritage have been funded by the European Structural and Investment Funds, namely:

a) the “St. Cyril and Methodius” National Library of Bulgaria, which has been established as a Centre of Excellence for the Bulgarian Heritage;

b) the “Written treasures of the Lower Danube”, also involving a library in Craiova, Romania; and

c) the “cultural and historical destinations”, in collaboration with a Turkish library.*

In Germany, two projects were funded through the European Structural and Investment Funds in Oranienburg - a city of 40,000 inhabitants in the region of Brandenburg - and Waltershausen - 13,000 inhabitants, in Thuringia. In Oranienburg, the region decided to restore the library with a tourist information and a Galerie after having requalified the Old Castle, the Castle Park and the Havel promenade. The Stadtbibliothek Waltershausen was re-qualified in an historical complex, which also includes the town hall (1441).*

* See EBLIDA. Funding Opportunities in Libraries. The European Structural and Investment Funds 2021-2027, http://www.eblida.org/publications.html 

• SDG11-oriented projects in Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and Sweden

This Chapter refers to the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) 2021-2027, and in particular to the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the European Social Fund+ (ESF).

In order to make the most out of these Funds, first refer to the ESIF managing authorities, which are different in every Member State and are responsible for national operational programmes and policies. The list of national authorities, country after country, and region after region, is available at the following link, https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/en/atlas/managing-authorities/.

In the Table(s) below, for each ESIF objective: Column 1 designates the ERDF or ESF+ specific objective. Column 2 and 3 set, respectively, the related outputs and results indicated by ESIF official documents. It can be easily inferred that European Commission criteria for evaluation are quite general and do not get into the detail of the programmes. It is up to Member States to set additional criteria for evaluation.

Finally, Column 4 lists examples of library projects set up to pursue ESIF objectives or to attain specific Sustainable Development Goals. ESIF-funded and SDG-oriented library projects are matched with specific ESIF 2021-2027 objectives and sub-objectives; what is shown in the table, however, is a simulation: under which presumed ESIF specific objective could SDG-oriented library projects have been funded, if they were to be presented within the ESIF 2021-2027 framework?

More detailed information on the Library Projects listed in Column 5 can be found in the Sustainable Development Goals and Libraries - First European Report.

Key trend in “Sustainable cities and communities” show the following evidence (Eurostat Report, pp 215 and ss):

• Quality of housing in the EU has improved over the past five years;
• Europeans perceive their residential areas as quieter and safer, but exposure to air pollution remains an issue;
• Despite recent improvements, exposure of the urban population to fine particular matter remains high;
• The degree of urbanisation only has a marginal influence on overcrowding, but strongly affects perception of noise pollution, crime and vandalism;
• Poor people tend to face more challenges in their living situation, especially in cities;
• Cars are the main means of transport in the EU;
• Despite good progress since 2001, stagnation in reducing the level of road fatalities in recent years has pushed the EU off track to meeting its 2020 target;
• More environmentally friendly modes of municipal waste management in the EU;
• Connection rates to wastewater treatment are increasing;
• Settlement area per capita has increased.

Goal 11’s attainment is monitored through the following main indicators: Source: EU SDG Indicator set 2020:

Library Indicators enabling the evaluation of library performances and how they can match SDG indicators.

A report on Library indicators and SDGs has been released by the ELSA working Group: "Towards the implementation of SDG Indicators in European Libraries"