Closer Cities

🔄 How shareable is urban knowledge? Through scientific research, the Closer Cities urban initiative focuses on 'barriers and boosts' of knowledge sharing: what hinders it, what stimulates it, and how can we use these insights in optimizing knowledge sharing?

Closer Cities seeks to answer these questions. We are motivated by the urge to share what's shareable. It is our mission to make knowledge that is currently “invisible”, tied to its origin and unrecognized by the larger urban community, visible and shareable. In the end, we strongly believe that a better exchange and use of urban knowledge and experience can have a significant positive societal impact.

'5 questions to' series
As part of the platform, we showcase the extensive array of existing urban research. We developed the ‘5 questions to’ series in which we ask researchers and scientists to briefly reflect on their research (project) and the shareability of their insights by answering five questions.

How to participate
Closer Cities is calling all scientists to participate in our '5 questions to' series. The insights you share via the five questions form will be published on the Closer Cities website. Accordingly, you contribute to our aim of optimizing the shareability of knowledge. In turn, we would like to give you the opportunity to share insight from your research. Interested in participating? Fill out the five questions here.

Would you like to discover all five question interviews on our platform? Check them out here.

About Closer Cities
The Closer Cities urban research project (2021-2030) aims to contribute to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We focus on the optimization of cocreating and sharing urban knowledge. In order to get a better understanding of this process, we need to know what stimulates it and what hinders it. Or, in short, what are the barriers and boosts?

Any questions? Contact us!

Register for the online event | As cities worldwide attract more and more people, public space is coming increasingly under pressure. To create liveable cities now and in the future, we need to find ways to address the Sustainable Development Goals, climate change and other urban challenges. There are many ideas already out there, we want cities to share these ideas. In recent months, the Netherlands has called on its embassies, NBSOs and other representatives to use their networks to collect these ideas on the Closer Cities platform.

We have invited urban experts to an interactive online event to discuss:

Solving Urban Challenges Together: Best practices for liveable cities

Date: 14 February 2022
Time: 14.30-16.00 CET
Location: Online -Register here
Language: English

For practical reasons, the programme is prerecorded. During the webcast on 14 February, we have an interactive chat open so speakers can answer your questions.

Who can attend
This online event is highly interesting for policymakers of governments, employees of companies, representatives of civil society and intergovernmental organisations active in the field of city development and urban resilience.

What to expect
At this interactive online event, we hear from urban experts on vital cities, citizens' initiatives, inclusive innovation and the importance of sharing. We share with you the lessons learned by the Closer Cities platform. We give the floor to urban actors who will relate their experiences. We also dive into how projects can be shared and adapted to be implemented elsewhere in the world. During the event, prizes will be awarded to the best urban solutions.

We look forward to seeing you on 14 February. Let's #solveurbanchallenges together

On behalf of the Netherlands,

Netherlands Enterprise Agency
Closer Cities and partners

Register here

As cities worldwide attract more and more people, public space is coming increasingly under pressure. Climate change and rapid urbanisation are intensifying the problems faced by people living in urban areas. As governments around the world look to build back better, we want to help them by sharing great ideas online.

Watch our short campaign video.

Why: creating greater impact
As a small country, the Netherlands is committed to achieving the world’s sustainable development and climate goals by sharing ideas and working together to overcome challenges. By sharing our knowledge and expertise with our international partners, and learning from others, the Netherlands can create greater impact. That's why we have devised a series of symbolic actions. This symbolic action 'Connected Cities' seeks to help urban areas develop resilience by sharing solutions online.

What: sharing urban ideas and best practices
We are calling on urban innovators, inventors, creatives, makers, startups, scale ups, do-gooders and anyone else with a great idea to share it via the Closer Cities platform. Closer Cities is a non-profit initiative supported by the Easmus Initiative Vital Cities Citizens, the Institute for Housing and Development Studies and Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies and Leiden - Delft Erasmus Centre for BOLD Cities.

How: What you can do?
Each and every day, the most amazing and impactful developments are made in cities around the globe. But all too often they go unnoticed. This is a real pity, since many of these projects are worth sharing. We need to make great projects that the world should know about more visible. The idea or project needs to meet the following criteria:

• Is this idea shareable and repeatable? 
• Does it address the SDGs, climate change, wellbeing, diversity, youth, housing or education?
• Or does it just make the city a better place?

Projects at any stage of development will be accepted. Remember no Dutch involvement is required. It’s all about cities helping other cities to improve. At the same time, you become part of a bigger movement helping the transition towards creating liveable cities. Closer Cities will conduct scientific research into which factors drive successful sharing. By sharing ideas online, we can help solve global challenges together. If you know about ideas that help achieve the sustainable development goals, address climate change or just make the world a better place, then we want to hear about it on the Closer Cities website.

How can you submit a project
Simply follow the steps and fill in the form (takes approximately 30 minutes).

Step 1. Go to the Closer Cities website
Step 2. Click on Share a project
Step 3. Fill in the questionnaire (project form) and share!

Make sure you submit the ideas by the end of January! The best five ideas will be selected for a prize awarded during an online webinar on 14 February 2022.

Online webinar
Want to find out more about urban solutions? Join our interactive online event on Monday 14 February 14.30 - 16.00 CET on Solving Urban Challenges Together. During the event, you will hear from city innovators, urban experts, scientists, and urban innovators pitching their ideas. Register here.

→ For more information, visit:Join us to solve urban challenges together
→ Or read Closer Cities'FAQs
Let's #solveurbanchallenges together

If projects from your network join the campaign, let us know which ones they are! Or if you have any questions or suggestions? Contact the NL Branding team.