Like all good recipes simple ingredients can make the difference and harness imagination. This happened with the InnovaTO-r project that is easily replicable anywhere. It was initiated by Torino and then transferred to other cities in a EU-Urbact transfer project. This engaged the city’s staff in an unprecedented exercise to propose innovation projects that could improve the city’s administrative performance through better use of resources and capacity. The response was overwhelming with 70 projects suggested from all levels of the organization being implemented. The seven city European network that followed copied the process that equally triggered a response in places like Cluj, Murcia, Paris and Veszprém. We will hear from Torino how the project was launched and how the Cluj initiatives were so successful that many Romanian cities are copying the model with Cluj acting as a mentor.
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Everyone’s an Innovator! Harnessing New Ideas at Every Level of Bureaucracy
Pietro Elisei , Sabina Leopa
Town and regional planner, senior researcher and policymaker. He collaborated, as consultant, with ministries, cities and towns all over Europe, holding important positions in international organizations dedicated to urban planning (PLANUM, ISOCARP). International expert in urban regeneration policies, integrated planning for small-medium sized cities and topics related to smart cities. A collaborator with EU universities and research centers, he works with international institutions (European Commission: URBACT and UIA Secretariats, UN-Habitat, UNECE) for important planning research. Dr. Elisei also routinely holds keynote speeches in international conferences and publishes a number of scientific articles on topics related to urban planning.
Sabina is an Urban and Regional Planner and the deputy director of URBASOFIA, Romania. A member of several professional associations, including Vicepresident of the Romanian Professional Association of Urban Planners, national delegation member of ISOCARP and URBACT Expert for Local Governance and Integrated Development, Sabina is also a teaching assistant at the „Ion Mincu” University for Architecture and Planning in Bucharest, Romania.
Her core focus are transnational and R&I projects, where she works on topics related to sustainable urban-rural development, nature-based solutions and smart cities, policies to support decarbonisation of the built environment, innovation and intrapreneurship in local administration. She is experienced in designing and implementing research and cooperation projects under several flagship programmes such as Horizon 2020, Urban Innovative Actions, URBACT, Interreg DTP, URBACT, while also consulting for integrated urban development for cities and metropolitan areas.