The CITERA research centre is a scientific partner for the period 2021-2024 of the International Urban Regional Cooperation (IURC) programme of the European Union.

Based on the capitalisation of results and lessons learned from the previous phase, the new programme optimises the added value of international cooperation, transforming IURC into a global network of reference for urban and regional innovation.

The project facilitates knowledge exchange through a combination of online tools and face-to-face support such as study visits, participation in thematic and networking events or capacity building. The cooperation is developed as:

• Pairings / work groups: Cities from the EU and one regional country hold bilateral/multilateral study visits creating synergies and added value.
• Thematic clusters / networks: A group of cities sharing similar topics of cooperation working either within the Asian / Australasian region or beyond (global network). IURC topics include green deal, urban renewal, public space, culture, innovation and economic growth among others.

Given the excellent results achieved in the previous IUC 2016-2020 programme, the CITERA Centre has been selected again as a scientific partner in IURC 2021-2024 for three different pairing/work groups:

• With the Lazio Region in IURC China in pairing with the city of Yangzhou
• With Rome Capital in pairing with the city of Bandung in Indonesia
• With ANCIM (Associazione Italiana Comuni Isole Minori) with the island of Phuket in Thailand

CITERA Research Group Will Provide Scientific Support to Cooperation and Exchange Activities with Asian Local Governments in this EU Programme for a Concrete Contribution to the Goals of the United Nations New Urban Agenda, the 2030 Agenda (SDGs)the Urban Agenda for the EU and the European Commission’s priorities for a "Stronger Europe in the World" with the European Green Agreement and the Next Generation EU (post-VOID-19 Recovery Plan) in the centre.

The centre is carrying out intense cooperation activities with several universities in:

• Albania
• Sweden
• China
• Costa Rica
• Panama

They are ongoing interchange activities on topics of Digital Twin with GIS-BIM and integrated applications of Age-Friendly solutions through the application of an innovative assessment and certification protocol for built spaces.