BIRMINGHAM Candidate Eurocities executive committee - 4b
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4b
Candidate
Eurocities executive
committee
BIRMINGHAM
Eurocities AGM 2020 1 of 16
4b
Birmingham
and EUROCITIES
Eurocities AGM 2020 2 of 16
4b
"CITY TO CITY CO-OPERATION HAS NEVER BEEN MORE
IMPORTANT AND WE ARE DETERMINED NOT TO ALLOW
BREXIT TO DIMINISH OUR RESPONSIBILITIES TO OUR
CITIZENS AND OUR EUROPEAN NEIGHBOURS."
IAN WARD
Leader of Birmingham City Council
Eurocities AGM 2020 3 of 16
4b
1 MESSAGE FROM THE LEADER
OF THE COUNCIL
2 STATEMENT ON BIRMINGHAM
AND BREXIT
3 SUPPORTING CURRENT
CONTENTS
EUROCITIES PRIORITIES
6 BIRMINGHAM'S 2021-2023
PRIORITIES
8 BIRMINGHAM’S HISTORY IN
EUROCITIES
10 LEADER'S BIOGRAPHY
11 THE BIRMINGHAM TEAM
Eurocities AGM 2020 4 of 16
4b
MESSAGE FROM THE
LEADER OF THE COUNCIL
Dear Members of EUROCITIES,
I am pleased to present, for your consideration, Birmingham’s candidacy to renew its position as a
member of the EUROCITIES Executive Committee.
It is at times like these that we are reminded of the importance of our European connections. For
decades we have worked together on tackling global challenges and now we are passing through
the storm of another. We can only win the battle against Covid-19 through co-operation and
intelligence sharing and our European neighbours and friends are naturally our first port of call.
EUROCITIES is a valuable model for good practice sharing and policy development and we have
drawn inspiration from the network’s examples of good practice on the COVID news platform in
dealing with the crisis. As cities are battling to keep infection rates under control, our attention has
also shifted to the difficult task of social and economic recovery. We look to pursue a greener,
cleaner and fairer way forward to ensure that our most vulnerable citizens are included in our plans
for recovery. Indeed, we are keen for all our citizens to benefit from new and existing opportunities.
We recognise the importance of preventing business closures and mass unemployment and are
providing support to SMEs as a first step on the road to recovery alongside dedicated programmes
supporting young and vulnerable people. Of equal importance is continuing our work in tackling
climate change. Birmingham has recently launched a Clean Air Zone (CAZ) which is part of the City
Council’s ambitious strategy to reach CO2 neutrality by 2030. It is significant to note that the
approach taken by the Belgian city of Ghent inspired Birmingham’s CAZ. European cities are all key
players in tackling global challenges such as these and only a united approach will keep the global
temperature rise well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. With the shift towards
greater digitalisation and remote working, now is the time to meet and go beyond climate change
goals.
Birmingham is an innovative and learning city and our physical closeness and cultural connections
with our European neighbours are to be championed. We are committed to supporting the delivery
of the EUROCITIES strategic framework which clearly aligns to current Birmingham City Council
objectives and priorities. We support the European Urban Agenda and have embraced many of the
network declarations and pledges such as a European Pillar of Social Rights pledge on
homelessness. City representatives are keen to continue to harness the political purchase of such
pledges to tackle universal challenges in a more holistic way. My city has a strong track record in
chairing and participating in the network forums and working groups and we will continue to do so.
Brexit is demanding a more creative approach in finding ways to strengthen our European
relationship. City to city co-operation has never been more important and we are determined not to
allow Brexit to diminish our responsibilities to our citizens or our European neighbours. We are keen
to grow and develop with our fellow colleagues in EUROCITIES, working together to ensure a better
future for all.
As a founding member of EUROCITIES and the first UK city to open an office in Brussels, a European
approach remains enshrined in our thinking. Birmingham remains a European city. Whilst
reconising that the UK has left the EU, Birmingham remains committed to advancing the
EUROCITIES agenda. The value gained from our involvement in the network is clearly recognised by
myself and my leadership team and as such, our commitment to EUROCITIES is as strong and as
relevant today as it was 34 years ago.
Should you have any question about any aspect of Birmingham’s candidacy, please do not hesitate
to contact me or a member of my team.
If elected, I am committed to providing my continued personal and political support to the
network’s ambitions and working positively and openly with all EUROCITIES members over the next
three years.
Councillor Ian Ward.
Leader of Birmingham City Council
Eurocities AGM 2020 5 of 16
4b
STATEMENT ON
BIRMINGHAM AND BREXIT
Brexit has come as a huge disappointment, neither I nor my Cabinet
colleagues supported leaving the EU. Notwithstanding this, we are
immensely appreciative of our friends and colleagues in EUROCITIES as
we have sought to navigate the complexities of Brexit. This partnership is
an essential element in helping us to sustain collaborative and co
operative relationships with EU cities over the years to come. We consider
it imperative that European cities continue to work collaboratively to
secure the economic, social and environmental future that each nation
wants, whether they are a member of the Union or not.
Our principal aim has been to ensure that Birmingham and UK Core
Cities continue to enjoy sustained collaboration with EUROCITIES and
Europe. We have engaged in a number of meetings facilitated through
UK Core Cities and EUROCITIES in order to achieve this vision and these
include:
The joint EUROCITIES/UK Core Cities position developed and
presented at an EU Mayors' summit in May 2017.
A meeting between Michel Barnier, EU Chief Negotiator and UK Core
City Leaders and Mayors/EUROCITIES and a meeting between Mr Guy
Verhofstadt, Chief Brexit representative for the European Parliament
and UK Core Cities and EUROCITIES in February 2018.
Since then, there has been continued dialogue and continued
commitment to maintain a strong, pro-active and collaborative role for
UK cities in Europe post Brexit. The UK may have left the EU, but
Birmingham has certainly not left Europe. Whilst the UK government has
vacated its seat at the table of the European Council, we remain resolute
in maintaining our seat at the table of European cities.
Birmingham is proud of its European partner city connections, the first of
these was with Lyon back in 1951, others include Frankfurt, Leipzig and
Milan. These relationships are now ever more important, and we are keen
to deepen our connections with these cities. For example, we have
recently developed a female leadership programme Young Women into
Leadership (You WIL) and have invited young women from our partner
cities to join the programme which is to be launched in 2021. The council
continues to be a partner in many European projects some of which are
ongoing till 2024. We continue to have a European footprint via our
Brussels Office and are keen to ensure we can continue to share and
shape policy intelligence and further opportunities for partnering with
European cities on projects and other initiatives.
Eurocities AGM 2020 6 of 16
4b
SUPPORTING CURRENT EUROCITIES PRIORITIES
COVID-19 CALL FOR EUROPEAN SOLIDARITY
The most recent and important work for local authorities is COVID
crisis management. For all the cities in the network, this
international crisis calls for solidarity at a European and local level.
Birmingham participated in the EUROCITIES Campaign to bring
together Mayors and other organisations in order to learn quickly
from each other’s good practice and increase joint working. We
are proud of our business support programme which has made
£230 million available to businesses affected by the crisis.
Birmingham also took part in the EUROCITIES City Dialogues on
Volunteering to share best practice on the response to the crisis.
This included the emergency food relief response in Birmingham.
EUROPEAN GREEN DEAL
Birmingham has worked alongside the Executive Committee colleagues to
draft the statement on the European Green Deal. We are working hard to
implement Green Deal priorities to achieve our CO2 targets and to put in
place measures to ensure greener and cleaner plans, such as the Clean Air
Zone. Additionally, Birmingham has joined forces with other cities in the
network and has implemented SUMPs (Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans)
for greener and safer mobility, focusing research innovation on carbon
efficient vehicles. In March, EUROCITIES adopted a statement on the Green
Deal, recalling that cities are at the centre of the transition towards a
climate neutral society.
POLITICAL DECLARATION -
SCALING A DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
Digital connectivity plays a central part in the smart, sustainable
development of all cities. Birmingham is proud to stand together
with the 60 EU city leaders to sign the “Join, Boost, Sustain”
political declaration. This signature illustrates Birmingham’s
commitment to contribute to the adoption and implementation
of digital solutions at a European level.
Eurocities AGM 2020 7 of 16
4b
SUPPORTING CURRENT EUROCITIES PRIORITIES
PEOPLE-CENTRED ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Birmingham wholly supports the work progressed with other
EUROCITIES partners to develop recommendations in response to
the Commission’s digital strategy package. Digital transformation,
harnessing the power of 5G and AI play a central role in the city’s
path towards greater connectivity and an enhanced engagement
with our citizens. Our current involvement with the Interreg North
West Europe 'BETTER' project is an excellent opportunity to learn
from state-of-the art digital initiatives across Europe. The project
will help us to tackle current challenges through more effective e-
government initiatives including data management for local
authorities.
LEIPZIG CHARTER AND THE EU URBAN AGENDA
Birmingham played a key role in representing cities during the
establishment of the EU Urban Agenda (EUUA) and was instrumental in
introducing the theme of urban poverty. We actively participated in the EU
Urban Poverty Policy Platform and held the position of Vice Chair of the
EUROCITIES EUUA working group for three years. We support the
EUROCITIES’ policy statement on the refresh of the Leipzig Charter based on
the European Urban Agenda. The policy statement gives an extended role
to cities in Europe while working towards the Commission’s objectives and
reinforces the role of cities regarding policy making at national and
European levels. Birmingham has also had an active role in Urban Innovative
Actions (UIA) projects including the 'USE-IT' project which was recently
nominated as the UK contribution to the EU Innovation Awards.
100 DAYS / 100 WAYS CAMPAIGN
To support the new European Commission, Birmingham took
part in EUROCITIES’ campaign '100 Days 100 Ways', sharing stories
on how the city tackles European challenges. This campaign has
reinforced Birmingham’s ties to its European partners and
provided an opportunity to promote EUROCITIES.
Eurocities AGM 2020 8 of 16
4b
SUPPORTING CURRENT EUROCITIES PRIORITIES
EUROPEAN PILLAR OF SOCIAL RIGHTS
Birmingham has been closely involved in EUROCITIES’ work
tackling homelessness. We pledged to the European Pillar of Social
Rights, joining the 'Inclusive Social Rights In My City' initiative. We
are committed to eradicating homelessness in Birmingham by
providing appropriate housing solutions. We are keen to learn from
other cities and attended the Vienna workshops showcasing good
practices in housing policy. Furthermore, last October, Birmingham
led a workshop in Warsaw during the Social Affairs Forum, on cities’
homelessness challenges and housing solutions.
FUTURE OF EUROCITIES
Birmingham's priorities strongly align with the EUROCITIES Strategic
Framework. We wish to build on the 2021-2023 priorities to find effective
solutions towards tackling climate change, increasing engagement with
citizens and international partners and developing our circular economy
and digital transformation
Eurocities AGM 2020 9 of 164b
BIRMINGHAM'S 2021-2023 PRIORITIES
ROUTE TO ZERO: R20
Last year, Birmingham declared a climate emergency, with a
commitment to carbon neutrality by 2030. The Government has
pledged an expansion of green infrastructure across the country
and has launched its Route to Zero Strategy to lead the world in
zero emission vehicle technology. Birmingham is putting in place
a Clean Air Zone as part of the Route to Zero and is keen to both
share its good practices and learn from European cities working
towards the EUROCITIES’ clean air priorities.
Birmingham universities and the city council are participating in
the EU funded Research and Innovation (R&I) projects as part of
the Sustainable Urban Mobility plan. Current H2020 projects
include: The 'Joint Initiative for Hydrogen Vehicles Across
Europe', 'Cooperating Connected Intelligent Vehicles for Safe and
Efficient road Transport' and the European Programme for
'Accelerating the Take Up of Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans'.
Our engagement in these projects demonstrates our
commitment to providing a healthier environment, promoting
safe, connected, sustainable urban mobility. We will seek to
actively engage with the Eurocities Environment and Mobility
Forums in particular.
SOLIDARITY, RESILIENCE
AND RECOVERY
There are many lessons we can learn from the COVID 19
pandemic. We have all had to adapt and change our way of
working and pivot our business models in a very short time
frame. Our Deputy Leader, Councillor Brigid Jones participated
in the EUROCITIES’ campaign for solidarity between network
cities and discussed how to build resilience in the face of social
and economic impacts. The most profound impact is likely to be
on the most vulnerable in our cities and we must share solutions
on how we include them on our road to recovery.
The EUROCITIES network is an important tool in helping us to
find solutions collectively. One example of the work on the
ground that Birmingham has undertaken is the emergency food
relief response. The council, voluntary sector organisations and
the food banks have worked tirelessly to meet the increased
demand for food distribution. The crisis has highlighted the
need to tackle food poverty once and for all. Birmingham is part
of the EUROCITIES Food Working Group and we are a partner in
the H2020 Food Trials project to help the transformation to a
healthier and more sustainable City Region Food System. It
must be acknowledged that social resilience and recovery goes
hand in hand with economic resilience and recovery. In
delivering this priority, we will continue to work with the
Eurocities AGMand
Economic Development 2020Social Affairs Forum. 10 of 164b
BIRMINGHAM'S 2021-2023 PRIORITIES
INCLUSIVE GROWTH FOR ALL
Fighting urban poverty and promoting ‘inclusive growth for all’ is a
priority for Birmingham City Council. We have a Business Charter
for Social Responsibility and are a living wage employer. The
council encourages businesses, other public sector organisations
and schools to adopt the charter. Charter signatories need to
consider and describe how they can improve the economic, social
and environmental well-being of Birmingham and its citizens. We
as a council are committed to most effectively utilising our
planning, procurement and purchasing powers to ensure that
growth benefits all citizens in our city. The COVID crisis is exposing
the more vulnerable members of our community to even greater
risk of marginalisation. Our work with EUROCITIES in the fight
against poverty and homelessness has never been more important.
An important aspect of our work is the ability to address post-
COVID jobs and skills challenges and align these with new growth
opportunities emerging in the city. Whilst we will also work with
Social Affairs and Economic Development Forums to support this
priority, we will also seek to engage with the Urban Governance
Platform to enable more horizontal actions.
Eurocities AGM 2020 11 of 164b
BIRMINGHAM'S HISTORY IN
EUROCITIES
Birmingham is keen to maintain robust links with Europe. Our engagement with EUROCITIES is
an important part of the city’s international strategy. We cherish the learning we have made over
the years and are proud to have been one of its founding members. Early on, Birmingham
performed the role of network Secretary, helping to write the statutes and internal rules that
govern the network today. Since then, we have led many Forums and Working Groups as well as
establish ourselves as an active and committed member of its Executive Committee. In more
recent years this active participation includes:
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
FULL MEMBER OF THE EXCOM: 2011 - PRESENT
(PREVIOUSLY A MEMBER OF THE EXECUTIVE
COMMITTEE FROM 1991 TO 2005)
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE TREASURER –
2015-2016
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE SECRETARY –
2013-2014
Eurocities AGM 2020 12 of 16FORUM AND WORKING GROUP ENGAGEMENT 4b
SOCIAL AFFAIRS MOBILITY ENVIRONMENT
FORUM FORUM FORUM
Chair of the Social Affairs Vice Chair of the Mobility Chair of the Environment
Forum: 2010 – 2012 Forum: 2014 – 2016 Forum: 2014 – 2016
Vice-Chair of the Social Participation in various Members of Clean Cities,
Affairs Forum: 2008 – working groups of the Green Areas and
2010 Mobility Forum since 2013 Biodiversity; Greening the
Chair of the Future of Partners in a number of Local Economy and Noise
European Social Fund mobility projects such as Working Groups
Task force: 2011 – 2013 the 'SUMPS', 'Opticities' Co-Chair of the working
Member of the and 'Intelligent Transport groups on Air Quality
Homelessness, Systems' (ITS) Climate Change & Energy
Employment, Education, Efficiency
Migration and Integration Signatory of the
and Smart Social EUROCITIES Declaration
Inclusion Working Groups on Climate Change
A partner in the
EUROCITIES 'Cities for
Active Inclusion ' project:
2010 – 2013
KNOWLEDGE ECONOMIC CULTURE
SOCIETY FORUM DEVELOPMENT FORUM
FORUM
Vice-Chair of the Vice Chair of the Vice Chair of the Culture
Working Group on E- Cohesion Working Group Forum: 2014 – 2016
Inclusion until it moved to the Cllr Ian Ward was elected
Member of the Smart Urban Theme chair of the Culture
Cities Working Group Member of Innovation, Forum: 2016 – 2018
Signatory of the Green Entrepreneurship/SMEs
Digital Charter and City Branding and
Birmingham hosted the Attractiveness Working
Knowledge Society Groups
Forum in October 2010.
URBAN GOVERNANCE AND
CROSS-CUTTING ACTIVITY
Birmingham was previously a member of the EU Urban
Poverty Partnership established under the EU Urban
Agenda and Pact of Amsterdam.
Former Vice-Chair of the Cohesion Policy Working Group:
2011-2016
Former Chair of the Urban Agenda Working Group: 2016-
2017
Birmingham participates in the Food Working Group. We
are a partner in the EUROCITIES H2020 Food Trials
initiative. Eurocities AGM 2020 13 of 164b
Ian Ward
LEADER OF BIRMINGHAM
CITY COUNCIL
LEADER'S BIOGRAPHY
Birmingham City Council Leader, Councillor Ian Ward, has been a Councillor since 1995. He
served as Deputy Leader of the Labour Group from 2005-2017 and was Deputy Leader of the
Council from 2012 until 2017 when he was elected Leader.
In this time he has had political responsibility for many areas including budgets and finance,
land and property, arts and culture and development.
As Leader, Ian is overseeing a new era of investment and development in the City, with
ambitious growth plans set to deliver 51,000 homes, 253 hectares of employment space and
100,000 jobs.
Birmingham is experiencing record growth and Ian's focus is on ensuring people across the city
benefit from major projects including High Speed 2 and the expansion of the Metro network.
Keen to promote Birmingham’s sporting profile, he spearheaded the successful 2022
Commonwealth Games bid, having already helped bring a number of high-profile international
sporting events to the city.
He has worked closely with Warwickshire Country Cricket Club over a number of years,
supporting the hugely successful redevelopment of Edgbaston and bids to host major games
including Cricket World Cup ties and Ashes Test Matches.
Ian has participated in many partnerships and boards during his varied political career ranging
from Birmingham Royal Ballet and West Midlands Arts Council to the Greater Birmingham and
Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership.
His engagement in Europe has been extensive. Birmingham has many European and
international ties through formal civic relationships, which he has taken a personal interest in
and responsibility for. He has also had extensive engagement in EUROCITIES activities over many
years which recently included being Chair of the EUROCITIES Culture Forum and currently as a
Member of the Executive Committee. He continues to support many of its political lobbying
campaigns, particularly the public health, social justice and climate issues affecting the Future of
Europe.
Eurocities AGM 2020 14 of 164b
THE TEAM
BIRMINGHAM TEAM
Lloyd Karolina Heather
Broad Medwecka Law
HEAD OF EUROPEAN SENIOR PROGRAMME SENIOR PROGRAMME
AND INTERNATIONAL COORDINATOR COORDINATOR
AFFAIRS
BIRMINGHAM BRUSSELS OFFICE
Jan Urlings
SECRETARY GENERAL
Eurocities AGM 2020 15 of 164b Eurocities AGM 2020 16 of 16
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