MECOG-CE – Strengthening metropolitan cooperation and Governance in Central Europe

METREX was an Associated Partner of this Interreg Central Europe project, led by Brno Metropolitan Area, which ran from April 2023 to March 2026 and focused on strengthening metropolitan cooperation and Governance in Central Europe.

The MECOG-CE project set out to identify the best tools, procedures and examples of good practices for strengthening metropolitan cooperation and governance in Central Europe and apply them in metropolitan areas towards strengthening integrated metropolitan strategic and spatial development.

Looking ahead, the project’s results  will be presented to a European audience at the European Week of Regions and Cities, Europe’s largest annual gathering on regional and urban policy.

The project included partners from cities and metropolitan areas – many of which are METREX Members –, as well as research institutions. These are:

The project also involved associated partners, namely:

The method of work will consist of intensive cooperation between the partner cities, research experts and representatives of international networks. The cooperation is based on international meetings aimed at sharing good practices. The first transnational partner meeting has already taken place in Brno. More about this meeting here. The second transnational meeting was held in Warsaw. Outcomes of this meeting are available here. Stuttgart was the venue for the third meeting of the partners and information on this meeting can be found here. The fourth meeting in Ostrava and its outcomes can be found here. The fifth meeting took place in Berlin and the most important results are summarised in this article. Last transnational meeting took place in Turin and project was concluded by the transnational conference in Brno.

The project was divided into three parts:

  • Within the first work package, the partners summarized the current status quo of metropolitan cooperation and governance in the partner cities and then the best tools/examples of good practice were identified that can be shared and applied to other cities and metropolitan areas. At the same time, new tools were identified that can be used to deepen metropolitan cooperation and governance (inspiration from other parts of Europe).
  • On the basis of the selected tools and examples of good practice, the partners created “study clusters“ as part of the second work package, whose main objective was to deepen the sharing of experience in the implementation, management and transferability of these tools. This package also included pilot actions to test selected tools and methods in practice. The partners then proposed new solutions within individual clusters, which bring innovative approaches and improve the existing selected tools.
  • The third work package focused on the main objective of the partners’ cooperation, namely the development of a Strategy for strengthening metropolitan cooperation and governance in Central Europe and the creation of action plans for cities and metropolitan areas involved.

The project also included the production of position papers towards the European level, reflecting the position of metropolitan areas and cities and their challenges (in the context of strategic European documents). At the same time, a general transferable methodology for strengthening metropolitan cooperation and governance will be developed and shared with other cities in Central Europe.

Outputs and results

The individual outputs and results of the project are continuously updated throughout the project. These outputs and results include the already mentioned documents such as the Strategy and Action Plans, pilot actions and proposed new solutions or Common Metropolitan Vision summarising the needs of metropolitan areas. In addition, sub-outputs or deliverables such as the analysis of existing best practices and tools for enhancing metropolitan cooperation or catalogue of newly developed solutions are also shared.

Outputs of the first work package:

Outputs of the second work package:

  • Based on the outputs of the above-mentioned best practices, individual partners identified those that interested them most for further study in so-called “study clusters”. As the Brno Metropolitan Area, we focused on three tools during 2024: Food Districts from the Metropolitan City of Turin, the Warsaw Metropolitan Association and its functioning, and the Municipal Neighbourhood Forum from the Berlin-Brandenburg Metropolitan Area. Our partners’ experience with these tools provided us with inspiration for strengthening metropolitan cooperation in the BMA, both from a thematic and a procedural perspective. At the same time, we shared with our partners our experience with our questionnaire among mayors of BMA. All partners then compiled the results of this learning in the detailed report.
  • The Food Districts tool, which received the most support among metropolitan stakeholders, was subsequently tested in the Brno Metropolitan Area. Fundamental to this testing was the creation of an Analysis of the potential for food cooperation at the BMA level, which analysed the current state of agriculture and local production, and also looked at possible ways of setting up cooperation using the Italian model. Similarly, other partners in their metropolitan areas tested selected tools that helped them improve metropolitan cooperation on various topics. All findings from the testing phase are included in the Report on pilot actions and presented graphically in a brochure.
  • Testing best practices enabled all partners to propose long-term and innovative new solutions that they will implement in the coming months and years. In the case of BMA, it focuses on food cooperation for metropolitan areas, the purpose of which is to establish and develop more formal coordination of activities between individual stakeholders in the territory with the aim of increasing the use of local products in the BMA. All solutions developed within the project (dealing, for example, with the topic of transport or innovative approaches to affordable housing) are included in the brochure of new solutions and described in more detail in the Catalogue of newly developed solutions.
  • Both key outputs of the second part of the project, i.e. pilot actions and new solutions, can be found in a joint brochure that combines the two above-mentioned outputs.

Outputs of the third work package:

  • The most important output of the project is represented by the Strategy for strengthening metropolitan cooperation and governance in Central Europe. The Strategy provides a structured and actionable framework that guides European metropolitan areas in strengthening metropolitan governance, enhancing cooperation, and promoting territorial development. The Strategy is built on the understanding that there is no universal model for metropolitan governance, so the framework provides practical steps how to strengthen metropolitan cooperation based on the specific needs and maturity of each metropolitan area. The Strategy offers clear objectives on both the structural and thematic elements essential for effective cooperation and governance. These include: establish a clear metropolitan vision and strategic objectives, define and optimise metropolitan territories, develop and strengthen governance structures, integrate relevant themes into metropolitan policy, establish metropolitan financial schemes, strengthen stakeholder involvement and participatory governance, monitor and evaluate metropolitan strategies.
  • The second key output of the package was the development of action plans for individual metropolitan areas. A total of six action plans were developed for the following metropolitan areas: Brno, Berlin-Brandenburg, Ostrava, Stuttgart, Turin and Warsaw.

 

The project had a budget of €1.647 million over three years, 80% of which was co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund and 5 % through state subsidy.

An introduction to the project with an overview of all partners can be found in this storymap. The project has its own official website, which is maintained within the Interreg CENTRAL EUROPE website. The project also has its own profile on the social network LinkedIn.

 

MECOG-CE project fact sheet: strengthening metropolitan governance across eight metropolitan regions in Central Europe, an Interreg Central Europe project running April 2023 to March 2026, with nine partners and associated partners including METREX, and a €1.65 million budget.

MECOG-CE project fact sheet: strengthening metropolitan governance across eight metropolitan regions in Central Europe, an Interreg Central Europe project running April 2023 to March 2026.