BOOST, Portfolios

UNDP releases 2025 Slovak Transformation Fund Annual Report 

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Europe and Central Asia has published the 2025 Annual Report for the Slovak Transformation Fund (STF), highlighting how cities across the region are strengthening their capacity to manage…

M4EG, Urban futures

M4EG: Leading cities when the compass fails 

Originally posted at M4EG’s website, read the full article here.  When familiar maps no longer work and the compass starts to spin, leadership is about learning to navigate the unknown. Tools alone are not the…

M4EG, Urban futures

M4EG: What if the project is not the point?  

Originally posted at M4EG’s website, read the full article here.  Cities rarely move in straight lines. A tourism problem is also a skills problem, a public-service problem, a business-confidence problem and often a community-belief problem.…

Strategic Innovation, Urban futures

UNEP provides US$1.95 million to scale up Armenia’s circular bioeconomy transition 

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), through its Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC), has approved over US$2.2 million in funding to accelerate Armenia’s transition towards a circular bioeconomy – strengthening municipal systems, reducing organic…

Urban futures

With support from Slovakia and UNDP, a Green Economy Hub has opened in Nizhyn, Chernihiv Oblast

On 30 July, the Green Economy Hub was opened in Nizhyn – a new space where residents, local authorities, businesses and academia can work together around a shared goal: to make the community more energy-resilient and…

New Technologies, Urban futures

Where does AI actually help a city? Ten municipalities spent three days finding out 

Inside the CEF x AI Bootcamp in Podgorica, Montenegro – and what it taught us about building AI capability in local governments 

New Technologies, Urban futures

AI x Cities webinar series: Session 1 – Starting where cities actually are

While information about AI is abundant, space to make sense of what it means in practice is not. That gap between the global AI conversation and where cities in our region actually stand is the focus of the first…

Portfolios, Urban futures

UNDP convenes municipalities in Podgorica to explore AI for urban transformation 

Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly shaping how cities deliver services, manage infrastructure, and make decisions. For many municipalities across Europe and Central Asia, the challenge is not simply adopting AI, but understanding where it genuinely fits their…

Portfolios, Strategic Innovation

UNDP launches CEF x AI programme for municipalities across Europe and Central Asia 

Artificial intelligence (AI) is opening new possibilities for how cities deliver services, make decisions, and manage complex systems. For municipalities, the question is no longer whether AI will play a role, but how to engage with it…

Portfolios, Urban futures

New report introduces the Twin Transition Stencil for cities navigating green and digital transformations 

UNDP’s City Experiment Fund has released the Twin Transition Stencil Report, presenting a structured framework that was designed to support cities in designing and managing integrated green and digital transformation portfolios.  It responds to a common challenge faced by municipalities:…

Portfolios, Urban futures

Listening to Cities: Insights from the 2025 City Experiment Fund Cohort 

How do cities understand the needs of their citizens – and turn those insights into meaningful action?   As part of the 2025 cycle of the City Experiment Fund (CEF), ten cities across Europe and Central Asia…

Urban futures

UNDP Europe and Central Asia Launches City Imaginarium to Reimagine Urban Futures 

On World Cities Day 2025, UNDP in Europe and Central Asia launches the City Imaginarium — a regional creative campaign that invites artists and communities from around the region to reimagine greener, more inclusive and…