As attentive followers of ATELIER might know, COVID happened just a few months after ATELIER had started. This restricted the in-depth exchange between partners and particularly cities. When in-person meetings were finally possible again, we organized our first Capacity Building meeting in Amsterdam and a success story began. The meetings were originally not foreseen in the project, but we had a lot to catch up and it proved to be the ideal format. Contrary to the General Assemblies where all consortium partners meet once per year, the Capacity Building meetings only include all ATELIER cities and the partners who support the cities in their transition. The meetings put the cities in the center of attention and include multiple workshops and possibilities for exchange. After successful meetings in Copenhagen and Budapest, it was now Bratislava’s turn to host the 4th ATELIER capacity building meeting.
Learning from the meeting in Budapest, the Bratislava meeting started with an exchange with local stakeholders. It was a great possibility for the stakeholders to share their perspectives with the ATELIER consortium and discover the international dimension to the local project implementation. Vice-versa, ATELIER consortium members described this meeting as a highlight because it allowed to gather first-hand knowledge and opinions from the local stakeholders. This successful format will be applied in Riga for our General Assembly in June as well.
Speaking more generally, the 2,5 day meeting was as usual used for multiple workshops (with a special focus on energy communities) and the exchange between partners and cities. It was a happy coincidence that a delegation of Bratislava’s Japanese twin city was also in town with a great interest in ATELIER which allowed an even broader exchange beyond Europe’s borders.
Bratislava being the host of this meeting of course didn’t miss the opportunity to give an in-depth presentation of its future PED. Furthermore, as Bratislava currently organises an international student competition in partnership with Copenhagen, we might see even more ideas for our ATELIER cities from all over the world for Bratislava’s future PED.
Make sure to browse through our gallery to get a better impression of the Bratislava meeting and stay tuned for more news!
Picture credits: ATELIER; Velcek; Zora Pauliniova