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The 2020 European Week of Regions and Cities had two major challenges to address: organising a major event in the post-pandemic world and managing an absolute record of partners’ applications (more than double compared to last year). The solution? Three weeks instead of one!

The 18th edition of the Week, co-organised by DG REGIO and the Committee of Regions should have taken place from 12 to 15 October 2020 in Brussels. However, hosting 500 sessions and abiding by the social distancing rules was close to impossible in the time span of one week only. Therefore, the event is now spreading over 3 weeks, with most sessions provided online, key political events (such as Citizens Dialogues or Regiostars Awards) in a hybrid – physical and online – format, and the exhibition and related talks deployed on the ground.

Under the motto “Restart. Europe. Together”, these 3 weeks will unroll successively the 3 themes of this edition:

  • 5-9 October (Week 1): Empowering Citizens
  • 12-16 October (Week 2): Cohesion and cooperation
  • 19-22 October (Week 3): Green Europe, in cooperation with the Green Week.

The Week is the biggest annual Brussels-based gathering dedicated to cohesion policy. In 2019, it reached a record high of more than 9,300 participants: local and regional representatives, EU funds managing authorities, project promoters, experts, academics, etc.), but also more than 300 media.