Deputy Minister Georgieva: Over €1 billion invested in 50 urban municipalities

Strengthening the capacity of cities to design strategies, policies and practices for sustainable urban development was discussed at a forum in the capital

"With skills to generate ideas, initiative and the ability to bring together partners, local authorities help us turn strategic documents for regional development into real investments and real results for citizens", said Deputy Minister of Regional Development and Public Works Desislava Georgieva at the opening of a forum entitled "Next Generation Municipal Strategies: participation, funding, continuity". The discussion was dedicated to building capacity and knowledge to support local authorities in the framework of the European Urban Initiative.

In front of the participants, Georgieva stressed that integrated urban development is an important part of the national programmes under the cohesion policy. In the current programming period, nearly EUR 340 million has been invested in integrated urban development. A further EUR 680 million in the form of integrated territorial investments has been invested in activities in the 50 urban municipalities under the Regional Development Programme. In this case, the investment initiative comes on a bottom-up basis, on a proposal from local stakeholders, and decisions are taken by the relevant territorial authorities, with investments tailored to the specific needs and potential of the territory.

The practical experience gained shows the need to simplify the delivery mechanism, reduce administrative complexity and focus on the real territorial effect and quality of integrated investments. The successful development of the integrated territorial approach in the new programming period post-2027 and following the experience gained from the current one, requires timely preparation with the involvement of stakeholders and the creation of a stronger territorial and thematic focus of investments; a better coordinated delivery mechanism; better targeting of resources towards territories with high needs, as well as stronger integration between infrastructure and soft measures. The philosophy of the integrated territorial approach of the current programming period is correct, but its successful implementation requires continued capacity building, clearer strategic prioritisation and optimisation of the delivery mechanism. Tools such as the European Urban Initiative are a valuable opportunity to build on administrative and expertise, exchange good practices and find new solutions for the sustainable development of Bulgarian cities. The excellent cooperation between the Permanent Secretariat of the European Urban Initiative and the National Association of Municipalities in the Republic of Bulgaria is a good opportunity to prepare more effectively for the challenges to sustainable urban development in our country, emphasized Desislava Georgieva. She assured the attendees that the MRDPW will continue to work to improve the mechanisms for providing timely methodological and expert support and for building a stronger strategic framework for development.