On 18-12 October, proGIreg's Cascais, hosted the 2023 edition of the European Urban Resilience Forum (EURESFO), an ICLEI Europe event series. Over 350 resilience-makers, resilience innovators, resilience providers, and resilience supporters of 44 countries, from citiy  representatives, academia, community organisations, the European Commission to the United Nations, came together in Cascais, to define pathways for a resilient transformation across Europe and the globe.

Reflecting on progress made in the field of urban resilience over the past decade, when opening the Forum, Virginijus Sinkevičius, European Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries highlighted:

“Resilience is a word that we hear more and more – the response that we need to a decade of crises...We never know what’s around the corner. But, with an integrated approach, we are better prepared.”

During a panel debate, proGIreg's Iva Bedenko, City of Zagreb, highlighted the importance of education while building resilience:

"Education is essential to combating 'bio-phobia'. We wanted to plant an orchard in Zagreb and people were afraid that it would bring bees into the city. Education is essential but it has to happen before the intervention. If you wait until there is a conflict, it is too late".

The three day event featured 40+ sessions and workshops with over 100 speakers and moderators. They reflected on a changed climate and new extreme events that have become ever-present. The Forum discussed innovative governance models and funding schemes to deal with multi-hazard scenarios, more frequent climate extremes, and overlapping crises, diving deep into multi-level structures and opportunities for managing and funding adaptation projects and action.