The 23rd edition of the European Week of Regions and Cities (#EURegionsWeek) will take place from 13 to 15 October 2025 in Brussels. Co-organised by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy (DG REGIO) and the European Committee of the Regions (CoR), this flagship event brings together thousands of stakeholders from across Europe to exchange ideas, showcase good practices, and discuss the future of cohesion policy and territorial development. 

2025 motto: Shaping tomorrow, together 

This year’s edition will focus on three key thematic areas: 

• Cohesion and Growth for the Future 

• The Right to Stay: Unlocking the Potential of Every Territory 

• Cities Building Tomorrow 

The programme will feature high-level panels, interactive workshops, policy debates, exhibitions, and networking activities. Main sessions will take place at the Jacques Delors Building (CoR) and SQUARE Brussels, with some events hosted across other EU venues in the city. 

Registration is free and open to all participants. Due to security measures, on-site registration will not be possible — all attendees must register in advance.
Register before 30 September 2025 

VALORADA session on accessible risk communication – 14 October 2025 

VALORADA will also host a session earlier that day titled “Enabled by Design: Building Risk Communication for People with Disabilities”. This interactive session will take place on 14 October 2025, from 11:30 to 13:00 CET, at SQUARE Brussels, Room 213–215, under the thematic area “Cities Building Tomorrow”. 

This event addresses a pressing gap in climate resilience strategies: the inaccessibility of risk communication tools for persons with disabilities. Despite advancements in digital systems, many tools remain non-compliant with the EU Accessibility Act and fall short of the Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. 

Structured as a mini-climathon, the session will engage participants in team-based challenges to co-create inclusive, accessible digital communication solutions. Drawing from diverse disciplines—public policy, design, technology, social sciences and communications—teams will develop actionable prototypes and policy-aligned recommendations to ensure no one is left behind in the face of climate risks. 

Speakers include: 

• Rosalind Cook, United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) 

• Gordon Rattray, International Disability Alliance (IDA) 

Programme highlights: 

• Welcome & challenge briefing by Climate-KIC (CKIC) 

• Joint keynote on disability inclusion in climate resilience (UNDRR / IDA) 

• Systemic mapping and collaborative design work 

• Presentation of team prototypes with fireside feedback 

Registration link : https://regions-and-cities.europa.eu/programme/2025/sessions/46315 

Joint session on rural proofing – 14 October 2025 

As part of the European Week of Regions and Cities 2025, VALORADA will join forces with the GRANULAR and RUSTIK projects to co-organise a joint interactive session entitled “Rural Proofing: Making Policies Work for Rural Areas through Data”. The session will take place on 14 October 2025, from 16:00 to 17:30 CEST, at SQUARE Brussels, Room 213–215. Structured as an interactive exchange, the session will combine a panel discussion with thematic roundtables. It is organised under the thematic area “The Right to Stay: Unlocking the Potential of Every Territory”, and will explore how data, including Earth Observation, can support the design of inclusive, place-based policies for rural areas. 

The session will begin with insights from representatives of the European Commission, the OECD, and regional authorities, followed by collaborative discussion tables led by the VALORADA, GRANULAR and RUSTIK consortia. The discussion will welcome partners and consortium members of the @VALORADA project, including @Terra Spatium,  @Climate-KIC and @GERICS, who will contribute their expertise in Earth Observation, systemic innovation, and climate risk data for rural and regional resilience. 

Participants will be invited to peer-review practical approaches and discuss how data, including Earth Observation, can contribute to more inclusive and place-based rural policies. 

Registration link : https://regions-and-cities.europa.eu/programme/2025/sessions/49278
  

We look forward to welcoming you in Brussels for an engaging session on shaping the future of rural Europe. 

For more updates, follow VALORADA on LinkedIn and YouTube.

From 25 to 27 June 2025, the VALORADA project actively contributed to the European Urban Resilience Forum (EURESFO) in Rotterdam. As a co-organising project, VALORADA highlighted its data-driven tools for climate-risk assessment and engaged with cities, regions, researchers and civil-society organisations working on adaptation.

Key contributions included a session on digital tools for climate resilience, demonstrations of the Pixagri and Landia tools, participation in site visits in Rotterdam, and the promotion of the VALORADA Climate Risk Survey developed by FMI.

Read the full press release

For over a decade, EURESFO has been a key platform bringing together local and regional governments, researchers, civil society organisations, and EU institutions to exchange on climate adaptation, disaster risk reduction, and strategies to build more resilient cities and territories.

Three days of collaboration, dialogue, and visibility for VALORADA

The three-day programme provided a rich and dynamic agenda of plenaries, technical sessions, mobile workshops, networking opportunities, and site visits. It facilitated meaningful exchange among a wide range of stakeholders committed to supporting Europe’s adaptation to the impacts of climate change.

Day 1 began with the Opening Plenary titled “Resilience in Crisis: Accelerating Action for a Just Future”, followed by a series of high-level panel discussions exploring integrated water resilience, polycrisis preparedness, and financial instruments for risk reduction. In the afternoon, participants joined mobile workshops held across Rotterdam, including one featuring the VALORADA project:

The session “Digital Tools for Climate Resilience: Harnessing Geospatial Data and Local Insights” highlighted a number of tools designed to support local adaptation planning. In this session, Sylvie Duthoit (Head of Projects, TerraNIS SAS) presented two tools developed under the VALORADA project:

• Pixagri, which supports drought risk assessment and the analysis of impacts on agriculture
• Landia, which helps urban stakeholders monitor and manage urban heat island effects

Her presentation demonstrated how data-driven tools, rooted in Earth Observation and co-designed with end-users, can effectively support local authorities in strengthening climate resilience strategies.

Day 2 opened with the plenary “Building a Just and Resilient Future: From Knowledge to Action”. A key feature of the day was the Marketplace, where Horizon Europe projects and European initiatives presented their work, demonstrated tools, and exchanged directly with participants.

VALORADA was pleased to take part in the Marketplace through a dedicated stand on the theme:
“Leveraging local risk data for climate adaptation”, shared with the UP2030 project, which showcased its HydroFlow tool.

Throughout the day, Sylvie Duthoit was available to engage in discussions with cities, researchers, and practitioners on how locally validated, geospatial data can better inform climate risk assessments and support evidence-based resilience strategies.

The VALORADA team also used the opportunity to promote the VALORADA Climate Risk Survey, launched by the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI), which aims to gather insights from stakeholders on how climate risk indicators are used in practice and what data needs remain unmet.

Day 3 was dedicated to site visits across the city, offering participants concrete examples of place-based resilience strategies in action, including in the neighbourhoods of BoTu and Oud-Mathenesse.

Looking ahead

The VALORADA team is proud to have contributed to this collaborative and forward-looking forum. EURESFO 2025 confirmed the importance of collective intelligence, practical tools, and cross-sectoral partnerships in building a more climate-resilient Europe. The discussions and connections made during the event will continue to inform our work in the months ahead.

For more information on our tools, services, and upcoming opportunities to engage, please visit our website or contact us directly.

For more updates, follow VALORADA on LinkedIn and YouTube.

A key highlight of this year’s symposium was the participation of Marc Tondriaux, President of TerraNIS SAS and a partner in the VALORADA project. Marc presented insights from VALORADA’s Occitanie demonstrator, developed in collaboration with Sicoval, highlighting the project’s role in supporting climate adaptation efforts, particularly for agriculture facing water scarcity challenges. Many speakers emphasized the role of regional authorities as both supporters and end-users of space applications, positioning projects like VALORADA as instrumental in the region’s adaptation to climate change. 

In addition to presentations and panel discussions, the symposium included best practices and case studies focused on water and energy management. The event offered valuable networking opportunities, fostering a stronger interregional alliance to utilize space technologies in tackling water and energy-related issues. 

Looking ahead, VALORADA and its partners, including TerraNIS, are committed to advancing space-based solutions that support sustainable development and resilience across European regions. 

Stay tuned on VALORADA’s LinkedIn and Youtube for continuous updates and project insights!

During the afternoon we have the amazing opportunity, together with our sister projects CLIMAAX and Climateurope2, to participate in networking sessions along with climate services buyers and providers!

A warm thank you to the PROTECT project for the invitation and congratulations on these 3 years of great work, inspiring!