This report evaluates EU-funded Central Coordination Services for the IURC programme (Jan 2021–Dec 2023), assessing relevance, coherence, EU added value, effectiveness/efficiency, and impact/sustainability.
The final evaluation reviews the EU-funded Central Services (CCS) to the International Urban and Regional Cooperation (IURC) programme (Jan 2021–Dec 2023). Funded by FPI and supported by DG REGIO, IURC aimed to strengthen EU urban diplomacy through city-to-city and region-to-region cooperation across several regions. The CCS, implemented by an ACCIONA-led consortium, supported coordination among geographic teams and provided advisory services such as partner matching, knowledge management, communication/visibility and Brussels events.
The evaluation finds high relevance and strong stakeholder satisfaction, with IURC seen as an improvement over the previous phase, notably for partner pairing and inclusion of regional authorities. CCS added value lies in harmonising procedures, ensuring consistency and linking geographic teams with Brussels services. Events and study visits were particularly effective.
Constraints include short duration, limited resources and weak outreach to Member States and the private sector. Monitoring focused mainly on outputs, with limited evidence on outcomes and impact. Recommendations include extending IURC, maintaining central coordination, strengthening MEL and translating exchanges into more tangible results.
- Reference
- EvalRef EVAL-18; 300081569; INTV-10350
- Project duration
- 4 Jan 2021 - 31 Dec 2023
- Project locations
- Belgium
- Area
- Global/Trans-regional
- Region
- Other
- Programme
- Common Foreign & Security Policy actions
- Topic
- Evaluation