TheMayor.EU in 2022: Our year in review

A look back at our most important initiatives and achievements this past 12 months

Another challenging year will soon be behind us, and it is only natural that we review the steps we took in 2022 and where they've led us. We take pride in our achievements: a lot of new initiatives, growing our audience, partnerships and network. But above all, staying loyal to our readers and to the cause of European integration.

And to respond to the challenge of being a 2021 European Citizen’s Prize winner, we strengthened even further our efforts to stimulate cooperation and mutual understanding in our societies through the exchange of good practices and innovative solutions and by showing the EU’s contribution to the development of local communities. Thank you for being with us; here is what we've achieved in the past 12 months.

Covering EU cities’ solidarity with Ukraine

Without any doubt, the event that marked 2022 for everyone in Europe is the war in Ukraine. While we are watching from a distance, wishing for it to be over soon, there are millions of brave heroes out there fighting for European values of human life, freedom, dignity and democracy. And we find it our duty to tell their stories.

This year, we brought to you hundreds of stories on how European cities are helping Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees against Russian aggression. Discover our coverage of the EU cities' response to the Ukraine crisis as it is a true testimony to what European integration can achieve.

TheMayor.EU at #EURegionsWeek

For the first time, this autumn we partnered with European Week of Regions and Cities – the largest event dedicated to the European Cohesion policy and one of the largest city forums worldwide. Organised by the European Committee of the Regions and the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Urban Policies (DG Regio), the event celebrated its 20th anniversary this year, welcoming over 20 000 participants.

Together with the European Youth Forum, we organised a high-level session on youth empowerment that brought together local and EU representatives, athletes and urban practitioners to discuss how to face the new challenges for European cohesion and the place of youth in the process. Watch the recordings here.

Tackling the digital divide

This year, we strengthened even further our commitment to helping cities fight the digital divide and to reinforce their digital transformations, under the framework of the EUDIGIT project. We co-organised a seminar discussing the challenges that persons with disabilities experience with the digital world (led by the City of Rotterdam, The Netherlands), and another one tackling the urban-rural divide (led by the City of Cluj-Napoca, Romania).

We also produced two e-books with best practices in urban transformation. Discover them on the project website.

Spotlighting the brightest local administrations with 'Mayor of Europe'

We have also started featuring the good work of prominent EU city administrations, which have excelled in a particular area – from youth policies to sustainable development, and from innovation to culture. We talked to their mayors to learn how they see and manage complex challenges with limited resources and brought their stories and best practices to you in our monthly rubric Mayor of Europe.

Fighting against fake news and disinformation

Finally, we are proud to show our own dedication to limiting the spread of fake news and disinformation in Europe. With the Read Twice (R2) project, that our Association is leading, we will contribute to the reduction of this harmful phenomenon by improving the media literacy skills of young people and social media users.

Follow us for more on this topic as we have planned plenty of new things in 2023! TheMayor.EU will still be the place to find the stories of cutting-edge innovations to EU's contemporary challenges. In 2023, we plan to remain the most reliable gateway to fresh insight into European urban development.