At the Annual Conference of Eurocities, a network of 140 European cities, Ghent was one of the winners of the Awards 2008. Ghent was the winner of the Cooperation award for its prestigious Gentinfo project. The awards recognize city councils’ success in involving their citizens in local governance. The Annual Conference runs from Wednesday, 27 November until Friday, 29 November in The Hague.

Gentinfo

Ghent could convince the jury with the Gentinfo project. Gentinfo is a one-stop-shop for information services and assistance on the city’s public services. Thanks to this project, Ghent has successfully streamlined communication channels among the city’ residents, businesses, organisations and visitors. Ghent is the first municipality in Belgium to have offered this type of service centre.

Other winners

Besides Ghent also the cities of Espoo (Finland) and Newcastle (United Kingdom) are being honoured this year. Espoo is the winner of the Innovation award for its ‘Cultural Chain’ project: this project brings art and culture ‘home’ to elderly people who cannot get it otherwise. Newcastle has won the Participation award for its ‘Udecide’ project: this project enables city residents to take part in discussions and decisions on a wide range of community projects.

Congratulations

Fritz Huffnagel, Deputy Mayor of The Hague and chair of the Award jury congratulated all winners for their willingness to change and modernise. These three cities have shown how to strengthen local communities by listening, involving and innovating.

Contact:
Department of Staff Services
Division of Policy Stategy and International Cooperation
International Cooperation
Tel. 0032 9 266 8408
Fax 0032 9 266 8259
E-mail: internationaal@gent.be

Gentinfo
Tel. 0032 9 210 10 10
E-mail: Peggy.Goetgeluck@Gent.be