WORKSHOPS: FROM STAKEHOLDER MAPPING TO CROSS-SECTORAL ENGAGEMENT

The ELEVATE Project – “Elevate multi-level governance for inclusive communities” - started on the 1^st of April 2025 with the aim of bringing together 12 territories and strategic partners to analyze, propose and build the ELEVATE Model for 11 Danube region countries, representing the socio-economic realities of the Danube region.

The Kick-off meeting on the 6^th and 7^th of May 2025

The project partners met for the first time in person in Sevnica, Slovenia shared their local needs and star building a Catalogue of Good Practices identified on their territories to feed into the basis of the ELEVATE Model. The meeting was a success in bringing partners together within the journey of Transnational knowledge exchange, capacity and community building for inclusive territorial development, where they started learning about how to best communicate their project ideas to local stakeholders for raising awareness on social inclusion for the elderly and people with disabilities, within a workshop lead by URBASOFIA.

Stage 1: Workshop on Stakeholder’s mapping

Following the exchanges between project partners within their specific territories, they all came together again in an online format to have a Stakeholder Mapping exercise filling in Stakeholder list and making a first stakeholder involvement plan having in view the contribution that the ELEVATE Project must bring to Sustainable Development Goals:

• SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being

• SDG 10 - Reduced Inequalities

• SDG 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities

Stage 2: Workshop: Engagement with Cross-Sectoral Stakeholders

This second online meeting brought the project partners knowledge and recommendations towards fostering dialogue on inclusive governance and community needs. The workshop highlighted some key aspects to have in mind when planning for the first local meetings, such as:

• Main implementation challenges

• How to talk about change as a driver of integrated approaches

• Sustainability as the foundation for inclusive urban development

Therefore, the representatives of the 12 territories included in the ELEVATE Project will host their first local meetings with their stakeholders in September 2025. Stay tuned and follow the news on how they managed to engage with local actors and talk about awareness, inclusion and sustainability for the elderly and people with disabilities!

Author: Irina PANAIT, Senior Urban Planner | URBASOFIA