ESPON URDICO: Urban Dimension of Cohesion Policy and other EU Programmes
Duration: January 2025 – January 2026
MRI was the leader of a consortium (with Politecnico di Torino and University of Valencia) implementing the ESPON URDICO project. This one-year project analysed and compared the implementation of the urban dimension of Cohesion Policy in eight selected stakeholder cities: Budapest, Florence, Ghent, Prague, Rotterdam, Strasbourg, Valencia and Warsaw, in the 2014–2020 and 2021–2027 programming period, through both quantitative and qualitative methods.
The project analyzed in detail the volume and use of various EU funds allocated to the eight cities, as well as the developments that were implemented from these funds. For this, it examined the planning and implementation of cohesion policy in the different countries, the related multi-level governance models, metropolitan cooperation, the local-level management of cohesion policy, its links to long-term urban development strategic documents, financing synergies, and institutional innovations to identify both good practices and challenges, that can help to create a more effective multilevel urban governance and serve as potential inputs when planning the next MFF.
The most important results of the project are the final report, which presents the main results in a concise way, and its various annexes, which provide a more detailed insight into the work completed. The annexes include a report on data collection and quantitative analysis; a policy brief; detailed policy recommendations for the local, regional, national, and EU levels; separate case study reports about the eight cities; and a comparative case study.
The results of the project are closely linked to policy debates surrounding the planning of the 2028-2034 multiannual financial framework, which is why the progress of the project has been followed with keen professional interest. Thanks to this, one of the sessions of the 2025 European Week of Regions and Cities (EWRC) was connected to the URDICO project.
Website: https://www.espon.eu/projects/urdico-urban-dimension-cohesion-policy-and-other-eu-programmes
Bratislava Public Housing Framework – to support European Investment Bank advisory services
Duration: November 2023 – May 2024
József Hegedüs, researcher at Metropolitan Research Institute, was invited to join the expert team led by the consortium of Groupe Huit and IBF International Consulting to support advisory services for the European Investment Bank.
The expert team assisted the City of Bratislava in developing an effective institutional, organisational and financial model for a municipal social housing investment programme. Metropolitan Research Institute contributed to an overview of the housing situation in Bratislava and prepared a study on European best practices, with a particular focus on the cases of Germany and Ireland.
Additionally, the institute prepared a background study analysing social and affordable housing programmes in Poland for a study visit involving stakeholders from Bratislava’s housing programmes.
The team developed recommendations for the organisational and financial model of the Bratislava housing company. Metropolitan Research Institute was responsible for designing an affordable rent structure for different social groups.
The study was based on qualitative research with key regional stakeholders and document analysis. In addition to interviews with researchers and local organisations, online and in-person workshops were organised across the four countries to present research findings and support the development of context-specific solutions.
During the data collection process, the team conducted interviews with 18 organisations and researchers in Croatia, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania. A total of 28 key stakeholders participated in three online and one in-person workshop across the four countries to help develop actionable recommendations.
ComAct: Community Tailored Actions for Energy Poverty Mitigation
Duration: September 2020 – February 2024
The project focused on countries in the Central and Eastern European (CEE) region as well as the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), where privately owned multi-apartment buildings dominate and many residents experience energy poverty.
The project addressed the complex roots of energy poverty and developed a new approach to ensuring the affordability of interventions by combining community development, financial mechanisms and technical measures.
Metropolitan Research Institute conducted a large-scale survey, collaborated with a local pilot project and developed policy recommendations for the European Union.
UPLIFT: Urban PoLicy Innovation to address inequality with and for Future generaTions
Duration: January 2020 – June 2023
The past decade has been characterised by increasing polarisation and fragmentation in Europe. The financial crisis and rapid technological change have further deepened socio-economic inequalities. The intergenerational transmission of advantage and disadvantage increasingly shapes individuals’ life chances, particularly for young people, who represent one of the most vulnerable groups affected by poverty in Europe.
These inequalities are especially pronounced in urban contexts. Public policy interventions aimed at mitigating inequalities among urban youth often overlook the experiences of the citizens concerned, resulting in limited effectiveness.
The UPLIFT project integrates the perspectives of young citizens and policy actors into the policy design process in order to develop innovative and institutionalisable interventions through a bottom-up approach.
Objectives of the UPLIFT project
- Understanding patterns and trends of inequality across Europe
- Exploring individuals’ experiences of social inequality and their coping strategies through participatory research
- Co-developing policy tools with local communities in four pilot locations — Amsterdam, Barakaldo, Sfântu Gheorghe and Tallinn — aimed at addressing and reducing inequality and socio-economic divides
Role of Metropolitan Research Institute:
Metropolitan Research Institute coordinated the consortium and led the professional work of Work Package 3. In addition, the institute conducted fieldwork and background research for the Pécs case study and authored the final case study report.
OpenHeritage: Organizing, Promoting and ENabling HEritage Reuse through Inclusion, Technology, Access, Governance and Empowerment
Duration: June 2018 – September 2022
The OpenHeritage project developed and tested innovative and inclusive governance models for adaptive heritage reuse. To support these models, the project created a comprehensive toolbox ensuring sustainability, transferability and capacity building.
The project collected data from thematically and geographically diverse Observatory Cases (OCs) and tested approaches on-site in similarly diverse Cooperative Heritage Labs (CHLs) in order to produce transferable and practical results.
OCs represented innovative experiments in adaptive reuse focusing on community and stakeholder integration, resource integration, financial management, territorial integration and capacity building. CHLs functioned as adaptive reuse laboratories operated by consortium partners, providing technical support and experimenting with innovative solutions.
Metropolitan Research Institute coordinated the OpenHeritage project. In addition, it led the work package on Cooperative Heritage Labs, assessed the financial sustainability of heritage reuse practices and contributed to the development of innovative governance and business models. As project coordinator, the institute also supported the dissemination of project results at the European level.
Cooperation on a better understanding of energy poverty in Eastern and Central Europe and the social impact of the Renovation Wave
Duration: March 2022 – October 2022
The project involved research cooperation with FEANTSA (European Federation of National Organisations Working with the Homeless) on the social consequences of new European policy measures in the Central and Eastern European region.
As experts, Metropolitan Research Institute provided research inputs on energy poverty in Eastern and Central Europe and on the social impacts of the Renovation Wave.
Evaluation of the REELIH project – Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and North Macedonia
Duration: June 2018 – December 2019
In cooperation with Building Performance Institute Europe, Metropolitan Research Institute was contracted to evaluate the REELIH – Residential Energy Efficiency in Low Income Households interventions.
The evaluation aimed to assess the extent to which implemented energy efficiency measures contributed to reducing energy poverty. It also supported the project by formulating recommendations — based on established European practices — on how the programme’s impact on energy poverty could be strengthened and institutionalised through policy measures at local, regional or national levels in Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and North Macedonia.
Consultancy within the REELIH project (Residential Energy Efficiency for Low-income Households)
Duration: August 2014 – September 2016
The two-year project focused on enabling the energy-efficient renovation of the housing stock in two target countries of Habitat for Humanity International: Armenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, with particular attention to low-income households.
As part of this work, Metropolitan Research Institute provided continuous support to local Habitat groups by assisting field research and providing country-specific recommendations based on field visits. The recommendations focused on creating inclusive energy-efficiency subsidy systems.