From which city or region are you reading this Map of the Week? What are some of the challenges faced in your city? Cities and regions are ever-evolving to meet the current needs of their inhabitants.
At the European level, the European Commission's Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy (DG REGIO)’s commitment is to support social and economic development of all European regions, to improve the quality of life of citizens. [1,2] Together with the European Committee of the Regions (CoR), they organise the annual European Week of Regions and Cities (EU Regions Week). People from all walks of life come together, from journalists, public officials, academics and citizens, to politicians, policy-makers and private sector representatives, to exchange knowledge, cooperate and address challenges. [3] The 23rd edition of the EU Regions Week took place in Brussels (Belgium) on 13-15 October 2025. Under the motto ‘Shaping tomorrow, together’, the focus was on three thematic areas: ‘Cohesion and Growth for the Future’, ‘The Right to Stay: unlocking the potential of every territory’, and ‘Cities building tomorrow’. [4] Everyone was welcome to participate in sessions after registering, and there were many webstreamed sessions. If you were not able to attend, have a look at the programme to see the topics addressed this year and watch the recordings of webstreamed sessions! Another way to engage this year, was to vote for your favorite photo of the 2025 Youth4Regions Photo Competition. Four young photo journalists were in competition for one of the 2025 Megalizzi-Niedzielski prizes.
To bring EU Regions Week to all communities, many events are happening all around Europe until 30 November 2025. Explore the programme to find events organised in your country.
The 2025 Ocean Week, organised by blue NGOs, also took place this week. The event invited participants in a week of debates, exhibitions and other events to celebrate Europe’s seas and explore how to rebuild their abundance.
Connecting the two events, the EU4Ocean Coalition, organised several activities during the week. This included a booth titled ‘#MakeEUBlue - cities in action!’ at the EU Regions Week on 14 and 15 October. Visitors of the booth learned about the #MakeEUBlue: Cities in Action campaign [5] The ‘Cities in Action campaign’ invites everyone to reflect on how cities can shape a sustainable future for rivers and the ocean. [6] Would you also like to contribute? By signing the petition, you can help in reaching one of the thresholds (per city) for the campaign to reach out to your city!
In addition to the booth, the EU4Ocean Coalition organised three events in the framework of the 2025 EU Week of Regions.
- On the morning of 14 October, the H2O Lounge project, one of the three 2025 Challenge of the Year winners, organised creative workshops for citizens, pledges, and a celebration of blue food and culture.
- On 14 October, the workshop ‘Designing Blue Cities of Tomorrow’ invited participants to an innovation lab with architects, planners and ocean professionals.
- On the morning of 15 October, during the interactive workshop ‘Delivering the ambitions of the European Ocean Pact: engaging cities in supporting ocean sustainability’, participants were able to hear from cities, stakeholders, and policy leaders, and help with defining conditions for effective engagement.
On this occasion, the Map of the Week focuses on cities, rivers and lakes. This map highlights how inland cities are connected to the ocean via rivers. Zoom in the map to see a specific region!
The data in the map is provided by the Joint Research Centre.
[1] https://commission.europa.eu/about/departments-and-executive-agencies/regional-and-urban-policy_en
[2] https://commission.europa.eu/topics/regional-and-urban-policy_en
[3]https://regions-and-cities.europa.eu/guide/what-is-the-euregionsweek
[4]https://regions-and-cities.europa.eu/guide/this-edition
[5]https://regions-and-cities.europa.eu/programme/2025/sessions/46857
[6]https://maritime-forum.ec.europa.eu/eu4ocean-eu-weeks-regions-and-cities_en