URB-AL is an horizontal descentralized cooperation program between Latin America and the European Commission.

Its general target is the contribution for the socioeconomic conditions and the populations life quality improvement, so as to achieve an equal development of the urban nucleus, centers.

And in particular, specially to multiply, increase the knowledges, experiences and techniques interchanges.

These interchanges will allow the local actors to develop their capacity in order to confront, face the demands, exigencies posed by the accelerated urbanization phenomenon that has been registered in the course of the lasts decades.

It is pursuit, definetively, the establishment of a direct and lasting association between the local partners through the meetings and interchanges, with a particular accent in the experiences and knowledges transfer.

URB-AL develops three activities:

• Biennial meetings.
• Thematic networks.
• Common projects.

A thematic network is a local entities grouping from the European Community and Latin America, mobilized around a prioritaire theme of the urban problematic.

The network themes are:

• Drug and City
• The Historical Urban Contexets Conservation, Preservation.
• City Democracy
• The City as an Economic Development Promotor.
• Social Urban Policies
• Urban Environment
• Management and Control of the Urbanization
• Urban Mobility Control
• Local finance and participative budgets
• The fight against poverty
• Promoting the role of women in local decision-making bodies
• Towns and the information society
• Citizens’ safety in towns
  

Each thematik network counts with a coordinator, selected by a Proposals Convocation