Vilnius and Rotterdam shine at the Global Mayors Challenge.
Their governments have been Europe’s most daring in tackling today’s multifaceted challenges
Bloomberg Philanthropies announced yesterday, January 18 15 Global Mayors Challenge city winners – the fifth competition and the first to cover the entire planet. Each of these cities has been held up as a model for formulating innovative and ambitious plans to overcome the many crises caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
There were 631 cities nominated, of which 15 (from 6 continents and with a total population of 30 million) were selected by a jury. Among them, two cities are in the European Union: Vilnius (Lithuania) and Rotterdam (Netherlands).
The social impact of Rotterdam
In the midst of the pandemic, consultants in Rotterdam asked themselves the question: how do you pay for social projects without depending on subsidies? The context was rising unemployment and shrinking state budgets for social support.
So, as an answer, Rikx platform was created. It allows social entrepreneurs to publish their projects where private investors can see and fund them. The great thing is that it also gives companies the opportunity to show their social concern and even get tokens, similar to the “offset” system in the carbon market.
“I am delighted that Bloomberg has chosen Rotterdam as one of the top 15 innovative cities in the world,” said the city’s mayor, Ahmed Aboutaleb. “And that they recognize Rikx’s potential for further development. We are on the right track in creating social connections in our cities.
Having a job is very important. Together with the engaged entrepreneurs of our city, we can make a difference. And with this support from Bloomberg, I am confident that Rikx can achieve important social results in Rotterdam and beyond.
Vilnius opens opportunities for learning
Vilnius is reorganizing its education system to make it more resilient and suitable for the future economy by creating The initiative “Vilnius as an open school”.. It aims to address the lack of digital skills among educators, overcrowded public schools and outdated education systems. The Open School pushes the boundaries of when and how education should be delivered, removing it from the context of the classroom.
Mayor Remigius Šimašius pledged to use the $1 million prize to expand the concept and take inspiration from digital platforms such as Netflix and Airbnb.
Each of the winning cities receives 1 million dollars and 3 years of know-how support from experts to implement and refine the winning idea.
The other 13 winners from the recent Global Mayors Challenge are Amman, Jordan; Bogota, Colombia; Butuan, Philippines; Freetown, Sierra Leone; Hermosillo, Mexico; Istanbul, Turkey; Kigali, Rwanda; Kumasi, Ghana; Paterson, New Jersey, USA; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Rochester, Minnesota, USA; Rourkela, India; and Wellington, New Zealand.
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