Uses of Time

The Brussels Urban Summit (BUS) is an initiative of Brussels City Council, Eurocities, Metropolis and the OECD’s Champions of Mayors Initiative for Inclusive Growth. The meeting brings together three major international urban conferences: the 14th World Metropolis Congress, the Annual Eurocities Conference and the sixth meeting of the OECD Champion Mayors. It brings together more than 300 cities from around the world and more than 1,000 political representatives, experts and representatives of civil society, to exchange ideas and set priorities for cities of the future that are sustainable, livable and accessible for all.

In this context, the Network of Local and Regional Governments for Time Policies has given a workshop on time policies, under the title “Time policies: an opportunity to live better in our cities”.

The workshop explained what time policies are and why they are important, and discussed the success stories of Barcelona City Council, represented by the Directorate of Gender Services and Time Policies, and elected representatives from Strasbourg and Bogotá.

Barcelona City Council has shared what the Pact of Time is and how it is configured. Special emphasis has been placed on time policies related to caregivers, explaining some relevant examples such as the Vilaveïna project, Concilia, Time for You project, or the recently created Carer’s Card.

Throughout the workshop, the interest of the participants was clear, as a debate was generated during the question space from the audience. There has been a clear consensus on the relevance of time policies for the urban agenda, especially from a gender perspective.

The workshop also allowed Barcelona representatives to meet other municipalities and entities interested in time policies, and to share ideas and experiences to continue enriching Barcelona City Council’s commitment to time policies.