ANCI IDEALI, European Foundation of cities, is a “network of networks” which associates municipalities, research institutes, European foundations and associations which work in urban policies to provide Italian cities with the European know-how. ANCI IDEALI encourages member cities to rediscover and preserve their historical heritage, cultural attractiveness, businesses, research centres and innovative experiences. Furthermore, during the last years, ANCI IDEALI has been improving innovative policies on urban sustainable development and environment. The wide network of relationships established in Europe by ANCI IDEALI is an opportunity and a starting point to create new partnerships between Italian and European actors, to compare innovation and governance experiences, to learn from positive European examples.

ANCI IDEALI’s main purposes are:
a) to promote and spread the European ideals through the cooperation among Local and Regional Authorities, both in Italy and in Europe, developing the integration among nations, cultures and peoples to foster the European citizenshi;

b) to upgrade the role played by the Cities and Local Communities within the European political debate as well as the implementation of the governance process;

c) to improve the Italian Cities and Local Communities’ relationship with both the European Cities and Communities, as well as with the overall European institutional system;

d) to provide Local Authorities with the necessary know-how to update and upgrade the administrative action through training processes and technical assistance on the field of urban governance, complying with the new European programmes and instruments, both through benchmarking actions and European planning;

e) to provide venues and representative services for the local actors to the European institutions.