Explain how small urban areas and medium-sized cities can contribute to managing the current transitions (green, digital, etc.);

Stress the added value of focusing the recovery in small urban areas in order to ensure that no territory is left behind;

Explain that the main characteristics of small urban areas and their development challenges (demographic, environmental, digital, socio-economic, difficult access to basic services, etc.) are key to mitigate the territorial impact of the current transitions;

Identify appropriate policy responses provided by small urban areas in order to maximise the impact of investments in a key moment of programming new territorial and recovery strategies.

Contribute to the implementation of the Long-term Vision for Rural Areas and how this dimension could be taken into account in the Structural and Cohesion Funds, particularly in the preparation of operational programmes;

A proposal put forward by the European Commission on concrete tools to support small urban areas and medium-sized cities to access and manage EU structural and cohesion programmes under PO 5;

An increased involvement of small local authorities in the implementation of a new generation of the Urban Agenda for the EU partnerships and the Territorial Agenda 2030.