On 26 February 2020, representatives of municipalities participating in the MULTIPLY project met for the first time in Warsaw. The meeting was the formal inauguration of a cooperation and experience exchange programme under which representatives of the precursor cities (Bydgoszcz, Sztum and Piastów) and the comitted cities (Grodzisk Mazowiecki, Minsk Mazowiecki, Ostrołęka and Siemianowice Śląskie) will support each other in planning integrated energy, transport and land use solutions.The official inauguration of the program was the awarding of certificates of the title of the precursor city or thecomitted city in the MULTIPLY project by the Director Anna Jaskuła to the mayors and other representatives of the cities.

Then, Ms. Patrycja Płonka gave an opening presentation in which she explained the project, the assumptions of the cooperation and exchange of experiences between cities, as well as the general concept of integrated urban planning. In the next presentation, Mr. Wojciech Szymalski, President of the Foundation for Sustainable Development, deepened the topic, discussing in detail the legal framework for urban planning, the possibilities of using this planning to optimise energy supply and consumption, and presented examples of good practice of European cities, which successfully implement integrated urban planning solutions on their territory.

An important element of the meeting were presentations of the cities selected for the program, during which they showed their achievements to date and further ambitions. Representatives of the precursor cities presented their energy transition paths and model projects to date, while representatives of the cities involved presented their visions for development based on the activities already implemented, as well as those planned. During the workshop session, the topic of political leadership, the role of local authorities in creating an optimal conditions for planning the further development of the city in a comprehensive and holistic way, and the role of various stakeholders in this process were addressed. At the end, the participants took part in an exercise aimed at formulating the most important barriers to the implementation of the concept of integrated urban planning and the most important local needs.