Plenary meeting (online)

On 29 September 2025, the members of the ARL International Working Group "Resilient Metropolitan Regions – Spatial Planning and Management for Urban Transformation" met online for a plenary meeting. The main focus was integrating practitioners' knowledge through case study presentations and advancing work on the position paper.

Practitioners from Bologna, Malaga, Barcelona and Rhine-Neckar presented their metropolitan regions using a structured template. They described spatial structures and governance arrangements, key resilience challenges (such as climate adaptation and inequality), good practice examples of strategic planning, efforts to integrate justice and inclusiveness, and proposals for institutional frameworks, planning instruments and necessary processes.

The group then reached final agreement on the position paper proposal. Members also discussed the AESOP 2025 special sessions outcomes and explored further collaborations.

Finally, the working group confirmed the next on-site plenary in Vienna in November 2026, outlined upcoming outputs, deliverables and responsibilities, and planned the next online meeting. The session strengthened the vital link between theory and practice for the position paper's completion.