Urbasofia

Urbasofia URBASOFIA is a town and regional planning company created in October 2011. Come visit - http://www.urbasofia.eu/index.php/en/

URBASOFIA is currently focusing on design, management and implementation of 2014-2020 territorial cooperation, territorial cohesion related instruments and programmes. Specifically, we are designing for:

Initiatives related to Romanian POR, POCU, PNDR
HORIZON 2020
INTERREG Programmes (Europe, Danube, SEE, Adrion)
URBACT and URBAN INNOVATIVE ACTIONS
ENI Black Sea and ENI MED Programmes
Romania Moldova Territorial Cooperation

De data aceasta, din păcate, nu vă anunțăm începutul unui nou proiect în orașele Europei, nici un eveniment pe o temă in...
27/06/2025

De data aceasta, din păcate, nu vă anunțăm începutul unui nou proiect în orașele Europei, nici un eveniment pe o temă inovatoare, nici una dintre ideile noastre pentru a construi o viață mai decentă, pașnică și de calitate în zonele urbane...

Astăzi, suntem aici pentru a vă da o veste tristă: o persoană care a muncit zi și noapte, cu dedicație constantă și profesionalism desăvârșit pentru a atinge aceste obiective – directoarea noastră financiară, dar mai ales o prietenă dragă și un punct de referință pentru toți dintre noi – doamna Anca Covaci, a încetat din viață în noaptea trecută.

O cunosc pe Anca din primul meu an de lucru în România, în 2007. I-am admirat întotdeauna profesionalismul și nu am avut nicio ezitare să o primesc în comunitatea noastră Urbasofia atunci când a părăsit funcția ei anterioară.

În toți acești ani, Anca ne-a îmbogățit cu cunoștințele ei, cu etica muncii și cu profunzimea ei umană. A fost mereu acolo pentru noi – zi și noapte – mai ales în situațiile de urgență pe care le-am întâlnit în timpul numeroaselor noastre misiuni. Chiar dacă nu mai călătorea, retrasă la țară, coordona și rezolva de acolo o mulțime de aspecte esențiale ale activității noastre.

De multe ori i-am spus să facă o călătorie, să vină cu noi într-o misiune... dar Anca era mereu prezentă în culise, sprijinindu-ne și făcând în așa fel încât să nu ne simțim niciodată singuri. Chiar și când zborurile noastre aveau întârzieri și rămâneam prin aeroporturi noaptea târziu, ne trimitea mesaje, stătea de vorbă cu noi... era acolo.

Astăzi, Urbasofia și eu am pierdut o parte importantă din istoria noastră. Dar mai presus de toate, am pierdut o persoană care, pentru fiecare dintre noi – fie senior, fie junior – era ca o soră mai mare. Ne răsfăța, ocupându-se de toate acele aspecte plictisitoare pe care noi, cei "creativi", încercăm mereu să le delegăm.

Dragă Anca, ca de atâtea ori, scriu aceste rânduri dintr-un aeroport, așteptând următorul zbor… Și chiar dacă WhatsApp nu ajunge acolo unde ești acum, nu te simți prea liniștită: noi, cei de la Urbasofia, suntem foarte buni la a inventa lucruri – mai devreme sau mai târziu, vom găsi o modalitate să te deranjăm cu problemele noastre zilnice și acolo.

Te rugăm, dacă poți – din când în când, nu mereu – veghează-ne și ajută-ne... chiar și de acolo, de unde ești acum.

Odihnește-te în pace, dragă Anca.

Pietro & echipa Urbasofia

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This time, unfortunately, we are not announcing the start of a new project in the cities of Europe, nor an event on an innovative topic, nor one of our many ideas to build a more decent, peaceful, and high-quality life in urban areas…

Today, we are here to share the sad news that a person who has worked day and night, with constant dedication and utmost professionalism to achieve these goals—our financial director, but above all a dear friend and a point of reference for all of us—Ms. Anca Covaci, passed away last night.

I’ve known Anca since my very first year working in Romania, back in 2007. I have always admired her professionalism, and I had no doubt in welcoming her into our Urbasofia community when she left her previous position.

Over the years, Anca enriched us with her deep knowledge, work ethic, and human warmth. She was always there for us—day and night—especially during the many emergencies we encountered during our numerous missions. Even though she didn’t travel, having moved to the countryside, she continued to coordinate and solve many crucial aspects of our work from there.

I often told her to take a trip, to join us on one of our missions… but Anca was always there, behind the scenes, supporting us and never letting us feel alone. Even when our flights were delayed and we were stuck at airports late at night, she would message us, chat with us… she was with us.

Today, Urbasofia and I have lost a significant part of our history, but more importantly, we’ve lost a person who, for each of us—whether senior or junior—was like an older sister. She spoiled us, taking care of all those tedious aspects that we "creative" minds are always trying to delegate.

Dear Anca, as on so many days, I am writing these words from an airport, waiting for the next flight… And even if WhatsApp doesn’t reach where you are now, don’t feel too safe: we at Urbasofia are pretty good at inventing things—sooner or later, we’ll find a way to reach you and bother you with our daily troubles, even there.

Please, if you can—just now and then, not always—keep watching over us and helping us… even from where you are now.

Rest in peace, dear Anca.

Pietro & the Urbasofia team

📆 We are pleased to invite you to the co-design online   "Building Inclusive and Ethical Participation Spaces" organised...
13/06/2025

📆 We are pleased to invite you to the co-design online "Building Inclusive and Ethical Participation Spaces" organised by URBASOFIA in collaboration with Asociatia de Dezvoltare Intercomunitara Zona Metropolitana Bucuresti (ADIZMB) within the project INCA_EU.

📌 The workshop will take place online on Monday 16th of June from 13:30 to 15.00 EET.

📣 We will discuss and validate the current version of the co-design for platform development that we are developing within the Open Innovation Lab (O.I.L) in Bucharest, with the aim of advancing towards the final version of the document.

➡️ Registration form: https://ee-eu.kobotoolbox.org/x/9dxgiWd1

See you soon! 👋

31/05/2025
28/05/2025

🥇 13th European Urban and Regional Planning
📢 The call is out!

📅 for submitting entry proposals is now to 5th June 2025
📌 Awards in on 7th November 2025

💡 For detailed info the call 👇
https://ectp-ceu.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/awards-2025-call.pdf
and the submission template 👇
https://ectp-ceu.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/awards-2025-template-tier1.docx

🔵 ECTP-CEU - European Council of Spatial Planners

🌐 Ziviltechniker:innen Bundeskammer – VRP Vlaamse Vereniging voor Ruimte en Planning – Съюз на урбанистите в България – Asociace pro urbanismus a územní plánování ČR – Bundesarchitektenkammer – SRL Vereinigung für Stadt-, Regional- und Landesplanung – Société Française des Urbanistes – Σύλλογος Ελλήνων Πολεοδόμων & Χωροτακτών - ΣΕΠΟΧ – MUT - Magyar Urbanisztikai Társaság – Irish Planning Institute – Skipulagsfræðingafélag Íslands – ASSURB - Urbanisti italiani – Istituto Nazionale di Urbanistica – Forum for Kommunal Planlegging (FKP) – Towarzystwo Urbanistów Polskich – Associação Portuguesa de Urbanistas – Удружење урбаниста Србије/ Udruženje urbanista Srbije – Društvo urbanistov in prostorskih planerjev Slovenije – Združenie pre urbanizmus a územné plánovanie na Slovensku – Асоціація просторових планувальників України - Рада урбаністів НСАУ – Royal Town Planning Institute


⚙️️ University of Belgrade - Faculty of Architecture – Politechnika Gdańska – DIST - Dip. Interateneo di Scienze, Progetto e Politiche del Territorio – Dipartimento di Architettura, Design e Urbanistica - Università di Sassari – სივრცითი და ქალაქთმშენებლობითი განვითარების სააგენტო • Suda – AIVP – CivilScape – Cobaty International ASBL – IFLA Europe – Zvidsy – OPQU

🚀 Workshop Recap: Co-Designing the Future of Civic Participation in BucharestWe’re excited to share that the workshop “C...
28/05/2025

🚀 Workshop Recap: Co-Designing the Future of Civic Participation in Bucharest
We’re excited to share that the workshop “Co-design Space: Platform Creation and Process Governance”, part of the O.I.L Bucharest process, successfully took place in Bucharest!

➡️ Organised and facilitated by URBASOFIA in collaboration with Asociatia de Dezvoltare Intercomunitara Zona Metropolitana Bucuresti (ADIZMB), the session brought together a diverse group of local stakeholders for an enriching discussion focused on the final output of the Bucharest pilot: guidelines for developing an alternative digital platform to boost civic participation and improve the transparency and accessibility of public services.

💡 Building on previous insights—especially those from the questionnaire “Rethinking Social Platforms: Co-creating an Ethical Alternative to Facebook in Bucharest” (https://shorturl.at/o6yBx) —the workshop explored multiple aspects of the draft guidelines. Thanks to the participants’ expertise and strong engagement, the workshop successfully met its objectives.

🔄 We’ll continue to engage local actors in upcoming O.I.L Bucharst activities to ensure the process remains inclusive, participatory, and grounded in the needs of the community.

22/05/2025

The consortium convened its first General Assembly in Berlin, bringing together representatives from partner organisations across research, technology, manufacturing, design, sustainability assessment and stakeholder management. The three-day meeting provided a forum for sharing progress on work packages, aligning on upcoming milestones, and reinforcing the project’s ambition to develop circular, climate-smart solutions for the use of wood in construction.

Read more: https://timberhaus.eu/news-events/building-the-future-of-timber-timberhaus-partners-unite-in-berlin-to-advance-circular-wood-construction/

Last week Urbasofia attend the M6 General Assembly of the 🪵 Timberhaus project in Berlin — hosted by Senatsverwaltung St...
19/05/2025

Last week Urbasofia attend the M6 General Assembly of the 🪵 Timberhaus project in Berlin — hosted by Senatsverwaltung Stadtentwicklung, Bauen & Wohnen and Tegel Projekt GmbH.

🔍 Key highlights from the study visits:

🏗️ Wooden school visit at Kalker Straße 7 (Treptow-Köpenick district) Under the Berliner Schulbauoffensive (BSO) investment plan, around 30 wooden schools were commissioned by the Department for Urban Development & Housing to be built using the HOCOMP(Holzmodulares Compartment-System) modular construction concept.
Takeaways:
- Efficiency and speed of construction to meet urgent demand
- “Working with boxes” – a standardized yet flexible system adaptable to different conditions & urban contexts
- Built to meet high sustainability and energy standards: PV systems, green roofs, and hybrid ventilation with heat recovery

🏗️ Flagship urban planning example of post-airport landscape transformation – Berlin TXL (500ha) & Schumacher Quartier (48ha)
Takeaways:
- A sustainable, mixed-use, timber-based development with over 5,000 affordable apartments for 10,000 residents that will integrate 15-minute city, sponge city, car-free principles
- Committed to a regional timber production chain — enough regional pine available for 15 years use in Berlin
- Concept-Based Tendering with evaluation matrix: plots allocated based on a set of predefined criteria - including sustainability (e.g timber and renewable materials use) each assigned specific weighting;
- Lease-based model: - 50% of plots allocated to municipal housing companies (50% subsidized) - 50% to public welfare-oriented projects with 30% funding share: cooperatives, student or assisted housing
- Bauhütte 4.0 within the Urban Tech Republic will serve as an innovation and production unit to enable Schumacher Quartier’s rollout and advance urban-scale timber construction
- CRCLR HUT a disassemblable prototype built from micro modular timber bricks — no adhesives, no wet materials — embracing cradle-to-cradle principles

Urbasofia was glad to take part in this exchange and learn from Berlin’s approach. Many thanks to the organizing teams ( Senatsverwaltung Stadtentwicklung, Bauen & Wohnen and Tegel Projekt GmbH) for the warm welcome and inspiring guidance throughout these days!
As always, we're happy to support our partner cities throughout the project journey!

More information on Timberhaus: https://timberhaus.eu/

The first CARE-GET Newsletter is out!  🗞️  Discover how we’re transforming Haskovo into a MedTech & innovation hub throu...
14/05/2025

The first CARE-GET Newsletter is out! 🗞️

Discover how we’re transforming Haskovo into a MedTech & innovation hub through health, care, education, and technology. 🧠🌿🏥

📬 Read all about our kick-off event, our most recent analysis on skills gap analysis, and other insights from our project.

Available now on our website 👉 https://urbasofia.eu/en/care-get-first-newsltetter/

Follow the flagship initiative of our NGO, URBAN2020 - a project funded under Driving Urban Transition Call 2023. PROWD ...
13/05/2025

Follow the flagship initiative of our NGO, URBAN2020 - a project funded under Driving Urban Transition Call 2023.

PROWD reimagines the 15mC concept in periurban and low-density urban areas through research, co-design and policy making.

We're excited to announce PROWD is now online! 👋 Our project re-imagines the 15-Minute City concept for low-density urban and peri-urban areas! We're exploring innovative, community-driven solutions to bring daily needs closer to home, reducing car dependency.

Intrigued by sustainable mobility and thriving local life beyond the city core? Follow our journey to discover how we're making proximity a reality in new ways across Europe!



Adelin Lazăr Gabriel Simon

Are you a City representative or work in public administration? We kindly ask you to help us with our KINETIC project by...
17/04/2025

Are you a City representative or work in public administration? We kindly ask you to help us with our KINETIC project by filling in this survey.

Your opinion matters!

On behalf of the KINETIC Consortium, we kindly ask for a few minutes of your time to complete a short questionnaire (3–5 minutes) that will greatly support our ongoing research.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdKw52b3AtLUJ4gDLfJQ41uS6dA7m64MAO_bJ7cuVi4tHRKng/viewform

The KINETIC project, funded under JPI Urban Europe’s Positive Energy Districts (PED) II call, aims to accelerate the adoption of PED principles in existing urban environments. Our goal is to explore how cities can transform to ensure energy resilience, affordability, and progress toward climate neutrality.
We are particularly interested in understanding how cities perceive the benefits of the PED approach, whether through strategic planning or hands-on implementation.
You can access the questionnaire here: [Insert Google Form link]
Your input is incredibly valuable and will contribute to shaping more effective urban transformation strategies across Europe and beyond.
Thank you in advance for your support!

Warm regards,
URBASOFIA
On behalf of the KINETIC Consortium

02/04/2025
We are happy to share that project FAVORIT+, under European Urban Initiative 3rd call have been selected - topic Energy ...
31/03/2025

We are happy to share that project FAVORIT+, under European Urban Initiative 3rd call have been selected - topic Energy Transition.

We are proud to continue our collaboration with Sector 6 - București, and the fact that Sector 6 joins the national network of EUI/UIA cities, alongside Baia Mare (SPIRE BAIA MARE), and Bistrița (B-Connect) - in which URBASOFIA is also involved.

What is FAVORIT+ tackling?

The project rethinks the renovation of aging multifamily buildings, focusing on energy efficiency, environmental sustainability, and social equity through an integrated approach to urban transformation.
Key Challenges
1️⃣ Degraded Buildings and Infrastructure – The shift from polystyrene-based renovation to bio-based materials is critical for improved thermal performance and carbon sequestration.
2️⃣ Limited Adoption of Renewable Energy (RES) – District 6 has seen minimal RES integration in multifamily buildings. A holistic, spatially integrated approach is needed to ensure effective, community-driven energy solutions.
3️⃣ Governance and Collaboration Barriers – Owners’ Associations often lack decision-making power in renovation and energy projects, limiting their participation in energy communities and co-owned initiatives.

FAVORIT+ follows a place-based methodology, interlinking three key pillars:
- NATURE: Developing bio-based renovation value chains, expanding green infrastructure, and integrating nature-based solutions.
- TECHNOLOGY: Implementing multi-level renewable energy systems and AI-driven digital twinning to optimize energy performance.
- PEOPLE: Creating new platforms for dialogue and collaboration at the neighborhood and city levels to support sustainable urban innovation.

Huge thanks to our partners:
Primaria Sectorului 6 - the leader
Universitatea POLITEHNICA din București, Universitatea Tehnică de Construcții București, Asociatia de Dezvoltare Intercomunitara Zona Metropolitana Bucuresti (ADIZMB), EFdeN, ÎntreVecini, Institutul Național de Cercetare-Dezvoltare pentru Mașini și Instalații Destinate Agriculturii și Industriei Alimentare, UrbanizeHub, Centrul de Inovare și Proiectare Urbană Sector 6.

Address

Strada I. C. Visarion Nr. 9
Bucharest
010421

Opening Hours

Monday 09:00 - 17:00
Tuesday 09:00 - 17:00
Wednesday 09:00 - 17:00
Thursday 09:00 - 17:00
Friday 09:00 - 17:00

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