Los huertos urbanos ya florecen en nuestras ciudades. Por 25 euros mensuales cualquiera puede alquilar en Madrid un buen trozo de tierra donde cultivar sus propios tomates. Son explotados en régimen comunitario, por colectivos alternativos que trabajan para aportar un poco de salud al invivible sistema que nos está dejando la crisis.

Conocer el significado de la palabra `solidaridad´ es sencillo. Según la Real Academia Española consiste en la `adhesión circunstancial a la causa o a la empresa de otros´. Manejamos el concepto pero, ¿sabemos cómo ponerlo en práctica en el día a día? Ignasi Carreras insiste en que es muy fácil.

Conseguir que los ciudadanos europeos puedan decidir dónde va su dinero. Parece una utopía pero legalmente es posible. Bastaría con que uno de cada 500 habitantes de la UE firmara una propuesta legislativa. Este es el fin de la Iniciativa Ciudadana Europea (ICE), una herramienta que se asemeja a la democracia directa y que ya funciona.

Do you remember when you had to rely on paper maps on your car rides? Or when you sent a box and couldn’t access tracking information on the location and state of your precious belongings?

ITS is the acronym for Intelligent Transport Systems, which refers to the application of Information and Communication technologies in different transport modes and transport infrastructures. It is a pretty broad concept that encompasses, for example, real-time traffic information, Advance Driver Assistance systems, automated cars or contactless ticketing.

Last week, on 26th of February 2015, the PETI and AFCO committees at the European Parliament hosted a public hearing on the European Citizens Initiative (ECI). The event brought together representatives from the European institutions, the European Ombudsman, campaigners and experts to discuss the lessons learned.

Desertification and land degradation affect millions of people in the Sahel and the Sahara, home to the world’s poorest populations. In a place where around two-thirds of the land cover consists of drylands and deserts, desertification makes its way – boosted by human pressure, deforestation and climate change.

Juan Fernando López Aguilar is the head of the Spanish delegation of the PES and the current president of the European Parliament’s LIBE Committee. In this interview, the Canarian lawyer and politician links the promise of a better Europe with a turn to the left, asking pro-Europeans to believe and to vote.

Today we will have a ride through the far North of Europe, led by Mr. Ole Damsgaard, Head of the Northern Periphery Programme (NPP) Secretariat. The area covered by this programme is characterised by its harsh climate, sparse population and remoteness. Moreover, as climate change gradually modifies its morphology, this programme gives ever more attention to the Arctic.

With the arrival of 2014, Greece has taken on the Council for the fifth time. It will be followed by Italy, which will take the lead from July onwards. Thus, Mediterranean winds will blow on the Union during the course of this year. In spite of their limited room for manoeuvre, the two presidencies held by 'peripheral' countries strongly affected by the crisis, will surely have a symbolic worth and influence on the upcoming EU agenda.

Keys to understand the still very unlikely Insects’ single market. The demand for food is growing, in parallel to the increase in the global population and the expansion of the middle class in emerging economic and demographic potencies. As a result of that, meat consumption has increased 20 fold over the past 40 years.

A duras penas los rayos de un sol de invierno se cuelan por una densa capa de nubes grises, aportando una iluminación tenue y casi lúgubre a la capital de Europa. En Schumann, donde una vez hubo pequeñas y coquetas casitas custodiando las historias de varias generaciones de familias belgas, se yerguen ahora los monstruosos edificios de la Unión Europea, rodeados por un ingente número de consultorías, ONGs y think tanks.

Spanish politics could be compared with a pendulum, moving left and right, left and right, depending on the color of the political party governing. Long ago, a professor explained me that the doing-and-undoing dynamic, the lack of political consensus and the short-term goals guided by purely electoral interests or pressure from specific groups, inevitably leads to a waste of time and resources.

From promising opportunities of metropolitan cooperation to attracting investment as a means of counteracting gender imbalances in rural areas, ESPON maps untapped development resources in European regions and cities. It aims to feed territorial evidence into the policy arena, supporting the formulation of well-tuned policy measures.

The President of the European Commission, Mr. Barroso, has delivered today the annual speech on the State of the Union. This could be the last time Mr. Barroso is in charge of reporting the main successes and challenges of the Union, in sight of the elections to the Presidency of the European Commission which will take place in 2014.

The Sea… what comes to your mind when you think about it? A year ago, I would think of a great blue extension of Atlantic ocean, big waves beating volcanic rock, splattering spume all around and bringing me a feeling of pure freedom. Romantic as I am, I still try to keep this souvenir attached to the Sea concept, but it has become more difficult since I got in touch with EU Affairs.