Town centres are dying. The economic crisis has highlighted the malaise. There are empty shops, as people head to the edge of town supermarket. Internet shopping replaces the trip to the store downtown. Prominent buildings once used for public functions such as town halls, post offices or churches stand empty too, as services have been rationalised or public attitudes have changed.

Last week a delegation from Notodden in Norway visited Suwalki in Poland. Both cities are bound together in a close twin city partnership for five years now. The guests met with the city authorities to sum up five years cooperation and to plan joint activities for the future.

Are you looking for a unique cross-cultural, interdisciplinary exchange experience? Are you a student or young professional between the age of 18 and 30? Then you should apply to one of 13 European-Mediterranean campuses.

Water. Can’t live without it. From different places across the world comes news of growing crises in access to this most basic resource.

In 2006, when Suwałki started the Innovation Circle project also at the level of local citizens group, the Academy of Cultural Activity (ACA) was born. It was founded by two friends working together in the regional cultural center – Piotr Kuczek and Wojtek Pająk. They gathered other young people around the idea of the first touristic & educational path in Suwałki public space.

Notodden in Norway and Suwalki in Poland, both active partners of the Innovation Circle Network applied successfully for funds to push their cultural highlights: The Notodden Blues Festival and Suwalki’s Blues Festival.

The news that the Qatari emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani has bought six islands in the Ionian Sea for 8.5m Euro is a further indication of changing relations between Europe and its neighbourhood. The EU - and those of us who live in it - still see Europe as the centre of the world. After all that’s what our maps show us and how our daily news bulletins are packaged. This world view is built on a long history during which time - for good and for ill - this small continent really did lead the world.

Planning Aid for Scotland and Innovation Circle Network will bring young people together for a bilateral exchange from the 12th to 17th of August 2013. An international youth camp on European Cities of Tomorrow will be held in Benmore Outdoor Centre, Dunoon, Scotland.

International cooperation is a significant part of Vidzeme Planning Region (VPR) activities. The people here care about their neighbours. They share their knowledge and gain a lot from different partners across Europe.

“The planning system has a significant role in supporting sustainable economic growth in rural areas.” This statement is from the Scottish Government’s Planning Policy. However, planning decisions in rural Scotland can often be very controversial, as Cliff Hague explains in his new blog post.