While the design of the European Urban Initiative (EUI) is entering into a more decisive phase, the objective of this session is to look at UIA perspectives based on the findings and recommendations from UIA’s midterm assessment study. More precisely, we will look at pointers for the future (UIA 2.0), discuss enabling factors for cities to innovate, awareness raising, capacity building and urban policy learning and communication as key objectives of the EUI, to support all urban areas across Europe.