In the German city of Bremen, the local government has worked with an Interreg project encouraging locals to ditch their own cars for simply hiring one when they need it. Counting over 20,000 users so far, project coordinator Rebecca Karbaumer tells us how the scheme has managed to remove over 6,000 privately owned cars from the city’s streets, lowering its carbon footprint while improving locals’ quality of life.

Meanwhile, in the Austrian town of Graz, local Mayor Jakob Frey has been encouraging his citizens to go car free for years. He explains how, thanks to a recent Interreg project, his efforts have now gone further, building ‘multimodal mobility hubs’ for residents where they can bike, bus or car-share wherever they need to go.

Also, we hear from Philipp Rode, Executive Director of LSE Cities, about what city mayors, town planners and urban citizens need to do to bring our cities into the 21st century as hubs of high quality, sustainable living.

Across the sparse landscapes of the far north of Europe, scientists have collaborated with master beer brewer Mattias Bergström to show how much can be done with waste wheat leftover from the beer making process. Mattias tells us how important the support of Interreg is in getting this ‘circular’ economy up and running in Europe, and of the commercial opportunities it could eventually present across the continent.

Meanwhile in Austria, an industrious network of Reuse advocates have come together to create ‘Smart Parks’ offering upcycling masterclasses, repair cafes and reuse collection points. Johannes Münsch, upcycling expert and project manager, explains the role reuse can play in helping the continent achieve Zero Waste.

Also, we hear from Kate Raworth, author of the bestselling book Doughnut Economics, on why economies need to be reinvented for the 21st century and how governments can go about it.

Following a flight from Zagreb to Dubrovnik, Bruno Tot, from the Croatian Blind Union, is ready to inspect the work of a project helping blind and visually impaired people to travel independently. Visually impaired himself, Bruno tells us of the challenges involved in travelling Europe today and how the programme is improving accessibility for people like him.

Meanwhile in Lebanon, amidst one of the worst crises in the country’s history, Interreg is funding work developing a drastically new model of care and inclusion for the nation’s elderly. Psychiatrist and project partner Dr Georges Karam explains how it’s all focused on a subject still very much taboo in Lebanese society – mental health.