Dr Rainer Schacke and Bastian Hagenlocher have taken over the chairmanship of the EEA Cities Network ahead of the next Hope for Europe Conference in October 2022. They succeed Robert Calvert, who served as the network’s moderator until 2021. Rainer lives with his family in Berlin and is involved in a number of urban ministry projects and networks. He is an urban pastor, teaches urban missiology at the Rheinland Theological Seminary/GBFE and directs the Berlin Institute for Urban Transformation. He is also an Affiliate Professor in the Kairos University Global Network. Bastian lives in Stuttgart with his wife and three children. He is the founding pastor of Doxa Deo Stuttgart Church and leads the City Changers movement in Europe. He is also part of the leadership team of Together for Stuttgart and is involved in advancing city unity movements in Germany.

Bastian and Rainer cordially invite to the new format European Urban Conversation. This virtual urban round table is specifically designed for leaders of organisations, urban networks and movements to facilitate a dialogue at eye level. The purpose of the conversation is threefold: to listen to each other, learn from each other and empower each other. And as the Lord leads us: To discover possible synergies for action. The European City Conversation takes place four times a year for 90 minutes. It could lead to a gathering as part of the Hope for Europe conference but is independent of it.

To find out more about the network, please visit the network’s subpage on the EEA Website.