The Technical University of Darmstadt (Germany) and the National and the Kapodistrian University of Athens (Greece), in collaboration with the European Urban Research Association (EURA) and the Standing Group on Local Government and Politics of the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR), successfully organized the PhD Training Summer School on ‘Local government in motion – Local innovation in changing contexts’, an initiative of Professor Dr. Hubert Heinelt (Darmstadt University of Technology), member of the Board of Directors of the International Centre for Black Sea Studies (ICBSS). The ICBSS is the media sponsor of the event.