The seminars and conferences are intended to focus research on public policy issues, to establish research priorities and to aid in the construction of an active policy-research network. Research results are communicated to decision-makers, to stakeholders and to the interested public in a variety of ways, including the Internet, interactive discussions, videos, reports and seminars. The Metropolis partners recognize that comprehensive policy regimes are not transferable across different political and sociocultural settings. They strongly believe that elements of such regimes and best practice techniques can be exchanged to mutual benefit. The international partnership currently includes public and private institutions from Canada, the United States, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, New-Zealand, Switzerland, Israel and Argentina.
Discussions are underway with Portugal, Spain and Greece.
Metropolis features high profile, annual conferences hosted by partner countries. The inaugural conference to identify international strategic directions was held in Milan, Italy, November 13 to 15, 1996. The second conference, focussing on city research and best practices, took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, September 25 to 28, 1997. The third conference, emphasizing integration, will be hosted by Israel November 30 to December 3, 1998. The fourth conference will be co-hosted by Canada and the United States in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in November 1999.