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Twinning Learning Programme

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Twinning Learning Programme2025-09-12T17:37:51+02:00

The Twinning Learning Programme is a peer-learning initiative bringing together Twin Cities with Pilot and Mission Cities. It is built on mutual exchange and focuses on learning and replication efforts. The programme has a practical focus on implementing systemic transformation methodologies and innovative approaches on the journey to climate neutrality.

The Twinning Learning Programme is a 12 to 20-month peer-learning initiative of the EU Cities Mission, facilitated by the Mission Platform, currently managed by NetZeroCities. It promotes the exchange of knowledge, experience, and good practices between selected Twin Cities and Mission & Pilot Cities.

In September 2023, September 2024, and January 2025, the first three rounds of the programme brought together 78 Twin Cities (37 in the first round, 18 in the second and 23 in the third) to engage in structured learning and collaboration with cities from the Pilot Cities Programme.

Starting in November 2025, the programme enters a new phase. Building on feedback and lessons learned from earlier rounds, a new group of Mission-minded cities (meaning beyond the 112 EU Mission Cities) will be selected to join the programme. This time, they will collaborate with Mission Cities over a 12-month period, with knowledge exchange focused on priority climate actions identified in Mission Cities’ Climate City Contracts.

Deadline for applications: 12 September 2025 at 17:00 CEST.

BE INSPIRED BY TWIN CITIES’ STORIES

WHAT DOES THE TWINNING LEARNING PROGRAMME OFFER?

The Twinning Learning Programme is an exciting opportunity for cities to drive their climate ambitions forward, supported by expert guidance and hands-on learning. This programme not only helps accelerate progress towards climate neutrality but also fosters innovation and long-lasting partnership between cities.

The programme follows a clear three-step structure and gives cities the flexibility to adapt the pace and content of their exchanges to their needs.

Kick-off event and roadmap definition
The journey begins with an inspiring kick-off event with all Mission and Mission-minded cities, followed by an online workshop to define the learning needs and process. By the end of this phase, cities will have designed a Twinning Learning Roadmap, tailored to the needs and expertise of paired cities.

In-person site visits

This phase focuses on deepening collaboration through two co-designed site visits.

  • The visit to the Mission City provides a first-hand look at the practical implementation of a selected climate action.
  • The visit to the Twin City enables exploration of local replication potential, activation of the local ecosystem, and mutual feedback between cities.

Both visits aim to encourage real-world knowledge exchange and adaptation to different local contexts.

Twinning Learning Programme site visit in Cologne.

Twin Cities Soria and Cologne visit the Pilot City of Vitoria-Gasteiz.

Transferring knowledge

In this final phase, cities consolidate what they’ve learned. Through a series of tailored online sessions, the Twin City formalises their experience in a Replication Plan, co-designed with the Mission City, capturing actionable insights and addressing the specific needs and barriers identified throughout the programme.

Expert support

Each pair of cities is supported by a dedicated NetZeroCities consortium partner, known as a Twinning Learning Programme Facilitator.  Facilitators have a unique role in ensuring that the Twinning Learning Programme modules are implemented successfully while adapting them to the cities’ needs and capacities. By identifying learning interests and structural barriers, they help spark cooperation that can continue well beyond the programme, inspiring impact at the local level.

TIMELINE

Twin Cities / Mission Cities 2025

On November 2025, new Twin Cities will join the Twinning Learning Programme, now entering a new phase that pairs cities with leading Mission Cities such as Aachen, Bristol, 2nd district of Bucharest municipality, Dunkerque, Eindhoven-Helmond, Elbasan, Gabrovo, Guimarães, Ioannina, Kozani, Liberec, Padova, Reykjavik, Sarajevo, Sofia, Stockholm, Torino, Umeå and Warsaw.

This one-year learning opportunity will help cities develop practical solutions, deepen their climate knowledge, and accelerate systemic change, all while building meaningful partnerships with peers already making progress toward climate neutrality.

Cities will be paired based on shared priorities such as mobility, energy, stakeholder engagement, or other relevant themes, enabling targeted learning and faster progress on their climate neutrality journeys.

Deadline for applications: 12 September 2025 at 17:00 CEST

June 2025

Opening of the Call for Twins

12 September 2025

Closing of the Call for Twins

October 2025

Results of the Call for Twins

November 2025

Start of the programme

10 September 2024

Opening of the Call for Twins

14 November 2024

Closing of the Call for Twins

January 2025

Results of the Call for Twins, Cohort 3

Twin Cities, Cohort 3

In January 2025, 24 cities across 14 countries were selected to join the Twinning Learning Programme to foster collaboration and drive systemic change towards climate neutrality. This third cohort of Twin Cities, paired with Pilot Cities from Cohort 2 and Cohort 3, is joining a peer-learning network of 184 cities across the EU and beyond. 

Over 17 months starting in January 2025, Twin Cities will gain insights and successful approaches from Pilot Cities to apply in their own local area, accelerating their transition towards climate neutrality and contributing to Europe’s collective climate goals.  

Twin Cities, Cohort 2

Following Twin Cities Cohort 1, the second Cohort of Twin Cities paired selected Twin Cities with Pilot Cities from Cohort 2 to embark on a learning journey. 19 cities were selected to join the Twinning Learning Programme, Cohort 2 in September 2024.

The Call for Twin Cities was open to any city within EU Member States and Horizon Europe Associated Countries who were not part of the Twinning Learning Programme, Pilot Cities Programme, or the Cities Mission and were committed to reaching climate neutrality before or by 2050.

8 April 2024

Opening of the Call for Twins

7 June 2024

Closing of the Call for Twins

September 2024

Results of the Call for Twins, Cohort 2

3 May 2023

Opening of the Call for Twins

30 June 2023

Closing of the Call for Twins

September 2023

Results of the Call for Twins, Cohort 1

Twin Cities, Cohort 1

Pilot Cities and Twin Cities matching is based on finding similar challenges and common interests in the different emissions domains and levers of change, allowing innovative actions through systemic transformation. A range of activities, such as tailored online meetings, workshops and inspiring site visits, are organised to advance learning, experience sharing and co-creation of solutions on the road to climate neutrality.

Twin Cities receive hands-on support from NetZeroCities partners to advance their objectives, and have access to the set of tools and resources provided by the NetZeroCities portal.

In September 2023, the first Cohort of Twin Cities was selected. Forty cities, coming from across Europe, were matched with a Pilot City or cluster of cities already innovating and piloting decarbonisation activities as part of the Cities Mission.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

The Twinning Learning Programme is a 12-month programme for knowledge sharing and transfer of good practices between Twin Cities and Mission Cities. This two-way city-to-city learning programme provides targeted feedback, structured partnerships, and access to practical tools. Through tailored and flexible knowledge exchange, workshops and site visits, cities can refine their strategies, accelerate progress toward key climate milestones, and strengthen their leadership role in driving urban climate action.

The Twin City Call is open to cities based within EU Member States, Horizon Europe Associated Countries, or a country in final stage of Horizon Europe association (list available here), who are not part of the Cities Mission (i.e. Mission-minded Cities) and who are committed to achieve climate neutrality before or by 2050.

The Call opens from 25 June until 12 September (17:00 CEST) 2025.

No. This Call accepts individual Twin City applications only and not groups/partnerships of cities/partners applying together as a consortium. Twin City applicants must be local authorities/municipalities based in EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries.

No. This Call accepts individual Twin City applications only and not groups/partnerships of cities/partners applying together as a consortium. Twin City applicants must be local authorities/municipalities based in EU Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries.

Only one application must be submitted by an eligible local authority/municipality, and it should be submitted by a city representative (external consultants are advised to refrain from submitting applications on behalf of the city they work with). If several applications are received by the same local authority, the Twinning Learning Programme Team will select the first one submitted.

The Twinning Learning Programme is designed for cities, as stated in the Twin City Call Guidelines dated 25 June 2025 (section 3.1 Who Can Apply, page 8): “Local authorities based within an EU Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country, who are not one of the 112 Mission Cities, can apply.”

Therefore, cities are the only beneficiaries for this call and the ones to embed the learnings from the exchanges with the Mission Cities. However, this will not prevent Twin Cities from being supported by third parties on their own.

Twin City applicants can select any of the participating Mission Cities.
During the application process, Twin City applicants can select the top 3 Mission Cities that best align with the applicant city’s climate priority areas and learning needs, and provide a short motivation for each.

Twin City applicants must pass the following eligibility criteria:

  • Local authority must be based within an EU Member State, an approved Horizon Europe Associated Country, or under negotiation Horizon Europe associated Country (list available here).
  • Not part of the EU Cities Mission, i.e. cities who are not listed among the 112 Mission Cities.
  • Climate neutrality commitment before or by 2050 (applicants to provide formalised evidence).
  • Applicant must ensure adequate capacity to engage in the 12-month programme, with a minimum commitment of 8 hours per month.
  • Applicant must assign two (2) city representatives with a level of English B1 or higher..

Examples of formalised evidence that applicant cities can provide to demonstrate their commitment to achieve climate neutrality before or by 2050 includes City Council Resolution, Strategy/ Action Plan or equivalent documents adopted by the City Council outlining the city’s climate commitment, emission reduction targets and target date, and/or other initiative they signed up to e.g. Covenant of Mayors 2050 targets/SECAPs.

As the call is now closed, the guidelines are no longer available.

The Twinning Learning Programme budget covers travel costs of selected Twin Cities to their paired Mission City (for up to two Twin City representatives per selected Twin City to attend one site visit to their respective Mission City), and hosting costs when the Mission City visits the Twin City once. In total, there are 2 site visits as part of the programme. For more information on the indicative amounts and cost categories to be reimbursed, please refer to the Twin City Call Guidelines Section 5.

The reimbursement of travel and hosting costs is the only area where budget is foreseen for Twin Cities. These site visits enable Twin Cities to gain an in-depth understanding of the Mission City’s cimate actions, while enabling the completion of the Twin City Replication Plan.

No, it is not necessary to have implementation funding in place already. It is envisioned that cities would be able to identify potential funding instruments and sources, as part of their Twin City Replication Plan, to implement the solutions or ideas from the paired Mission City.

Applications are now closed.

All applications should be submitted in English. Supporting documents that will be uploaded or linked to the application, such as formal council resolutions, city climate plan, SECAP, etc – could be submitted in one of the official languages spoken in the country.

Twin Cities should ensure adequate human resources and time (a minimum of 8 hours per month) to engage in the 12-months Twinning Learning Programme and assign 2 city representatives per Twin City, with at least a proficiency level of B2 English.

At least one of the two Twin City representatives must be practitioners from the local administration (civil servant) and accompanied by a second representative (either practitioner or any other relevant stakeholder/expert affiliated to the local administration).

To ensure that Twin City participants gain the most from the in-person exchanges, travel costs will be reimbursed up to a certain amount. Further information will be made available to successfully selected Twin City applicants.

Cities of all sizes can apply as long as they comply with the eligibility criteria.

While completing the Twin City application form, applicant cities are requested to rank the top 3 Mission Cities, in order of preference, based on the applicant city’s climate priorities and learning needs. Please note that your selection will serve the NZC consortium partners as a guidance in the matching process, but this will not guarantee that you will be paired with one of the selected options.

Please refer to the Call Guidelines and the dedicated page of the call for more information on the participating Mission Cities.

Yes, international collaboration is encouraged to maximise the learning potential.

Please refer to the Twin Cities Call Guideline which outlines the selection and matching process and considerations.

No. This Call is for Mission-minded Cities i.e. cities who are not part of the EU Cities Mission (those listed among the 112 Mission Cities). Pilot cities that are not Mission cities can apply.

Yes, Mission-minded cities that are part of the previous Twinning cohorts are invited to apply for this new iteration of the programme.

More information will be provided in due time.

If you have any questions about the Twinning Learning Programme, you can reach out to us via email!

ABOUT NZC

This website has been funded through the European Union’s ‘Horizon 2020’ research and innovation programme under grant agreement N°101036519, and under the European Union’s ‘Horizon Europe’ research and innovation programme under grant agreements N°101121530 and N°101139652.

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Coordinator: Thomas Osdoba, Climate-KIC

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