Together for a greener future: Cluj-Napoca’s citizen-centric climate strategy

“We are doing it for them, so we need to do it together.” – says Liviu Purtator from Cluj-Napoca City Hall.

Involving citizens is one of the key elements in successfully driving climate transition in cities and in Romania the city of Cluj-Napoca has implemented impactful activities to bring citizens on board to build a net-zero city together.

Cluj-Napoca, often simply called Cluj, is a vibrant city in northwestern Romania and the unofficial capital of Transylvania. While you won’t find any vampires, the city offers a lot to explore like castles, fortresses and nature. But what this city should be particularly known for is their approach to tackling climate change. As a participant in the Pilot Cities Programme (PCP) facilitated by NetZeroCities, Cluj is leveraging collaboration, citizen engagement and innovative strategies to create a sustainable future, highlighted through the experiences shared by Liviu Purtator and Alexandra Poliec from Cluj-Napoca City Hall.

The municipality has been implementing climate neutrality initiatives since 2015. Green Cluj (almost 200 hectares of new or renewed parks and 100,000 trees planted), Walkable City (the 15 minute-city concept), the Zonal Urban Plan for the largest smart and green neighbourhood (Sopor), or the policy to organise international architecture & design competitions funded by European Regional Development Fund are the most important ones. But the city knows who all these efforts are for, and who stands to gain the most from them. A key pillar of Cluj’s strategy is putting citizens at the heart of climate action.

“It’s not just about investments because the money will come. If not now, then in the next few years,” says Liviu Purtator, manager of Cluj-Napoca’s Pilot City activity and Councilor to the Mayor.

“It’s about creating a community that understands and supports these changes because, ultimately, we’re doing it for them, with them.”

The activities introduced as part of the Pilot Cities Programme build on earlier efforts to engage citizens in collaborative decision-making. In 2017, the local authority introduced the Civic Imagination and Innovation Centre to facilitate stakeholder involvement in the decision-making process, which has become a laboratory to test and develop various forms of collaboration and partnerships between local actors.

“We’re aiming to make the world a better, more sustainable place for everyone by cutting down on energy use, encouraging people to use greener forms of transport and getting citizens involved in climate action. That’s why we decided to get involved with NetZeroCities and the PCP Programme. It’s a great way for us to build on what we’ve already done and get more people involved. Plus, it connects us with other cities in Europe that are facing similar challenges”, says Purtator.

Mănăștur: A blueprint for net-zero neighbourhoods

At the heart of Cluj-Napoca’s climate ambitions lies Mănăștur, a dense, historically working-class neighbourhood that once served as a dormitory district during the communist era. With over 5,000 residents in some blocks, Mănăștur is a microcosm of the city’s broader energy challenges. This is where the city’s efforts are focused.

The project aims to transform Mănăștur into a model for sustainable living through reducing energy consumption, promoting green mobility, and fostering climate-conscious behaviour.

“The first step is behavioural change,” explained Alexandra Poliec, who is responsible for the local implementation of European projects, like the EU Cities Mission. “Simple actions, like keeping your thermostat 1°C lower, can reduce both costs and emissions and make a significant impact on energy consumption.”

Six ways Cluj is involving citizens in climate action

Transforming Mănăștur is the first step. The city aims to find the best model and replicate selected activities in other districts in the future. Together with project partners, the municipality has organised numerous activities to inspire and raise awareness in the community:

• Net Zero Caravan: The Net Zero Caravan is a dynamic initiative that exemplifies sustainability, community engagement, and innovative urban solutions. Traveling through the streets of Mănăștur, the Caravan transforms public spaces into hubs of education, creativity, and dialogue. Its activities range from roundtable discussions on climate change and urban resilience to interactive workshops on carbon footprints, energy communities, solar-powered tea-making demonstrations and alternative urban planning. Children are engaged through playful and educational experiences, such as the “Learning Hunt,” while high school students reimagine greener, more community-focused neighbourhoods. Evening events celebrate local culture with performances, traditional food, and vibrant social gatherings. Organised together with the Urban Association, the Caravan fosters an inclusive atmosphere where citizens can share ideas, learn about sustainable practices, and collaborate towards a greener future.

• The project also includes building a Digital Twin—a digital tool to serve as a virtual replica of the neighbourhood that collects real-time data on heating, water, and energy consumption. This technology enables simulations that inform future projects and helps residents visualise the impact of sustainable choices.

“Based on these data we can create the scenarios that can later be implemented in the neighbourhood. It also helps in creating the mobility plans and it helps citizens to know how they can do better with just simple behavioural changes,” Purtator said.

• Participatory budgeting model: It focuses on the green areas in the city and it will be implemented in three schools in the neighbourhood.

“Schools will submit their projects and what we want to achieve is that in the end we have one project per school that gets very little funding but has an impact on the school.” – said Purtator.

According to Poliec, there is a strategy and hope behind this action plan to shape the minds of future generations.

“If we manage to make the children understand and grow with a climate neutrality mindset then it will be easier for the parents to join. Because when children take ownership of these projects, their parents often follow.”

• Workshops for children: Through the city’s Innovation and Imagination Centre, children learn to recycle and create art from waste, embedding eco-conscious habits from an early age.

“We invited children to learn how to recycle, how to make new things out of used materials, not to throw them away, but to reduce waste and recycle at the same time. We are going to have the same approach with the students and adults” – Purtator adds.