Background
NetZeroCities, through SGA2 Task 1.6, ‘Sub-European Peer-to-Peer Collaboration’, is actively working to provide tailored support in various national contexts. The aim is to provide additional support to cities, foster communities of practice between cities in each nation, i.e. to strengthen city-to-city collaboration spaces at national level and thus help to reinforce national ecosystems. To achieve this, NetZeroCities has developed a country-specific support framework tailored to the unique characteristics and needs of each context.
In Greece, six cities are part of the Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities Mission, namely: Athens, Ioannina, Kalamata, Kozani, Trikala and Thessaloniki. All these cities have submitted their City Climate Contracts, a bold commitment to become climate-neutral by 2030 and are in the process of implementing the action plan. A National Mission Ecosystem of Mission cities, currently known as ClimaNet or the Network of Municipalities for Climate Neutrality, is in the process of being fully established as a formalized entity. Its primary purpose will be to provide support to the Mission cities in Greece as well as Limassol in Cyprus. Prior to the formation of ClimaNet, the six Greek Mission cities had already formed an informal group, which was utilised to access a ‘Green Fund’ provided by the Ministry of Environment & Energy as direct financial support for the development of their Climate City Contracts.
Other Greek signatories to the EU Climate Adaptation Mission include Ampelokipi Menemeni, Chaidari, Chalki Island, Corinth, Crete Region, Fyli, Ilion, Kythira, Larissa, Likovrisi,Mytilene, Nisyros Island, Penteli,Skiathos, Skopelos Thermaikos, Thermi,Thessaly and Vari – Voula – Vouliagmeni Municipality.
Building on these developments, and as part of the broader NetZeroCities program of support to all countries, new services are planned for 2025. In the case of Greece these services, which will be contracted through this tender, are to be delivered by an individual or organisation with deep expertise in the Greek national context. This approach ensures targeted support that directly addresses the objectives outlined in this RfP.
Finally, as part of this specific support, each country has a NetZeroCities partner responsible for coordinating the work. In the case of Greece, this role is fulfilled by R-Cities.
About the request
In the context of the efforts of Greek cities within the EU Mission for 100 Climate Neutral Cities by 2030, and specifically the opportunity identified to provide additional support to the community of cities working toward the mission’s objectives within Greece’s National Mission Ecosystem, NetZeroCities / Climate-KIC is requesting a quotation for services from an organisation or individual able to operate within this national context. The role involves supporting teams from NetZeroCities, as relevant, to take charge of and facilitate the process described below.
This assignment builds on analytical work conducted by NetZeroCities with Greek Mission cities, including a comprehensive review of Climate City Contracts (CCCs), stakeholder interviews, and a national dialogue held in 2025. This work has already identified key systemic barriers affecting the implementation of climate neutrality actions in different areas, as well as indicative national support opportunities to address them. The supplier is therefore not expected to re-identify barriers from scratch, but to build on, validate, deepen and operationalise these existing findings through targeted stakeholder engagement and dialogue. The assignment should be understood as a transition from diagnosis to implementation-oriented dialogue. Relevant background materials and analytical outputs will be shared with the selected supplier at the start of the assignment.
The following is a general description of the services and actions to be provided by the awarded supplier, followed in subsequent sections with detailed information.
1. Design and implementation of a structured national-local engagement process, including the organisation of two in-person annual National Mission Ecosystem events (2026-2027) as key milestones to support cities, promote co-implementation of projects and to enhance collaboration between cities, national and regional authorities, and other stakeholders. The services will also include encouraging the participation of CapaCITIES 2.0 partners or similar initiatives in this event.
2. Expert support, namely collective technical assistance provided throughout the assignment and organisation of the National Mission Ecosystem event, aimed at fostering radical collaboration between cities, increasing their capacities and improving the cooperation of the community of practice of cities with national authorities.
The support will be directed towards cities that are part of the Mission in Greece, Pilot cities, Twin cities, and Greek municipalities wanting to achieve climate neutrality.
Presentations and technical support will take place predominantly in Greece; therefore, presenters must be fluent in Greek. The collaboration and interaction with NetZeroCities partners will be in English.
Timeline and additional information
Interested parties are invited to submit their proposals by 12 May 2026 (23:59 CEST Time) to Luisa Carretti and Dominika Mickiewicz [CESF@netzerocities.eu]. Proposals should include and address all specific requirements related to the request which can be found below.
