Background
NetZeroCities, through Special Grant Agreement 2 (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 country to strengthen city-to-city collaboration spaces at national level and, thus, help to reinforce national platforms. To achieve this, NZC has developed a country-specific support framework tailored to the unique characteristics and needs of each context.
The Cities of Gabrovo and Sofia are the Mission Cities from Bulgaria. Both were awarded the EU Mission Label for their Climate City Contracts in May 2025. The two cities focus on accelerating actions aimed at achieving climate neutrality by 2030 across key sectors: energy systems, mobility and transport, waste and circular economy, built environment, green infrastructure and nature-based solutions. Moreover, as part of the Mission, Gabrovo participates in the NetZeroCities Pilot programme, implementing a project “NetZeroHero” focused on creating a net-zero pilot district through deep energy retrofits, an energy community model, and capacity building, with results designed to be replicated across Bulgaria and Europe. Additionally, both cities take part in the NetZeroCitiesTwinning Learning Programme, through which they exchange knowledge and good practices on climate action with twin cities, while also benefitting from their valuable experiences.
There are many more Bulgarian cities that work hard to implement ambitious climate action and improve wellbeing of their citizens, with several Bulgarian cities engaged in the Covenant of Mayors initiative and a number of cities which are signatories of the Climate Adaptation Mission Charter. In addition, several Bulgarian cities have expressed interest in NetZeroCities becoming ‘Mission Minded Cities’.
From a multi-level governance and multi-stakeholder cooperation perspective, there has been growing interest and participation across all governance levels in energy and climate dialogues in Bulgaria, which has also seen the involvement of Bulgarian cities and Bulgarian cities’ networks. This has been apparent through the NECPlatform project, where the Center for Energy Efficiency EnEffect (EnEffect), the national Bulgarian coordinator within the project, has set up a multi-actor and stakeholder platform to enable dialogues on the Bulgarian National Energy and Climate Plans. Currently, EnEffect is also involved in the CapaCITIES 2.0 initiative, supporting Bulgarian cities in the dialogue with national and regional authorities aimed at strengthening efforts toward climate neutrality.
To strengthen national engagement and city-to-city collaboration, NetZeroCities has started a collaboration with NationalTrust EcoFund (NTEF) for the period October 2025 to October 2026, to provide expert support to the community of practice of cities in Bulgaria. This programme strengthens collaboration across municipal and national stakeholders, and addresses collective needs flagged by the cities. The local partner has delivered tailored expert assistance to cities, helping them strengthen local climate governance, policy design, and implementation capacity. Key activities included capacity building and policy training for local authorities, with a strong focus on building renovation, energy efficiency, and the strategic role of cities in achieving climate neutrality targets. These activities were aligned with the EU Mission for 100 Climate Neutral and Smart Cities and emphasized peer learning, multilevel cooperation, and the practical use of EU and national financing instruments.
It is therefore essential to continue strengthening and structuring collaboration on climate neutrality in Bulgaria, especially amongst the Bulgarian Mission cities and other interested cities. This will enable to strengthen the established knowledge exchange and the systematic transfer of good practices between cities operating in the same national context. It will also foster the collaboration among Bulgarian cities, helping them work together to identify, articulate and promote shared policy needs and priorities within a multi-level governance framework, while strengthening dialogue and coordination with regional, national and European actors. The active involvement and mobilization of national-level stakeholders is critical to ensuring impact.
To address these gaps and consolidate ongoing efforts, this assignment is designed to establish a structured and continuous engagement process building on the work delivered between October 2025 and July 2026. The services outlined in the scope below, which will be contracted through this RfP, are to be delivered by an individual or organization with deep expertise in the Bulgarian national context and experience in convening stakeholders from local, regional and national governments. This approach ensures targeted support that directly addresses the objectives outlined in this RfP.
Finally, each country has a NetZeroCities partner responsible for coordinating and monitoring the work. In the case of Bulgaria, this role is fulfilled by Energy Cities. A strong coordination between the selected provider, Energy Cities, the City Advisor for Bulgaria and the NetZeroCities team is requested alongside the whole contracting period.
Scope
In the context of the efforts of Bulgarian 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 Bulgaria’s national ecosystem, NetZeroCities / Climate-KIC is requesting a quotation for services from an organization or individual able to operate effectively and impactfully within this national context.
This assignment builds on previous work conducted within NetZeroCities, including i) a comprehensive baseline report outlining the current collaboration landscape, the existing platforms, the barriers and opportunities for the creation of a community of practice of Bulgarian cities; ii) 1 EU Cities Mission Event:
“Cities in Transformation: Strategic Vision, Building Renovation Solutions, Energy Communities and New Skills” which took place in November 2025 in Sofia, within the XIX conference of the Association of Bulgarian Energy Agencies. The supplier is expected to build on, validate, deepen and operationalize the existing findings and the previous work through targeted stakeholder engagement and 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. The overall objective of the described support is to enhance collaboration between cities in the Bulgarian context through the facilitation of training and peer-to-peer learning activities, the provision of specialized assistance, and other initiatives such as focusing on multi-level governance collaboration. It aims to strengthen the community of practice of Bulgarian cities, creating collaborative spaces where Mission cities and other cities committed to decarbonization goals can receive support, work on common challenges, share learnings and make progress toward these objectives.
(1) Expert support, namely collective support, aimed at fostering Mission-focused collaboration between cities, increasing their capacities and improving the cooperation of the community of practice of cities with national authorities and different stakeholders within Bulgaria, such as regional authorities, academia, financial institutions, civic society and private sector representatives.
The support will be directed towards Bulgarian cities: Mission Cities, Mission Minded Cities, cities participating in the NetZeroCities Twinning programme, online discussion groups, and other interested cities wanting to achieve climate neutrality.
(2) Coordination support aimed at establishing coherent collaboration processes for Bulgarian cities, regular meetings, feedback loops, process documentation, meaningful links to national authorities and other relevant stakeholders, and coordination with NetZeroCities to ensure Bulgarian cities can benefit from the different parts of the NetZeroCities programme offer.
(3) Organisation of two in-person “EU Cities Mission events” (one during the last quarter of 2026 and one in 2027) 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.
As part of the organization of the two EU Cities Mission events, the supplier will support and coordinate with the implementation of Better Funding Dialogue (BFD) activities, in coordination with NetZeroCities partners: The BFD aim is to enhance financial flows to cities, mobilize private stakeholders, and drive systemic change in financing structures to achieve climate neutrality.
The supplier’s work is intended to catalyze longer-term cooperation between national authorities, cities, private sector actors, and financial institutions. Therefore, the events should not be designed as standalone activities, but act as key milestones of a broader, structured multi-stakeholder engagement process. The supplier will be expected to design and implement preparatory activities at national and local levels to identify and address key challenges, opportunities, and priorities related to the selected thematic focus. The supplier is encouraged to strategically leverage existing national events and platforms (e.g. sectoral fairs, national conferences) to organize complementary sessions or engagement moments, to maximize participation and cost-efficiency.
Presentations and technical support will take place predominantly in Bulgarian; therefore, presenters must be fluent in Bulgarian. The collaboration and interaction with NetZeroCities partners will be in English.
Finally, the support procured through this RfP should function as a catalyst for sustained engagement of cities and other key stakeholders (both throughout and beyond the scope of this RfP). It is expected to build a strong basis for a constructive and sustainable multi-level dialogue involving national and regional stakeholders, policy makers, research centres (etc.) in such a way to encourage continued engagement once the support described in this RfP is completed, and so that the success of these activities generates options for future funding by other parties.
Timeline and additional information
Interested parties are invited to submit their proposals by 1 October 2026 (23:59 CEST Time) to [CESF@netzerocities.eu]. Proposals should include and address all specific requirements related to the request which can be found below.
