Research increasingly shows that energy and resource efficiency and technological innovation alone cannot solve our climate and environmental crises. Major actors like the IPCC and the EU Horizon Programme are therefore turning their eyes towards how resource demand can be reduced, while ensuring that everyone’s needs are met. A new NetZeroCities report by partner Demos Helsinki takes a deeper look at what sufficiency policy could mean for cities, especially when it comes to housing, mobility and food.   ‘Sufficiency’ has gained attention in recent years as a way of decreasing emissions and reducing environmental footprints while securing sustainable wellbeing for all.   A key takeaway of our report is that sufficiency offers cities a necessary complement to efficiency and technological innovation. Adopting sufficiency principles can guide cities to design fair and effective [...]

Imagine an island powered entirely by its residents, a grocery store fighting food waste while building a community, or a network of affordable homes shielded from market speculation. These aren’t utopian dreams – they're real examples in communities taking control of their own resources and rewriting the rules of local finance. NetZeroCities partners DemSoc take a closer look.  Across Europe, community-owned enterprises are showing that collective action can fund sustainable, inclusive, and resilient local economies in ways traditional markets often cannot.  Unlike conventional businesses, these initiatives are owned and run by the very communities they serve, ensuring that value circulates locally. They take many forms – such as housing cooperatives, mobility initiatives, [...]

The Swedish city of Lund has a unique perspective in the EU Cities Mission – how has it shaped its climate activities and learning? In a recent interview, Tommy Bengtsson and Juliet Leonette from the city’s climate team explain.  Of the many valuable opportunities available through the EU Cities Mission Cities, the chance to learn from peers in other cities is unique. Over 180 cities have already participated in peer-learning programmes through the Mission, collaborating not only with near neighbours but across more distant European borders too.   Lund, a mid-sized city on the southern tip of [...]

What happens when you bring together Albanian municipalities, a Mission City, national institutions, academia, and NetZeroCities representatives? A great co-creation process begins! Natalia Lewandowska from ICLEI Europe writes that the stage is now set for establishing an Albanian national platform to accelerate climate neutrality.  Albania’s path toward EU accession has placed sustainability, climate action, and urban development high on the national agenda. As the country aligns its policies with the European Green Deal and the EU’s climate objectives, cities have a central role to play in driving this transformation – but mobility remains one of Albania’s [...]