‘Trying to talk to the emotions’: Engaging citizens on local climate action needs both head and heart

2025-12-04T08:30:19+01:00December 4th, 2025|

Written by Alan MacKenzie Cities can’t reach climate neutrality without help – not only do they need the consent of locals for ambitious plans, but they need their ideas too. Grenoble-Alpes Métropole in France is treating the challenge seriously and recently told other cities how they are making collaboration meaningful with their citizens.  “We know that it's not only talking to the brain that provokes change, so we also try to change our way of acting and trying to talk to the emotions also,” says Ylva Brasjo from Grenoble-Alpes Métropole’s climate team.  [...]

40 ambitious cities speeding to climate neutrality on Europe-wide peer-learning programme

2025-12-01T14:13:39+01:00December 1st, 2025|

PRESS RELEASE Over the next 12 months, 40 cities from 24 countries will work together on local climate action, joining a unique programme offered under the EU Cities Mission. Twenty-two new cities will bring the total number engaged through peer-learning programmes in the mission to more than 200. The Twinning Learning Programme is facilitated by NetZeroCities, which manages the EU Cities Mission platform, and will welcome the following cities as ‘Twin cities’ in the fourth cohort of the programme from 1 December 2025: Twin cities Paired with Mission cities Baerum (Norway) Reykjavik (Iceland) Cambridge (United Kingdom) 2nd district of Bucharest (Romania) [...]

Pre-feasibility study for the energy community project of the city of Liepaja

2025-11-28T10:11:38+01:00November 28th, 2025|

Deadline: 13 January 2026 Background In scope of the implementation of its Climate City Contract, Liepaja is taking a significant step towards energy independence, economic sustainability, and climate neutrality by 2030 with the establishment of its first energy community. Liepaja is in the early stages of developing a pioneering Energy Community aimed at enhancing energy independence, integrating renewable energy (solar), and deploying battery storage to optimize grid reliability and support vulnerable users. The project is further aiming at enhancing energy security, and reducing long-term energy costs for the municipality and its stakeholders. The City is in the early development phase [...]

Helsingborg’s Bold Experiment to Build a Climate-Neutral Future

2025-11-21T10:56:08+01:00November 26th, 2025|

Author: Barbara Jarkiewicz Stories from Pilot Cities: Helsingborg is one of the 112 cities participating in the EU Mission to deliver 100 climate-neutral and smart cities, and the Pilot Cities Programme – a component of the Mission that focuses on exploring and testing pathways to rapid decarbonisation over a two-year period. Helsingborg is taking on one of the toughest climate challenges in Europe by cutting emissions from the construction sector. The Swedish coastal city is transforming its Oceanhamnen district into a living laboratory where new ways of designing, building and managing materials are tested in real [...]

Zagreb’s Model for Sustainable Urban Transformation

2025-11-19T09:44:04+01:00November 19th, 2025|

Author: Barbara Jarkiewicz Stories from Pilot Cities: Zagreb is one of the 112 cities participating in the EU Mission to deliver 100 climate-neutral and smart cities, and the Pilot Cities Programme – a component of the Mission that focuses on exploring and testing pathways to rapid decarbonisation over a two-year period. In the heart of Croatia, Zagreb is showing how the path to climate neutrality can begin in the most unexpected places. By embedding climate goals into every layer of governance, transforming their financial approach and transforming neglected courtyards into vibrant green hubs, the Croatian capital [...]

City Finance Specialised Services Tender (Panel Arrangement)

2025-11-14T18:31:53+01:00November 14th, 2025|

Deadline: 5 December 2025 Background As part of the comprehensive support envisioned by NetZeroCities as the Cities Mission platform, direct capacity support and capability building delivered by City Finance Specialised Services (CFSS) roles has been included in direct response to stated priority needs by Mission Cities. The CFS role is being provided in a combination of ways, and this procurement scope addresses one of those ways. Direct sub-contracting of CFS services in target geographies will seek to ensure all cities are receiving this level of capacity and capability support. Mission Cities use the Investment Plan of the Climate City Contract [...]

Oslo’s PURE Project: Building Climate Neutrality from the Ground Up

2025-11-17T10:07:56+01:00November 13th, 2025|

Author: Ayden Maher Stories from Pilot Cities: Oslo is one of the 112 cities participating in the EU Mission to deliver 100 climate-neutral and smart cities, and the Pilot Cities Programme – a component of the Mission that focuses on exploring and testing pathways to rapid decarbonisation over a two-year period. From Climate budgets to Construction yards Oslo has earned its reputation as one of Europe’s climate leaders. The city was the first in the world to introduce a climate budget, a governance system that ties emissions targets directly to financial planning. That model has since [...]

Co-creating a Climate-Positive Future in Stockholm with Local Communities

2025-11-13T13:59:25+01:00November 5th, 2025|

Author: Barbara Jarkiewicz Stories from Pilot Cities: Stockholm is one of the 112 cities participating in the EU Mission to deliver 100 climate-neutral and smart cities, and the Pilot Cities Programme – a component of the Mission that focuses on exploring and testing pathways to rapid decarbonisation over a two-year period. When politicians in Stockholm first set their sights on becoming climate positive by 2030, a bolder target than even Sweden’s national 2045 neutrality goal, the city officials knew they could not do it alone. The numbers told a clear story: the city administration could directly [...]

Expertise for Public/Private Partnership Model for Dijon’s Biomass Heating Network

2025-10-15T15:33:28+02:00October 10th, 2025|

Deadline: 31 October 2025 Background Dijon Métropole has committed to energy transition through its Climate City Contract (CCC) and the Pilot Cities Programme (PCP) within the Horizon Europe “100 climate-neutral and smart cities by 2030” The Action plan and Investment Plan of the CCC are describing global investment amount needed for the Energy transtion on the territory as well as proposing to adress actions throughout the management of an Energy projects’ portfolio. One of the key initiatives of Dijon Métropole Pilot Cities Programme Activity is the creation of a territorial massification operator: the Société d'Économie Mixte (SEM) ENERGIES (a public-private [...]

Expert support for stakeholder engagement for the city of Torino

2025-10-17T18:35:22+02:00October 3rd, 2025|

Deadline: 31 October 2025 Background The City of Turin is advancing the implementation of its Climate City Contract (CCC) and has developed a structured labelling process to formalize and expand alliances with local stakeholders, including public companies, large corporations, SMEs, startups, trade associations, non-profits, academic institutions, and research centers. The aim of the labelling initiative is to recognize organizations that contribute to emissions reductions within the city. While the city has successfully engaged startups and youth-driven initiatives, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) remain underrepresented in local climate governance. These stakeholders have traditionally been more difficult to engage due to a [...]

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