Author: Barbara Jarkiewicz Lappeenranta is raising the bar for how a European city can shape its heating future. In a moment when many cities are struggling to cut emissions from buildings, this lakeside community in Southeast Finland is piloting a digital approach that uses real-time data, building sensors and electricity market forecasting to reduce energy use and shrink fossil fuel demand during peak hours.  The work is part of the Pilot Cities Programme, and it offers a concrete example of how technology and local collaboration can reshape district heating and support broader climate neutrality goals. What is happening [...]

Author: Barbara Jarkiewicz Across Europe, a quiet shift has been taking place. In 52 cities, local governments, residents, community groups and businesses spent two years testing new ways to cut emissions and new financing models and how to turn abstract climate ambition into a lived, local systemic transformation. Now, their achievements show what reaching climate neutrality can mean in practice.  Their collective effort has produced tangible results. More than 184,000 citizens took part in pilot activities. Cities trained over 1,400 public officers, created 256 new jobs, launched 40 follow-up projects and recorded an estimated reduction [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

Author: Barbara Jarkiewicz Stories from Pilot Cities: The Hague 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 Petra Bijvoet from the City Hall talks about The Hague, she speaks with the urgency of someone who knows that time is running out. "We're the most densely built city in the Netherlands," she says, "and we sit right at sea level. If [...]

Author: Ayden Maher Stories from Pilot Cities: Marseille 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. How businesses and neighbourhoods are building a climate movement together   When Marseille joined the Pilot Cities Programme, it wasn't to add a few more environmental projects to its to-do list. The ambition was bigger: to change how climate action happens in the city, by making residents, businesses, [...]

Author: Barbara Jarkiewicz Stories from Pilot Cities: Ioannina 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. Ioannina, a vibrant university town by a shimmering lake surrounded by mountains, may not fit the Greek postcard stereotype, and that’s exactly what makes it the perfect place to reimagine the future of their climate neutrality. Through their participation in the Pilot Cities Programme, Ioannina is [...]

Author: Elisa Abrantes Stories from Pilot Cities: Trondheim 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. “If we don’t address the issue of consumption, our emission reduction goals will never be enough,” says Chin-Yu Lee, reflecting on her experience of over a decade working in climate policy.  In Trondheim, Norway’s third-largest city, that systemic change is being put to the test [...]