From pilot testing to whole-city transformation for climate neutrality
Enabling City Transformation
The Enabling City Transformation Call invited Mission Cities to propose innovative actions to overcome systemic challenges in implementing climate action. This eighteen-month programme focuses on fostering large-scale, city-wide transformation, building upon and progressing beyond the Pilot Cities programme.
With a budget of 22.6 million Euros under Horizon Europe, the programme aims to create practical, replicable solutions that support sustainable urban development, and drive climate neutrality across European cities.
We are excited to announce the selected 48 Mission Cities, who will now embark on this transformative journey, addressing key implementation barriers and exploring enabling innovations. Together, these cities will contribute to the goals of the EU Cities Mission. Read our press release below and check out the list of selected cities.
INFORMATION WEBINARS
- 12 June 2024, 14.00-15.30 CEST – Ambition, Approach & System and technical information, watch the recording >> / download the presentation slides >>
- 19 June 2024, 11.30 – 13.00 CEST – Eligibility and Assessment Criteria, watch the recording >> / download the presentation slides >>
- 17 September 2024, 10:30-12:00 CEST – Refresher on Ambition, Eligibility and Assessment Criteria. Watch the recording >> / download the presentation slides >>
- 24 September 2024, 10:30-12:00 CEST – Impact Framework and Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning. Watch the recording >> / download the presentation slides >>

CALL DOCUMENTS
TIMELINE
Enabling City Transformation Programme
The Enabling City Transformation Programme is an eighteen-month initiative focused on fostering innovation for comprehensive city transformation. Open to Mission Cities only, the programme aims to explore and implement enabling innovations that support large-scale, practical, and replicable learning. It is intended that the learnings made in this programme can support many other cities across Europe. By building the necessary conditions for city-wide transformation, the programme seeks to create a strategic portfolio of interventions that supports the implementation of the EU Cities Mission.
Supported by 22.6 million Euros in Horizon Europe funding, the 48 selected Mission Cities will work on innovative actions to address systemic implementation challenges. This builds upon and progresses beyond the testing and experimentation approach developed in the Pilot Cities Programme, advancing towards large-scale implementation to achieve EU Cities Mission goals, paving the way for the sustainable, long-term transformation required for city climate neutrality.
5 June 2024 - 14 October 2024
Open Call – Enabling City Transformation
6 December 2024
Decision communication
11 December 2024
December 2024 - March 2025
Contract development
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Eligibility
Yes – as long as that entity is not formally a/the Mission City administration, they can, as separate from the city, participate in another proposal. It is only the city administration proper that cannot be in more than one proposal.
Independence from the city, from a legal perspective, refers to the entity having a separate legal personality from the city administration i.e. an entirely separate organisation, like a university, NGO/civil society organisation, private sector actor. Where an entity that is 100% owned by the city but operates as a separate legal entity – meaning it has its own legal personality distinct from the city administration – it is still classified as independent. Independence in this case does not refer to geographical location or source of funding but rather the legal distinction between the city administration and the entity.
There isn’t a maximum or recommended consortium organisations number other than 2 cities in the 1M€ envelope and 3 in the 1.5M€ envelope. In this portfolio there is space for much more collaboration among cities than in Pilot Cities Programme.
Yes, non-governmental organisations are eligible to be a partner in a consortium.
Financial
It is important to remember that in case of equipment, only the depreciation of the equipment throughout the call is eligible. So if you plan to purchase a concrete piece of equipment for 10k EUR, only its depreciation for the 2 years of the programme (if you use it for 2 years) will be eligible. This very much depends on the accounting rules of your country. Additionally, usually equipment that serves the management of the project (for example computers for the employees) either should be already in place, or purchased from indirect costs. On the other hand, if a piece of equipment serves an implementation of the task (for example a projector to a physical space created within the project), it can be covered from the direct costs (depreciation).
Programme
It depends on the implementation challenge you are looking to overcome and the opportunity that you foresee in testing/intervening to learn: what makes most sense in terms of limited or wider scope intervention to serve the needs of both the challenge and opportunity?
We recommend to register on the Mission portal as a way to connect with cities or see if cities call out for specific expertise (https://netzerocities.app/social).
There is no clear yes/no answer, as it highly depends on a concrete example. You potentially can, but it has to be in scope of the call and ensure the learning factor required by the guidelines and the commission.
Review Mechanism and Assessment Criteria
Networking, reaching out to other cities, leveraging contacts discovered during the sensemaking sessions, and participating in the Enabling City Transformation Summer Sandbox Sessions are a few of many possible options.
Reporting
Overall, the budget is flexible between cost categories, with the exception of shifts involving subcontracting, as these do not generate the same direct costs. Any changes involving subcontracting require an amendment. Otherwise, budget adjustments between categories are anticipated and allowed.
Reporting on the Twinning Learning Programme should align with the budget allocated for twinning within your programme.
We do not collect consortium contracts as part of reporting or at any other point in the programme. You are free to use whatever agreement you find most suitable. However, we recommend using the DESCA Model.
Indeed, we confirm that PCP is using the daily rate approach for personnel cost calculation for all PCP cohorts, including cohort 1. This is the only rule that has been taken from Horizon Europe. The reporting period runs from 1 June 2023 to 31 May 2024. During this period, you need to calculate the prorated rates for both 2023 and 2024 based on the actual working days reported in your time record system.
The calculation will involve:
- Determining the rates for 2023 and 2024.
- Applying these rates to the actual working days reported from June 2023 to December 2023 and from January 2024 to the end of May 2024.
You should use working days, but there is a helpful guideline in the financial guidelines to help convert hours to days. What if your time record management system is set up on an hourly basis? To calculate “Day-equivalent,” there are three conversion methods:
- A conversion based on the average number of hours that the person must work per working day according to their contract.
Example: If the contract states that the person must work 37.5 hours per week distributed over 5 working days, a day equivalent for the person is 7.5 hours (37.5 ÷ 5). - A conversion based on the usual standard annual productive hours of the beneficiary, if it is at least 90% of the workable time.
Example:
Standard annual productive hours of the beneficiary = 1,600
Standard annual workable hours of the beneficiary = 1,720
1,720 × 90% = 1,548 < 1,600
1,600 ÷ 215 = 7.44 hours = 1 day-equivalent - A conversion based on a fixed number of hours (e.g. for Partners with no reference in their contracts of standard weekly nor annual hours).
Example: 1 day-equivalent = 8 hours trackable via hours-based timesheet.
All completed categories in the impact framework are mandatory. Last year, pilots were required to select at least one or two greenhouse gas (GHG) indicators, which is a key reporting requirement. The co-benefits and various sub-domains mentioned in the approval are optional, offering numerous choices.
There is a section for customised indicators that you can tailor to meet your specific needs.
Yes, you can change your indicators at this stage. Your learnings from the programme can and should be reflected in your updated indicators.
Yes, GHG indicators are required. At least one is necessary.
Complaints and Appeal Policy
If you have questions, you can reach out to us via email!