Leuven's Enabling City Transformation Activity: FACT – Financing Accelerated City Transformation

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Leuven

Dutch

Context and Challenges

Leuven’s climate strategy is shifting from planning to implementation, with FACT supporting this transition by focusing on district-level energy systems and investment-readiness of breakthrough projects. The challenge lies in operationalising large-scale green heat projects in the face of limited residual heat, regulatory hurdles, and shifting energy needs (including cooling). FACT seeks to overcome these barriers through a combined governance, funding, and stakeholder engagement model rooted in previous pilot experience.

Objectives

  • Build a portfolio of investment-ready projects
  • Develop tailored financial and legal fund structures
  • Strengthen stakeholder coalitions and learning networks
  • Mobilize private capital for CCC priorities
  • Support inclusive, long-term civic contracting

Key Terms

Climate Finance | Sustainability Broker | Investment Fund | Business Case | Civic Contracting

Activites and Innovations

  • Project funnelling and stakeholder mobilisation

  • Creation of financial fund structures and legal scenarios

  • Sustainability brokerage to mature key initiatives

  • Development of governance and due diligence systems

Emission Domains

  • Consumption of electricity for buildings/infrastructure

  • Thermal energy use in buildings

  • All vehicles and transport (mobile energy)

  • Multi-sector waste management and disposal

Levers of Change

  • Technology/infrastructure

  • Social Innovation

  • Financing and Funding

Expected Impact and Outcomes

  • Accelerated and scalable climate investments
  • Fund and business case models replicable across Europe
  • Broad public-private participation in transformation
  • Reinforced civic capacity for climate governance