The Twinning Programme will guide Twin Cities in their learning and replication efforts from Pilot Cities, with a practical focus on replicating the systemic transformation methodologies and innovative approaches demonstrated by the Pilot activities, on the road to climate neutrality.

Twinning Programme

The Twinning programme is a 20-month programme for knowledge sharing and transfer of good practices between upcoming selected Twin Cities, and the cities that were selected to join the NetZeroCities’ Pilot Cities Programme in March 2023.

The programme will be based on a practical knowledge sharing approach from Pilot Cities to Twin Cities, while also enabling a peer learning framework, allowing Pilot Cities to also learn from Twin Cities’ experiences. Upon completion of the learning cycle, Twin Cities will embed the learnings from pilot activities across the city via a Replication Plan. 

The Call for Twin Cities is now open!

The Call for Twin Cities will select European cities to join the Twinning Learning Programme. The call  is open from 3 May 12.00 CET until 30 June 23.59 CET to cities based in EU Member states or Horizon 2020 Associated Countries. Any city can apply, selected as one of the 100+12 Mission Cities or not. 

Take a look at the resources below and submit your application to embark on a tailor-made learning and test new approaches to a rapid climate transition.

Download the Call for Twin Cities Guidelines to help you prepare your application.

Check out the catalogue of Pilot Cities to prepare your application.

TIMELINE

3 May 2023

Opening of the Call for Twins

30 June 2023

Closing of the Call for Twins

September 2023

Results of the Call for Twins are expected by mid-September 2023.

Twin Cities and Pilot Cities working together

Pilot Cities and Twin Cities matching will be based on finding similar challenges and common interests in the different emissions domains and levers of change, allowing innovative actions through systemic transformation. A catalogue of Pilot Cities activities is available to help Twin Cities prepare their application to the call.

A range of activities, such as tailored online meetings, workshops and inspiring site visits, are planned to advance learning, experience sharing and co-creation of solutions on the road to climate neutrality.

Twin Cities will receive hands-on support from NetZeroCities partners to advance their objectives, and they will have access to the set of tools and resources provided by the NetZeroCities portal.

ROADMAP

The Twinning Learning Programme is made up of three modules, namely Getting started, Co-creating and Capitalising.

The goal of these modules is to provide a framework for participating cities to enable the best possible knowledge transfer between cities. The framework is built around dedicated outputs and a facilitated process while leaving enough room for flexibility for cities to shape the learning journey.

To ensure that Twin City participants gain the most from the in-person exchanges, travel costs will be reimbursed up to a certain amount. Further information will be made available to successful Twin City applicants upon successful selection.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

The Twinning programme is a 20-month programme for knowledge sharing and transfer of good practices between upcoming selected Twin Cities, and the cities that were selected to join the NetZeroCities’ Pilot Cities Programme in March 2023. 

The programme will be based on a practical knowledge sharing approach from Pilot Cities to Twin Cities, while also enabling a peer learning framework, allowing Pilot Cities to also learn from Twin Cities’ experiences. Upon completion of the learning cycle, Twin Cities will embed the learnings from pilot activities across their city via a Replication Plan. 

This call is open to all cities, selected as one of the 100+12 Mission Cities or not, based in EU Member states or Horizon 2020 Associated Countries (*). The list of eligible countries appears in the dropdown section in the application form of the call. 

* Iceland, Norway, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey, Israel, Moldova, Switzerland, Faroe Islands, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Tunisia, Georgia, Armenia. 

The call is open from 3 May 12.00 CEST until 30 June 23.59 CEST. 

No. This Call is open to cities based in EU Member states or Horizon 2020 Associated Countries. The definition of the persons or categories of persons which are eligible to apply: local authorities or city administrations. 

Unlike the previous open call for Pilot Cities, the twinning call is addressed to individual Twin City applications rather than to a group of cities applying together. The logic behind an individual twinning application lies in the impact of higher potential for replication, also allowing Pilot Cities to focus on individual city learning needs. 

As indicated on Local Authority Details section of the call form, only one application may be submitted by an eligible city.  

The Twinning Programme is designed for cities, as stated in the Call Guidelines (section 1.3 Who Can Apply, page 7):  “This Call is open to cities based in EU Member states or Horizon 2020 Associated Countries. The definition of the persons or categories of persons which are eligible to apply: local authorities or city administrations.” 

Therefore, cities are the only beneficiaries from this call and the ones to embed the learnings from the exchanges with the Pilot Cities, but this will not prevent Twin Cities from being supported by third parties on their own.  

The Catalogue of Pilot Cities can be found here: https://netzerocities.eu/pilot-cities-programme/  

There are three eligibility criteria: 

  1. Municipality/local authority must be within either an EU Member state or an approved H2020 Associated Country, at the point of the submission deadline 
  2. Climate neutrality commitment before or by 2050 
  3. Capacity to engage in the twinning learning programme 

The Call Guidelines can be found on the following link.

The Twinning Programme covers travel costs of selected Twin Cities to their paired Pilot Cities (up to EUR 800 per 2 visits for 2 Twin City representatives). This is the only area where budget is foreseen for Twin Cities, with the aim of gaining an in-depth understanding of the pilot activity/es, through the site-visits while enabling the completion of the Replication Plan. 

Applications will only be accepted when they are submitted on the NetZeroCities Website on the Twinning Programme page.  

The application link is the following: https://share-eu1.hsforms.com/1uSBsVloQT7ewZebOTBQt-wf93gn 

Twin Cities should ensure adequate human resources and time (a minimum of 12 hours per month) to engage in the 20 months period Twinning Learning Programme and assign between 1-2 (recommended) city representatives per Twin City, with at least a proficiency level of B2 English. To ensure that Twin City participants gain the most from the in-person exchanges, travel costs will be reimbursed up to a certain amount. Further information will be made available to successful Twin City applicants upon successful selection. 

If you have any questions about the Twinning Programme, you can reach out to us via email!