This Belgian town will pay you to protect your home from burglars
And it will also advise you on the right way to do this
Espoo, Mannheim and Umeå are cooperating in the ALLIANCE project to create a prototype that makes the grand plan more workable for cities
There is a new EU-funded inter-city project, called ALLIANCE, whose long-term ambitions go much further beyond the immediate concerns of any given city. Its aim is to create a working and viable prototype for Local Green Deals (LGD) - scaled-down, tailored versions of the European Green Deal (EGD) that can be applied to the local level.
Three mid-size European cities are partnering in the project – Espoo (Finland), Mannheim (Germany) and Umeå (Sweden). Led by ICLEI Europe, it is now their task to create a replicable model that can transform the EGD from a policy framework into a mindset and a way of doing life.
ALLIANCE is an on-the-ground rendition of the consistent push for sustainable transformation which is increasingly taking over all spheres of life. The aim to make our continent climate neutral by 2050 and to decouple economic growth from resource exhaustion is imperative, however, high ideals often meet the reality on the ground. Case in point, the unexpected side blows provided by the COVID pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The three cities will create a platform to exchange good practices, challenges and learnings that can be replicated in other cities and towns around Europe. These include innovative and collaborative models for the green transformation of business and SMEs, green infrastructure, local sustainable value chains, green and social procurement, innovative urban governance, and stakeholder engagement.
The cities will start by mapping key actions for stakeholders to contribute to a Local Green Deal, to secure their commitment and engagement. This will lead each city to an LGD roadmap.
Once the mapping is finalized, the next step will be organising and implementing a Knowledge Exchange sprint. The latter is an event where cities and stakeholders will share practical experiences to develop an LGD-driven approach to transformation.
Within sprint workshops, concrete examples and best practices will be shared, roadmaps will be drafted, and Memoranda of Understanding will be concretizing – these are the actual “deals” for action.
The ALLIANCE project will conclude in 2024. Its findings and conclusions will be distilled in a recommendations paper and good practices booklet, which will serve to inspire other cities and towns.
The European Green Deal is meant to outlive the current European Commission’s mandate and radically transform the way people work, study, travel, produce and consume. This can only be possible through a wholesale horizontal and vertical integration of such policies by converting them into something more than simple technocratic top-down procedures.
Cities are inescapably located at the nexus of this integration and, thus meaningful green transition is impossible without their active participation. Together with national government institutions, they can add components to their deal, allowing them room for experiments outside current legal framework conditions – in order to pioneer solutions.
And it will also advise you on the right way to do this
Despite the good news, preliminary data from the national census reveals a dire shortage in the housing market that will not go away anytime soon
The innovative project received funding from the participatory budget in Lille, France
The town of Makarska has recently launched a new mobile service, aiming to cut down on paper use and stimulate citizens to go contactless
The invention promises to be revolutionary as it can decouple food production from agriculture and its environmental impacts
Commercial unmanned aerial vehicles will far outnumber their crewed counterparts by the end of the decade and solutions are urgently needed
Trenitalia has announced that it wants to reduce the phenomenon of domestic animals being left behind alone while their owners go on holidays
The property, together with others that have been confiscated, will be converted for social welfare uses
The city also led awareness-raising actions to show the impressionable youths how circularity is created first-hand
Trenitalia has announced that it wants to reduce the phenomenon of domestic animals being left behind alone while their owners go on holidays
The property, together with others that have been confiscated, will be converted for social welfare uses
The city also led awareness-raising actions to show the impressionable youths how circularity is created first-hand
These will be spread across 11 EU countries and will serve to support the EU Missions
The European Commission has accepted to develop the idea
An interview about AYR, one of the 2021 New European Bauhaus Prize winners
A conversation with the Mayor of Matosinhos, Portugal’s first UN Resilience Hub
An interview with Nigel Jollands and Sue Goeransson from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
An interview with the President of the City of Athens Reception & Solidarity Centre