The ACT NOW Mayors’ Conference 2025 will take place in Vienna (Austria) from 5–6 May 2025, bringing together up to 300 participants including mayors, municipal representatives, researchers, young change-makers, and other local innovators from across Europe and beyond.
This year’s edition, titled Just Transition: Local Action for a Sustainable Future, is all about exploring policies and practices that make the green transition democratic, just, and actually work on the ground. Cities and towns are where climate emergency and biodiversity loss literally hit close to home – but also where the best tools to deal with them lie.
From restoring biodiversity and safeguarding ecosystem services to protecting communities from heatwaves, floods and droughts – the conference will look at how local governments can take real steps to tackle these big challenges while making sure no one’s left behind.
Participants will explore which formats actually lead to results, how to reach silent groups who don’t normally join in, and how to build broad alliances among administration, politics, civil society and business. It’s about participatory innovation, and about how working together really can make a difference.
Co-hosted by ICLEI Member City of Vienna – the European Capital of Democracy 2025 – the ACT NOW Mayors’ Conference is part of the official Democracy Year programme. It’s a chance to learn, share, and build something lasting – rooted in democracy, and driven by local action.