The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many cities to find new ways to approach citizen engagement. In-person activities and discussions are no longer feasible, but we know that meaningful citizen engagement is critical to so much of what cities do.
The City of Dortmund (Germany) is among the European ci...
New handbook advises on improving inner-city bike parking
Amsterdam is the only city in the world with more bicycles than inhabitants. That poses a question: how to provide parking for all of these bikes?
A new handbook from the City of Amsterdam reveals the city’s approach to bicycle parking, with a particular focus on busy inner-city areas. In suc...
Policy Sandbox Tool will help local governments reach mobility and energy transition
A Policy Sandbox Tool – based on two years of research, interviews, surveys and workshops – is being developed to support local governments in achieving milestones related to their local energy and mobility transitions. Moreover, the tool, which will be released in autumn 2021, will help...
New book inspires uptake of nature-based solutions
A new book has been released that seeks to inspire cities to co-create nature-based solutions. The book, called "Making Urban Nature Bloom" and which was coordinated by ICLEI Europe, shares stories, insights and cases from co-creative processes for nature-based solutions in six European cities, incl...
Despite COVID-19 restrictions, much progress can and has been made across Europe with respect to the implementation of nature-based solutions. In Turin (Italy), for example, green walls or 'vertical gardens' have been installed along several buildings. Green walls have a multitude of benefits: they ...
New study: co-creation of nature-based solutions becomes more widespread and institutionalised in Europe
A new open access publication analyses 2.5 years of citizen engagement methodologies to implement urban-greening measures (also known as 'co-creation of nature-based solutions'), providing evidence that EU pilot projects are helping co-creation to become more widespread, structured and institutional...
Commission to support the Western Balkans and Ukraine in their transition from coal
The European Commission has launched a new initiative to help coal regions in the Western Balkans and Ukraine transition away from coal towards a carbon-neutral economy. This initiative – whose secretariat is run by a consortium including ICLEI Europe, with expert knowledge across all particip...
Given the immense benefits and potential of nature-based solutions, it is not surprising that there is a growing number of European Horizon 2020 (H2020) projects focusing on them. This requires some synergising to ensure that efforts are maximised, knowledge exchange is fostered, and overlap between...
Call for adequate resources for local and regional authorities to implement the 8th Environmental Action Programme
In its 142nd plenary meeting, which took place from 3-5 February, members of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) – the EU’s assembly of local and regional elected representatives and a key ICLEI partner – adopted an opinion on the 8th Environment Action Programme (EAP).
Th...