ICLEI Europe, in cooperation with the EKLIPSE project, is hosting a two-day capacity-building workshop titled, “Financing Greener Cities – Strengthening the capacity of local authorities and practitioners for making informed decisions on financing nature-based solutions.”

Representatives of local and regional governments, practitioners, academic experts, and representatives of not-for-profit organisations interested in learning about financing arrangements for biodiversity, ecosystem services and nature-based solutions are invited to apply to participate in this workshop.

The event will consist of a preparatory webinar on 23 July 2019, followed by an interactive workshop from 8-9 October 2019 in Athens (Greece). The two-day workshop will bring together diverse stakeholders from across Europe.

During the workshop, participants will discuss the most urgent challenges to financing greener cities, map the financing landscape in Europe, reflect on innovative financing options, and make the case for investing in biodiversity, ecosystem services and nature-based solutions. They will receive targeted support, and share knowledge with high-level European experts.

Applications will be assessed based on relevance of applicants’ professional work and experiences. As the focus of this workshop is on South-Eastern Europe, applicants from Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia will be prioritised.

Up to 40 participants will be selected for participation, and the top (up to) 20 applicants will be offered reimbursement for travel and accommodation costs up to a maximum of €350 per participant.

This workshop is being driven by the European projects NATURVATION, CLEVER Cities and Connecting Nature. Partners providing input and further support are the Committee of the Regions, European Investment Bank and JPI Europe.

For more information, click here.