News

Back
Climate Change Mitigation Circular Economy Climate Neutral Cities Green Digital Transformation Sustainable Energy Systems

7 June 2023

Round-up of direct or financial support opportunities cities can apply to this month

ICLEI Europe actively supports various EU-funded projects and initiatives that foster sustainability and empower cities in their transitions towards a more sustainable future. Many of these currently have calls open for cities and regions to apply for funding, support, and expertise of various sorts.

Below are some of the open calls, each of which ICLEI Europe is supporting. These are listed in order of their application deadlines.

Receive €60,000 to plan energy investments: apply by 30 June, 17:00 CEST

The European City Facility (EUCF), with support from ICLEI Europe, is currently accepting applications from municipalities and local authorities across Europe. This call offers an excellent opportunity for cities to receive funding and hands-on support to develop investment concepts focused on clean energy and energy efficiency. Successful applicants will benefit from a lump-sum payment of €60,000 to turn their sustainable energy plans into actionable projects with investment plans.

Learn more at: https://www.eucityfacility.eu/5th-call.

Twinning programme for climate neutrality: apply by 30 June, 23:59 CEST

The NetZeroCities project has launched a Twinning Programme, facilitating the pairing of ‘Twin Cities’ with ‘Pilot Cities’ based on shared challenges, opportunities, and emissions domains. All cities in EU Member States or Associated Countries, regardless of whether they were selected as EU Mission Cities or not, can apply to be Twin Cities. The Twinning Programme offers a unique opportunity for cities to engage in a targeted learning programme, to exchange knowledge, and to build local capacity to achieve climate neutrality.

Learn more at: https://netzerocities.eu/twinning-programme/.

Circular project development assistance: apply by 30 June

Local and regional governments, utilities, waste management organisations, and private project developers in collaboration with local authorities, can apply to receive free project development assistance. The support includes optimising circular models, developing business plans, fundraising strategies, and assistance in the due diligence process. This offer is part of the DEFINITE-CCRI and CircularInvest projects, which aim to unlock the circular potential of European cities and regions by increasing the chances of circular economy projects attracting investments.

Learn more by clicking here.

Receive free advice & tools for local energy planning: apply by 31 July

Local energy planners can receive support from the Act!onHeat Support Facility, building their know-how, resources, and experience in strategic heating and cooling (H&C) planning. The Facility offers free advice and tools to help municipalities to start, complete, or improve upon their district H&C planning, including access to the H&C planning software Hotmaps and Thermos. To meet the specific needs of the locality, applicants can also select between two different modules: ‘H&C transition strategy development’ and ‘Project Feasibility’. Click here to apply by 31 July 2023.

Learn more by visiting: https://actionheat.eu/Call_for_applicants.

Express interest in the Adaptation Mission: complete the call for expressions of interest by 15 September, 18:00 CEST

The Pathways2Resilience project invites regions and communities to submit Expressions of Interest to indicate their interest in accessing support with mapping-out local resilience pathways. Respondents to the Expression of Interest will help ensure that the support offered by Pathways2Resilience matches regional and community needs, and will be eligible to get help strengthening their applications when the calls for participating cities open later this year. Ultimately, Pathways2Resilience will allocate €21 million to supporting 100 regions and communities over two cycles of open calls.

Learn more by clicking here.

Get direct support to connect your smart ideas with finance: ongoing call for applications

The Smart Cities Marketplace, a European Commission Initiative, provides regular matchmaking services to help cities and city consortia with project proposals related to smart city activities. On an ongoing basis, the Marketplace, with ICLEI support, offers help identifying or maturing project ideas, helping them to become bankable through tailor-made technical assistance.

Learn more at: https://smart-cities-marketplace.ec.europa.eu/matchmaking/call-for-application.