The cities of Espoo (Finland), Mannheim (Germany) and Umea (Sweden), all of them ICLEI Members, have joined forces to accelerate sustainability transformations using Local Green Deals. Their common ambition is to bundle and strengthen existing efforts through this new approach for delivering sustainable change, based on the principles of good governance, policy integration, partnership with local stakeholders, and commitment to action.

Together with local small- and medium-sized organisations and social economy partners, Espoo, Mannheim and Umea will convene a “Local Green Deal Leadership Group”, a platform to exchange good practices, challenges and learnings. A group of European cities and social economy organisations will be involved as observers to learn from their experiences and build upon the results.

The three 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 finalised, the next step will be the organisation and implementation of a Knowledge Exchange sprint: an event where cities and stakeholders will share practical experience 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 concretising – these are the actual “deals” for action.

All the knowledge gathered throughout the 24-month lifetime of the project will be synthesised in a policy and recommendations paper targeting European policymakers, and a good practice booklet to inspire other cities and towns.

This work is all being conducted in the context of the new ALLIANCE project, led by ICLEI Europe.

Learn more about Local Green Deals at: https://sustainablecities.eu/mannheim-message/local-green-deals/.