Net Zero Cities: call for twin cities
The Challenge
This 12-month peer-learning journey, starting November 2025, will help cities to develop practical solutions, deepen their climate knowledge, accelerate systemic change, and build meaningful partnerships with cities already advancing toward climate neutrality.
This edition of the Twinning Learning Programme will focus on exchange between Mission Cities and cities in Europe and Horizon Europe associated countries aiming for climate neutrality by 2050 or earlier.
Who can apply?
Mission-minded cities from the European Union and all Horizon Europe associated countries are invited to apply. This refers to any city aiming for climate neutrality by 2050 or earlier and that is not listed among the 112 cities participating in the EU Cities Mission.
Background
The programme is part of the EU Cities Mission, and is facilitated by the Mission Platform, currently managed by NetZeroCities. The EU Mission: Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities (“EU Cities Mission”) aims for 112 cities to be climate neutral by 2030, and for all European Cities to follow suit by 2050.
Twin Cities will be matched with a selection of Mission Cities : Aachen, Bristol, 2nd district of Bucharest municipality, Dunkerque, Eindhoven-Helmond, Elbasan, Gabrovo, Guimarães, Ioannina, Kozani, Liberec, Padova, Reykjavik, Sarajevo, Sofia, Stockholm, Torino, Umeå and Warsaw.
The Twinning Learning Programme is built on mutual exchange. Twin Cities will work directly with Mission Cities to learn from their experience, with a focus on the climate actions outlined in the Climate City Contracts. These exchanges will help Twin Cities design replication activities tailored to their local context, while providing Mission Cities with fresh perspectives and locally driven innovations to strengthen the implementation of their strategies.
