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Second Online Conference Green Transition: Practical Solutions for Sustainable Cities

Updated: 6 days ago


On 22 January 2026, RegioCop hosted the second online event of the ActGreen project, bringing together over 130 participants from across Europe under the theme "Green Transition: Practical Solutions for Sustainable Cities." The event convened keynote speakers from Brussels alongside seven partner organisations from Greece, Cyprus, Hungary, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, and Spain.


Setting the Scene: Cities at a Crossroads

Tessy Melidi (RegioCop, project coordinator)  opened the conference and Fanis Pantelogiannis, who represents the Region of East Macedonia-Thrace in Brussels, moderated the event which was structured in two parts: a forward-looking policy and innovation discussion in the first half, and a showcase of concrete local best practices in the second.

The opening keynote was delivered by Samar Héchaimé, a strategy and sustainability expert with global and Brussels-based experience. She opened by naming three converging crises that make systemic urban redesign not merely desirable but urgent: the physical manifestation of climate change on European soil — floods in Spain and Switzerland, fires in Greece, Portugal, and Cyprus — a rising political backlash against sustainability framed as detached from daily life, and a deepening democratic crisis. Her central argument was that cities must stop being designed as stacked technical layers — transport, food, energy, health — each governed in isolation, and instead be repositioned as integrated human ecosystems. "We need to put the citizen at the core of the city, not the other way around," she argued, calling for imagination and courage as the essential pillars of genuine green and democratic governance.

Samar Héchaimé introduced the concept of "engagement by design" as a framework for inclusive citizen participation — not a single mechanism, but a suite of approaches adapted to different cultures and contexts. She challenged the assumption that urban space is neutral, highlighting how it is systematically designed around a narrow set of needs, effectively excluding women, children, youth, and low-income residents. Addressing the apparent tension between this broad transformative agenda and today's political pressure for simplification, she drew on the "cathedral project" metaphor: great urban transformations, like great cathedrals, are built incrementally by many contributors with different roles — from the architect to the glassmaker — united around a shared mission. The funding model must follow the same logic: a long-term vision articulated clearly enough to inspire citizens, broken into iterative, funded steps that build on each other. She pointed to the example of NASA's moon mission — where a women's underwear manufacturer ultimately provided the innovation that produced the spacesuits — as a reminder that the most transformative solutions often come from the most unexpected contributors, precisely when a compelling mission is in place and civic participation is genuinely open.

The Funding Landscape: Uncertain but Not Without Opportunity

Mercedes Sese Varela, Chair of the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) and senior EU sustainability expert with over 30 years of experience, provided a candid and detailed assessment of the evolving EU funding landscape for cities. With 2026 set to be the defining year for the post-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), she warned that the dedicated LIFE programme — a key instrument for cities' environmental spending — may not be renewed in its current form. Current proposals point towards "mainstreaming" climate and environmental objectives across broader funding streams, which she described as a less visible and less accessible funding architecture for municipalities. "Losing this kind of common pot is not a good thing for cities," she stated plainly, while noting that the discussion is not yet concluded.

Her strategic guidance to cities was equally direct. First, cities must shift their mental model: rather than approaching EU funding as "I want money for doing this," they should position themselves as delivery partners in a larger European vision — because that is precisely how the Commission now views them. Second, having solid, measurable climate investment plans is no longer optional; the era of experimentation is giving way to an era of delivery, and demonstrable impact will be the key criterion for accessing future finance. Third, cities must insert themselves early into national and regional planning processes, where a significant share of MFF resources will flow — waiting to be included in calls later is no longer sufficient. On the question of softer governance measures — citizen engagement, participatory processes, social experimentation — she was clear that these remain fundable EU objectives, but will need to be explicitly and quantifiably linked to climate outcomes: CO₂ reductions, energy savings, mobility impacts. "Governance needs to be linked to measurable climate outcomes," she emphasised — not excluded, but reframed. Responding to a live participant question on community energy, she acknowledged that citizen-led energy initiatives face real structural and regulatory barriers, but noted a growing trend of communities organising spontaneously — often in response to crises — and called on local authorities to be ready to act as enablers and catalysts when that momentum emerges.

Technology and Education as Enablers

Dimitris Athanassopoulos (University of Patras) presented the CLIMATE Erasmus+ adult education project, which integrates climate literacy, digital competence, and the responsible use of generative AI in education. The programme has produced AI-supported lesson plans, thematic modules, and a digital training platform, all connecting climate education directly to active citizenship. Vasilis Nikolopoulos (Dian) offered a brief complementary perspective on smart urban farming — including hydroponics and vertical farming — as practical responses to food security and limited urban space, illustrating how innovation in agriculture can become an integral part of the sustainable city of the future.

Partner Best Practices: Local Solutions in Action

The second part of the event showcased concrete examples from seven countries:

Greece (Municipality of Kalithea): Athens is deploying cooling stations and expanding EV charging infrastructure as part of its target to become climate neutral by 2030. Kalithea is developing green corridors for pedestrians and cyclists with digital sensors for environmental monitoring under the EU Urban Initiative Grid project.

Romania (UNCJR): A case study on circular economy in the water sector, demonstrating how wastewater treatment plants in cities like Buzău and Timișoara are being transformed into resource hubs — recovering treated water for irrigation, generating energy from sludge, and reducing landfill dependence.

Hungary (TÖOSZ): The small town of Kőszeg introduced the Lumilotó programme, a creative waste recycling lottery where residents receive a ticket for bringing sorted waste to the local green yard. The result: increased recycling rates, reduced illegal dumping, and lower municipal costs — a low-cost, behaviour-change model replicable across small municipalities.

Portugal (EducPro): Portugal's impressive renewable energy transition was highlighted, with over 60% of electricity from renewables and a fully coal-free energy grid since 2021, alongside ongoing discussions around green hydrogen investment.

Greece (System&G): Youth-focused green education through virtual reality experiences and 3D printing, combined with community forest trail maintenance ahead of wildfire seasons, illustrated the power of combining environmental protection with active civic engagement.

Slovenia (ZMOS): A standout case of industrial transition, with Velenje — a former coal mining city — pursuing climate neutrality by 2030 and coal phase-out by 2033. The city is decarbonising the second largest district heating system in Slovenia across three phases, financed through a mix of the Just Transition Fund, the EIB's ELENA facility, and city resources, while also developing digital mobility platforms and an energy-saving assistant tool for citizens.

Spain (Mancomunitat de la Ribera Baixa): A consortium of 11 municipalities in Valencia presented their joint urban agenda as a model of inter-municipal cooperation for ecological transition, demonstrating how smaller localities can pool capacities to access EU funding and implement shared green action plans.

Cyprus (Hadjihambis Foundation): Cyprus presented the Great Sea Interconnector (GSI) — a submarine electricity project linking the power grids of Cyprus, Greece, and Israel, expected to end Cyprus's status as the EU's only energy island by 2029-2030. Complementary local initiatives included youth education through VR and green trail cleaning campaigns in partnership with civil society.


Closing Reflections

Wrapping up the event, moderator Fanis Pantelogiannis distilled four cross-cutting messages from the day: the need for a shared vision that builds cities around active citizenship; the continued importance of diverse funding pathways even amid MFF uncertainty; the role of technology in enabling citizens of all ages and backgrounds to participate; and the irreplaceable value of local action and partnerships in making the green transition real.


The next gathering of ActGreen partners is set to take place in Athens.




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