Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:

• Increased preparedness and capacity of national, regional and local authorities in EU Member States and countries associated to Horizon Europe to engage in cities’ transition towards climate neutrality.
• Identification of country-specific challenges and barriers for cities to achieve climate neutrality related to regulatory framework, funding and financing, and governance structures and promotion of best-practices through transnational exchanges and sharing of experience.
• Enhanced synergies with R&I national/international communities, relevant initiatives, and partnerships such as the ‘Driving Urban Transitions to a Sustainable Future’ Horizon Europe Partnership and the Mission Platform for the implementation of the Climate-neutral and smart cities Mission.

Cities are increasingly taking a leading role in the green and digital transition. 100 EU cities and 12 cities from countries associated to Horizon Europe have raised their ambition by joining the Climate-neutral and smart cities Mission and actively pursuing their transition towards climate-neutrality by 2030. Many more cities across Europe expressed their willingness to engage in climate neutrality pathways and actively engage with the Mission. National and regional authorities have a key role to play to support cities ambition and facilitate the process.

The objective of this action is to strengthen existing national networks in Member States and Associated Countries as well as encourage and support the creation of such structures in countries where this has not yet taken place and empower them to act as clearly identifiable national contacts to support cities in pursuing their climate neutrality ambition and related targets.

Such networks by combining relevant multi-level (e.g. national, regional and local) institutional competence and multi-stakeholders capacities, expertise, and responsibilities, would ensure coherence across city-relevant policy, financing and regulatory frameworks and promote higher efficacy and impact of undertaken action plans.

The project should build upon, broaden and further upscale the activities, tools, methods, and approaches developed under the CapaCITIES project whilst expanding its geographical coverage to cover preferably the entire EU, enhancing institutional competence by involving all relevant actors and working in close collaboration and complementarity with the Cities Mission Platform.

Proposals should:

• Support the set-up of dedicated national networks in countries where these have not yet been established, preferably covering the entire EU, to help cities in their transition towards climate neutrality and promote collaboration, capacity building and coherence of policy, regulation and financing frameworks across national, regional and local levels.
• Promote transnational learning, exchanges and training to foster replication and upscaling of best practices across Europe for effective national support mechanisms to support cities in their transitions to climate neutrality.
• Strengthen the capacity and competence of existing national networks by engaging all relevant institutional players with responsibilities in city-relevant affairs and facilitate exchanges across the national, regional and local levels for policy coherence, better coordination and enhanced impact of city relevant policies, programmes, initiatives, regulatory frameworks and funding.
• Mobilize and support a large number of urban-relevant authorities, across different ministries and implementing agencies, in engaging together with cities in climate-neutrality transitions in line with the overarching objectives of the European Green Deal, and relevant EU policies;
• Support capacity building of local authorities and multi-level governance structures for transitions to climate neutrality through dedicated activities such as e.g. trainings, webinars, capacity building, country visits and bi-or multi-lateral exchanges as well as peer-exchange.
• Identify specific challenges, best-practices and opportunities to make policy and regulatory frameworks, funding and financing and multi-level governance structures best suited for climate neutrality in cities.

To avoid unnecessary proliferation of national networks with overlapping competences, duplication of efforts and uncertainty by cities as to which relevant “interlocutors” to approach, applicants must take into account and build upon existing, planned or ongoing relevant national, regional or local activities and structures aiming to foster climate-neutrality in cities.