Translating the EU green deal into local action

Maroš Šefčovič (born in 1966) is a Slovak politician and a career diplomat, who since 22 August 2023 serves as Executive Vice President for the European Green Deal, Interinstitutional Relations and Foresight.

Before that, since 1 December 2019 he served as Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of Interinstitutional Relations and Foresight. In this capacity, he leads the Commission’s work on the European Green Deal, interinstitutional relations, better policymaking, strategic foresight and the European Battery Alliance.

He is also responsible for the European Union’s relations with Western non-EU countries, notably Andorra, Iceland, Monaco, Norway, Lichtenstein, San Marino and Switzerland. He also cochairs the EU-UK Partnership Council under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement and the EU-UK Joint Committee for the implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement. European Affairs have been at the centre of Mr Šefčovič's career for almost two decades. In 2014, he was elected as a Member of the European Parliament.

From 2010-2019, he was Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of initially Interinstitutional Relations and Administration, and then the Energy Union. In 2009-2010, he was European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth. From 2004-2009, he was the Permanent Representative of the Slovak Republic to the European Union, steering the country's integration in the European Union, such as its entry to the Eurozone and the Schengen area.

As a diplomat by profession, he served between 1992 and 2004 in Zimbabwe and Canada and as Ambassador of Slovakia to Israel.

He graduated from the University of Economy in Bratislava, Slovakia, and the Moscow State Institute for Foreign Relations. He holds a degree as Doctor of Law and a PhD of European Law from Faculty of Law at the Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia. He also undertook training in diplomacy at Stanford University, USA. In 2018, he was awarded the title of Doctor Honoris Causa at the Pan-European University in Bratislava, Slovakia.

Mr Šefčovič is married and father of 3 children, Helena, Martina and Maroš. Two dogs and a cat are also part of the family.

Kurt was appointed Director General of DG CLIMA on 16 January 2023. Until then, he was the Green Deal and Health advisor to President Ursula von der Leyen since 1 December 2019. He joined the European Commission in 1996.

After reading French and Italian literature at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KUL) and obtaining a degree in Public and International Affairs at the University Catholique de Louvain-la-Neuve (UCL), Kurt gained a Master of Arts degree in International Relations at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (S.A.I.S.) in Bologna, Italy and Washington D.C., US.

Dr Janez Potočnik (1958) graduated from the Faculty of Economics at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia (Ph.D. degree 1993). He started as a researcher at the Institute of Economic Research (1989) and was nominated for a Director of the Institute of Macroeconomic Analysis and Development in 1994.

He was appointed Head of Negotiating Team for Accession of Slovenia to the EU (1998). He was also Director of Government Office for European Affairs (2000), Minister Councillor at the Office of the Prime Minister (2001) and Minister responsible for European Affairs (2002).

In 2004 he joined the European Commission, first as ‘shadow’ Commissioner for Enlargement and then as Commissioner responsible for Science and Research. In 2010 he became Commissioner for Environment.

After the end of mandate in November 2014, he was appointed as a Co-Chair of UN Environment International Resource Panel. He still holds that position. He is also Partner at SYSTEMIQ.

On 2014, Anne Hidalgo became the first woman to be elected Mayor of Paris.

She was born in Spain and acquired the French citizenship in her youth, she is a mother of three. After she graduated with a Master of Advanced Studies in social law, she became a labor inspector. She has been a member of the socialist party since 1994.

From 1997 to 2002, she worked as an adviser in three Minister’s cabinets. She served as Paris First Deputy Mayor. She led the Parisian left coalition to victory in 2004 and 2010.

She was re-elected mayor of Paris in 2020, pursuing an ambitious program designed to transform Paris into a zero-carbon city by 2030. She holds the position of First Vice President of the Greater Paris Metropolitan Area.

As Paris mayor, she actively pursues a policy to tackle climate change based on social inclusion, sustainable development, climate change, air quality, solidarity, innovation and citizen participation, all of which are essential issues for the future of Paris. She is committed to advancing these issues at the international level. She wishes to shape Paris into a 15-minute city, an ambitious, inclusive, quantifiable and efficient program that places citizens at the center of urban transition.

From 2016 to 2019, she chaired C40 Cities Leadership Group, which consists of 97 megacities committed to address climate change. She is now C40 Vice President Europe with the Mayor of Milan. She is also GCoM's Global Ambassador and UCLG's Ambassador for the Future of the Planet.

She is President of the International Association of Francophone Mayors (AIMF), and also President of SOLIDEO, an Olympic Equipment Supply Company, responsible for the supply program and development operations for the organization of the Olympic and Paralympic Games this year in Paris.

Bart Somers studied law at KU Leuven and is an experienced Flemish Open VLD politician. Born in 1964 in the city where he has been mayor for more than 20 years now.

In 2003, he was appointed as the Minister-President of the Flemish Government and later elected as the party chairman. He has been active as both a federal parliament member and a Flemish parliamentary leader.

In 2016, he received the World Mayor Prize for his work on integration, living together in diversity, and the prevention of radicalisation. The organisation praised him for transforming Mechelen from an underdog in Flanders to a top performer.

From 2019 till 2023 he served as the Vice Minister-President of the Flemish government, responsible for Living Together in Diversity and for Local and Provincial Government. Today he is again active as mayor of Mechelen.

Fiorenza Pascazio, born in Grumo Appula (Ba) on August 23, 1975, has consistently shown sensitivity and active commitment to environmental issues, particularly those related to sustainability and climate change.

She holds a law degree from the University of Bari – Aldo Moro. She completed a Master’s degree in Forensic Sciences. Since 2006, she has been practicing as a Penal Lawyer.

Fiorenza Pascazio has been serving as the Mayor of Bitetto since June 2, 2015. During her tenure, she has demonstrated dedication to environmental matters. Under her leadership, Bitetto achieved remarkable levels of waste recycling and became a national best practice example for tariffs based on waste monitoring. The innovative Kayt Model, which she introduced as a pilot project funded by the European Life “Rethink Waste”, has been recognized as a model experience in the First National Guide on Precise Tariffing by the IFEL Foundation (Institute for Local Finance and Economics). As Mayor, she consistently prioritized environmental sustainability in all administrative actions. Notably, she recently signed the Covenant of Mayor commitment for her municipality and inside the Covenant framework she oversaw the construction of a sustainable secondary school building in Bitetto, designed to address climate change challenges. The building is NZEB (Nearly Zero Energy Building) certified and adheres to LEED standards.

From 2018 to 2023, she served as the President of AGER Puglia (Regional Agency for Waste Management in Puglia).

Since April 4, 2023, she has held the position of President of Anci Puglia (National Association of Italian Municipalities, Puglia section). Prior to this role, she was the environmental delegate within Anci Pugli municipalities since September 2017. As president of ANCI Puglia she is supporting apulian municipalities in developing strategies related to mitigation and adaptations and in empowering capacity building at local level (e.g. on Renewble Energy Communicities). Her contributions have left a lasting impact on her community.

Joško Klisović is currently the President of the City Assembly of Zagreb and the member of European Committee of the Regions, which appointed him as its Rapporteur for the topic "Towards a multilevel Green Deal governance: the revision of the Governance of the Energy Union and Climate Action Regulation".

He has an extensive career in public and private sector. He started his diplomatic career in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Croatia, where he held numerous positions from the desk officer in the International Law Department to the Deputy Minister of Foreign and European Affairs. He headed several departments with the Ministry and served as the Chief of Cabinet of the Minister and Director of the EU Directorate, as well as the Secretary-General of Croatian Negotiation’s Team for Accession to the EU. He was in charge of organizing and conducting the referendum on Croatia’s accession to the EU, as well as the Government public campaign that preceded the referendum. He continued his career in NewYork and Bruxelles where he held the positions of political councilor to the Croatian Mission to UN and Deputy head of Mission to NATO.

He was twice elected to the Croatian Parliament and appointed as the Chief of Staff of the Office of the President of the Republic. He was also a candidate of the Social Democratic Party at the elections for the European Parliament. While working in private business as the Secretary General of Atlantic Group, he was the President of a NGO called the United Nations Association. He also served as a Member of the University Council of the University of Zagreb and the Dean of the Dag Hammarskjold University College of International Relations and Diplomacy.

Patrick CHILD is currently Deputy Director-General in DG Environment at the European Commission with particular responsibility for the EU’s zero pollution strategy, chemicals legislation, urban agenda, research and innovation for environment and communication.

He is also the Mission manager for the Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities Mission, which aims to reach 100 climate-neutral cities by 2030.From 2016-2021, he was Deputy Director-General in DG Research and Innovation (R&I) at the European Commission.

As member of the Board of DG R&I, he followed in particular research and innovation in clean energy and climate technologies as well as the R&I dimension of the post-COVID recovery and resilience strategy and Horizon Europe mission on Cancer. His international roles included Commission representative and chair of the steering committee of Mission Innovation (a coalition of 24 countries and the EC working to accelerate global clean energy innovation) and lead co-chair of the Group of Earth Observations (GEO).

Until April 2016, Patrick Child was Managing Director of the European External Service with responsibility for administration and finance, covering human resources policy, security and the budget. Before he took up this post in 2011, he was director in the EC External Relations Directorate-General in the responsible for managing the network of Commission delegations. He has previously served as head of cabinet for External Relations Commissioners Benita Ferrero-Waldner and Chris Patten.

With a background in the UK Finance Ministry, he joined the European Commission in 1994, where he started in the Economic and Monetary affairs Directorate General before becoming Commission press spokesman for economic and monetary union from 1995-1999. Mr Child studied mathematics at Cambridge University. He is married with two children.

François Rebsamen was born on June 25, 1951 in Dijon. He is mayor of the city of Dijon (160,000 inhabitants) and President of Dijon Metropole (260,000 inhabitants).

As graduate in economic and political science, Mr. Rebsamen began his professional and political career in 1979 as chief of staff of Pierre Joxe, President of the Burgundy Regional Council. He then followed him as Minister of Home Affairs before serving Laurent Fabius, former Prime Minister and President of the Assemblée Nationale.

He was elected to the Dijon city council in 1989 and became mayor in 2001. He also held various mandates in the Côte d’Or local assembly and the Burgundy Regional Council before his election to the Senate in 2008 where he chaired the leading Socialist group from 2011 to 2014.

In April 2014, he became Minister of Labour, Employment, Vocational Training and Social Dialogue.

In 2022, he created the Progressive Federation, a centre-left political party.

He is currently co-president of the finance committee of France Urbaine and President of United Cities France (CUF).

As Mayor of Dijon, François Rebsamen has placed the city at the forefront of the ecological transition. Under his leadership, bold decision and policies have led to the development of infrastructure to support soft mobility and public transports, energy renovation of buildings and local energy production with the creation of the 4^th French urban heating network and green hydrogen production for heavy vehicles. Mr. Rebsamen also positioned Dijon Metropole as pioneer in the decarbonisation of territories and engaged in several European projects. Since March 2023, Dijon Metropole is one of the only two French local authorities to be selected as "pilot" cities for the European mission "100 climate neutral and smart cities".

Emil Boc is the Mayor of Cluj-Napoca, the second-largest city in Romania, in terms of size and economic development.

He is also the President of COTER Commission, European Committee of the Regions; co-rapporteur on the Future of Cohesion Policy, former CoR rapporteur on Brain Drain in the EU and on Achieving the European Education Area by 2025 and European Strategy for Universities; member of A Soul for Europe Advisory Board. Emil Boc holds a PhD in Political Science.

He is an associate professor at Babeş-Bolyai University Cluj-Napoca, awarded Honorary Degree of Doctor of Law from Michigan State University in East Lansing, U.S.

Former Prime Minister of Romania (2008-2012), former President of the Democratic Liberal Party (2005-2012).

Mohamed Ridouani is the mayor of the city of Leuven, Belgium. He is dedicated to transforming Leuven into a thriving and caring community. He strongly believes in the power of collaboration and the importance of building future-proof communities based on hope and trust, as opposed to polarization and distrust.

Ridouani is the inspirer of Leuven 2030, a project that brings together more than 600 companies, organizations, and citizens to turn Leuven into a CO2-neutral city. Ridouani also initiated Leuven MindGate, an economic platform with 400 members that boosts Leuven as the world’s hotspot for health, technology and creativity.

Ridouani's innovative governance model has earned Leuven recognition as the European Capital of Innovation and led to the city being selected as one of the 100 cities chosen by the European Commission for the mission '100 Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities by 2030'. By bringing all levels of society together in a systemic and structured way, he is working towards creating a better future for Leuven and its citizens and setting an example for other cities to follow.

Prof Dr Diana Pretzell, a forestry graduate and journalist who worked for many years as Director of Nature Conservation and Biodiversity Policy at the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Germany, has been Deputy Mayor for Climate, Environment, Technical Operations (Waste and Wastewater Management and Cemeteries) and Citizen Services since 2021.

She has represented the City of Mannheim as First Deputy Mayor since August 2023. Among other things, she is responsible for the localisation of the European Green Deal, where Diana Pretzell has taken over the technical management of the Local Green Deal Mannheim as a pilot city. She represents Mannheim as a model city in the EU mission "100 climate-neutral and smart cities by 2030", which was one of the first ten cities to receive the Mission Label.

Matthew Baldwin was appointed as Deputy Director-General in DG ENER, the energy department of the European Commission, on 1 June 2022. There he is responsible for the Energy Platform Task Force which aims to end the EU’s dependence on Russian gas as soon as possible.

He has served in the European Commission for over 20 years. He was previously Deputy Director General in DG MOVE for 6 years, where he ran the Commission’s Horizon Europe Mission for 100 Climate Neutral and Smart Cities by 2030, and also served as the EU coordinator for road safety and sustainable urban mobility. He was previously Director for Aviation in DG MOVE, and Director for Market Access in DG Trade.

He served in the Cabinet of President Barroso from 2007-9 as Advisor on energy, climate change, trade and development. He was Deputy Chef de Cabinet to Commissioner Lamy from 1999-2004, and Chef de Cabinet to Commissioner Hill from 2014-16.

His principal professional interests are in energy, transport, trade negotiation, and climate change.

He is of Italian and British nationality and has two grown up sons. He is passionate about cities and their potential to lead on climate change, and he is a keen but increasingly slow cyclist.

Andries was born in 1963 and graduated as an industrial engineer.

Before being elected in the Flemish Parliament in 2014 he had his own energy consultancy firm. In the Flemish Parliament, Andries chairs the Climate Committee and focusses on dossiers such as energy, climate, entrepreneurship and innovation.

Andries is also First Vice President of the Belgian Senate, member of the Council of Europe and the Committee of the Regions. In the latter, he is political coordinator for the EA-Group in the ENVE committee.

Minna Arve has served as the Mayor of Turku since 2017. Turku-born Arve is a Master of Economics and a nurse. During her career Arve has worked i.e. as the Managing Director of Turku Chamber of Commerce and as the Party Secretary of the Finnish National Coalition Party.

She has also led a long career in municipal politics.

As the Mayor of Turku, Arve has highlighted major issues such as sustainable growth, urban inclusion, the prevention of social exclusion, and new means of industrial and business policies.

She has promoted international networks and co-operation, and serves as Vice President of ICLEI - Local Governments for sustainability.

From December 2015 to January 2017, he held the office of Executive President of the Vienna City School Council and then as Executive City Councilor for Education, Integration, Youth and Personnel.

Since November 24, 2020, Czernohorszky has been the Executive City Councilor for Climate, Environment, Democracy and Human Resources.

Managing Director of the North-west Croatia Regional Energy Agency, a member of the European Covenant of Mayors Political Board, and the President of the European Federation of Agencies and Regions for Energy and the Environment - FEDARENE since 2013.

From 2020, Julije serves in the Office of Croatian President Zoran Milanović as the Special adviser on Energy and Climate. He published over 70 scientific and professional papers in journals or at major European conferences and initiated many essential policy initiatives at the EU or national level in Croatia.

Julije is also a recognized technical expert and scientist, editor and author of special editions and paper reviewer for international scientific journals such as Energy Policy, Forestry Economics and Biomass & Bioenergy. He published over 60 scientific and professional papers in journals or presented at mayor European conferences. During his career, Julije was the head of the Croatian National Energy Program BIOEN, technical editor and national project director for the FAO - United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization project manager for the IEA - International Energy Agency, National Project Coordinator for UNIDO - United Nations Industrial Development Organization and consultant on projects for the World Bank.

Julije was awarded the 2002 Croatian National Science Award, Biomass Junior Award on the occasion of the 2^nd World Conference of Biomass for Energy, Industry and Climate Protection (Rome, 10-14 May 2004), Annual Hrvoje Pozar Foundation Award 2005, Charter of Pokupsko Municipality Honorary Citizen – awarded on 15 August 2016 and City of Zabok Award 2018.

Vlasta Krmelj has diploma and postgraduate Ph.D. degree in chemical technology. She is director of regional Energy and Climate agency of Podravje in Maribor in Slovenia, the second biggest town in Slovenia.

She has over 25 years of experience working with municipalities in sustainable development, climate changes, energy efficiency and renewable energy sources, professional expertise in energy management and EU projects as well as climate adaptation. Recently she is also working on energy communities and hydrogen project developments.

She was project leader in more than 30 international projects. She is an expert for strategical planning and financing of energy and climate related projects and has the degree of European energy manager and certificate of University of Cambridge programme on Business and Climate Change – Towards Net Zero Emissions.

She has given many presentations on national and EU level. She does a lot of mentoring activities for energy agencies, municipalities and regions across the EU. She is a vice president of European Federation of Agencies and Regions for Energy and the Environment (FEDARENE) and a member of scientific committee for international conference Sustainable energy days in Wels, Austria.

Since December 2018 she is also for a second mandate Lady Mayor of small Slovene municipality Selnica ob Dravi. She is also very active in Association of Slovene Municipalities in promoting and educating about climate resilience and adaptation.

Alison Gilliland is member of the Dublin City Council (DCC) and a member of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR).

She served as Lord Mayor of Dublin from 2021 to 2022 and is Chair of the Dublin City Council's Strategic Policy Committee on Housing, Chair of the Dublin Inter-authority Committee on Fire and Ambulance Services and Emergency Management, a member of the Dublin City Council Enterprise and Economic Development Strategic Policy Committee.

Alison was a member of the CoR delegation to both COP27 in Sharm el Sheikh and COP28 in Dubai. She is an advocate for local city and regional government as a key enabler to realising a just transition to a greener, healthier and more sustainable and inclusive society.

Ms. Tine Heyse has served as the Deputy Mayor of Ghent since January 2013. Her executive responsibilities encompass energy, housing, and environmental policies.

She currently chairs the Eurocities Environmental Forum and, until 2023, served as the co-president of the Climate Alliance. Ms. Heyse is a regular speaker at international events, focusing on climate issues. Her talks emphasize the crucial role of local partners and communities in developing and implementing energy and climate policies. Her current primary focus is on a fair climate transition, particularly in the areas of climate-neutral social housing and equitable renovation policies, food policy and circular economy.

Veronica Manfredi is the Director for Zero Pollution in the European Commission, DG Environment since February 2018.

Her directorate plays a pivotal role in leading Europe towards zero-pollution and securing an effective management of water – it thus significantly contributes to tackle the climate, biodiversity and circular economy challenges. It is responsible for EU policies on clean and well-managed water (including the protection all EU freshwater and marine environments, water reuse, prevention from floods, compliance with high health standards for drinking water), clean air, environmental noise, control on industrial emissions and prevention of industrial accidents. It also steers the implementation of the Green City Accord which, in synergy with the Smart Cities Mission, the Covenant of Mayors and other urban initiatives, aims at delivering the European Green Deal goals at local level.

Internationally, her team leads the EU negotiations within the UN Minamata Convention on Mercury and the UN Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution. It also provides steady support to the work of the four Regional Sea Conventions (notably the HELCOM – Baltic Sea, OSPAR – North Atlantic Sea, Barcelona – Mediterranean Sea, and the Bucharest Conventions – Black Sea) and the International Commissions for the Protection of the Rhine and Danube rivers.

A lawyer by background, Veronica deepened her knowledge of International and EU law in Rome, Turin, Kiel, Bruges and Brussels.

Niki Frantzeskaki is a Chair Professor of Regional and Metropolitan Governance and Planning, Section Spatial Planning, Geosciences Faculty, Utrecht University, the Netherlands.

Her expertise is on urban transitions and transformations, their governance and planning, with a focus on achieving climate change adaptation and mitigation, sustainability, and resilience. Her research also focuses on the governance and planning of nature-based solutions for contributing to climate change resilience and more just urban futures.

She has a rich international research experience with a portfolio of ongoing projects in Australia, Canada, and the United States of America. She has been a Highly Cited Researcher awardee from Clarivate Analytics in 2020 and 2021, putting her in the top 1% of researchers globally in the cross-field of social sciences and ecology.

From 2019 to 2021, she has been a Research Professor and Director of the Centre for Urban Transitions at Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia. From 2010 to 2019, she has been an Associate Professor at the Dutch Research Institute for Transitions with Erasmus University Rotterdam.

She has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles and 18 special issues and released four books on urban sustainability transitions in 2017, 2018, and 2020.

Marieke Schouten is Alderwoman of the municipality of Nieuwegein (NL) and Rapporteur of the CoR opinion on the EU Action Plan: 'Towards Zero Pollution for Air, Water.

Marieke Schouten is working as alderman in the city of Nieuwegein, Utrecht Region in The Netherlands. Her responsibilities include environment, spatial planning & housing; water management & climate adaptation; health, and the transition towards clean energy systems. The motto of Nieuwegein city is ‘Healthy urban living’. Nieuwegein City and the Utrecht region are densely populated and are home to several national and international educational and knowledge institutes. The region deals with multiple challenges and opportunities resulting from urbanization, climate change, transition in energy systems and environmental pressure (water, air, land). She is member of the EU Committee of the Regions, participates in the commission for environment, climate change and energy and is co-chair of the Zero Pollution Stakeholders Platform. The European Commission, in cooperation with the Committee of the Regions, set up this Zero Pollution Stakeholder Platform to achieve the zero pollution ambition. She was rapporteur of the “EU Action Plan: 'Towards Zero Pollution for Air, Water and Soil”.

Hanna Zdanowska, Mayor of the City of Łódź since 2010, environmental engineer, graduate of the Łódź University of Technology, Member of the Polish Parliament (2007 – 2010).

In the 2018 local elections, she was elected for the third term, receiving 70.22% of the vote in the first round. She started the largest Łódź’s revitalisation program in Poland. Hanna Zdanowska, full member of the European Committee of the Regions since 2019, is engaged in work for ENVE and SEDEC Commissions.

Additionally, she is a member of the Green Deal Going Local Working Group in the CoR. She was nominated National Ambassador of the Covenant of Mayors and as a committed to climate actions and citizens engagement leader, she decided to join an European family of Climate Pact Ambassadors.

About the city

• 100 climate neutral and smart cities mission
• City owns a high proportion of the buildings
• Blue-Green Network: https://atenasjpi.eu/demo-sites/#lodz
• Green spaces with a total area of over 3 000 hectares (including city parks and lawns, street greenery, municipal forests, etc.). There are 42 public parks, 21 of which are cultural monuments.
• Planning to create so-called forest parks with an area of over 100 hectares and has launched special programs to increase the share of biologically active spaces by forming new green areas, revitalizing the existing ones, and reducing concrete surface.
• Green Trails: proposal of over 126 km of hiking and cycling routes throughout the city, each of them forming a coherent whole. As part of the Green Trails project there are six thematic paths, fifteen specially prepared walking or bicycle routes, countless attractions to visit that will allow you to discover the secrets and curiosities related to Łódź, as well as learn about its history – from the great development of the city in the industrial era, through the crisis related to the collapse of industry, to the restoration of the city’s glory – achieved, among others, thanks to the greenery. The highlights of each path and route are the organised areas of urban greenery – parks, squares, and lawns (more here).
• Sustainable Development Plan for Public Transport City by 2025
• Strategy for the Development of the City of Lodz 2030+
• Action Plan for Adaptation to Climate Change by 2030

Britta Behrendt is the Permanent Secretary of the Berlin Senate Department for the Environment, Urban Mobility, Consumer Protection and Climate Action (DE).

About the city

• 100 climate neutral and smart cities mission
• Over 30% of the city area is green spaces and woodland
• 2,500 parks and gardens, 440,000 trees and 180km of navigable waterways
• The German Federal Government Sustainable Development Strategy has defined a reduction in the use of new land for settlement and transport purposes to 30 hectares per day by the year 2030
• Berlin is administrated by the Senate and its 12 districts or boroughs (Bezirke). The Senate is the city’s central administration, in charge of city planning, public policy, and the regulation of public and private spheres.
• The Berlin Strategy: Urban Development Concept Berlin 2030 outlines eight priorities that will determine Berlin’s medium- to long-term development opportunities and gives an overview of actions the city will undertake in order to effectively respond to present and future challenges. The Berlin Strategy sets out eight priorities:
• Strengthening the economy with smart knowledge
• Unleashing strengths through creativity
• Safeguarding employment through education and skills
• Reinforcing neighbourhood diversity
• City and green growing together
• Laying the groundwork for a climate-friendly city
• Improving accessibility and city-friendly mobility
• Shaping the future together
• Ongoing since 2013 (more here)
• Berlin TXL, in planning for more than a decade, named for the old airport’s three-letter identifying code, TXL is already home to startups, and, when complete, it will have a university campus and housing for 10,000 people who won’t have to walk more than five minutes to get to shops, schools, and medical facilities; sandbox for figuring out sustainable urban development at scale. Its goal is to show that construction can be carbon-neutral, technology can add to quality of life without crossing privacy borders, and climate-proof housing can be affordable
• Green mobility: Berlin’s visitors enjoy a diversity of green mobility options: bicycle, e-bike, Velotaxi or even a canoe! it’s also easy to combine green mobility with a stay at any of around 50 sustainable hotels in the city. 33 of these hotels are already part of the Sleep & Charge project, providing guests with on-site charging stations for their electric cars and helping make tourism in Berlin more sustainable (more here)
• Post industrial greening:
• Veg from a vertical farm: lettuce grown in glass-walled vertical farming units; on display at the Infarm start-up in the Kreuzberg district. Shortest of food supply chains to the end consumer in small café / restaurant (no wasted packaging); idea has caught on with Berlin’s retail trade; supermarkets, restaurants and storerooms are already home to 50 indoor farming units (more here) (also see here)

Tristan Riom is the Deputy Mayor of Nantes responsible for Energy and Buildings, and Vice President Nantes Metropole responsible for Climate, Pollution, Urban Forests and Resilience (FR)

About the city

• 100 climate neutral and smart cities mission
• European Green Capital 2013
• Nantes Métropole is a metropolitan area authority gathering 24 municipalities, including the City of Nantes
• In its Local Urban Plan (PLUm), Nantes Métropole guarantees the preservation of 62% of its natural and agricultural areas
• “Nantes, metropolis in transition” roadmap: 33 measures to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 through a fair and collective transition;
• 2016, the public authority organised a Great Citizen Debate on Energy Transition. Led by an independent and 100% citizen commission, the debate led to the adoption of 33 commitments
• Nantes Metropole Pilot City Project: “carbon neutrality” citizen challenge to help households, students, and employees reduce their carbon footprint (more here)
• This consists of a programme of workshops and activities to help citizens achieve a neutral lifestyle by being trained and by having access to all the information needed. Concretely, target groups will register and get access to an online platform where they will introduce their current carbon footprint and measure their habits to reach climate neutrality.
• The carbon neutral citizen challenge has two objectives: to involve inhabitants in the move towards carbon neutrality by accompanying them in their fundamental lifestyle changes, and to make public policies and stakeholders evolve towards a territory aiming at carbon neutrality. These will include various sectors that emit GHGs, such as mobility, housing, consumption, waste, digital, and industry.
• Nantes Nord co-creation of a Healthy Corridor: Nantes Nord transformed into a ‘Living Lab‘ for urban transformation (more here). The Mobil’O bus in Nantes Nord: Serving as a roving meeting point, it facilitates direct exchanges with local residents about the ongoing project and the Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) being implemented in their district. This mobile living lab is a dynamic space where citizens gather to discuss, brainstorm, and provide feedback on the various aspects of the Healthy Corridor and other NBS interventions.

Paulo Lopes Silva is the Deputy Mayor of Guimaraes for Innovation, Digital Transition and Smart Cities (PT).

Councillor at Guimarães Municipality with responsibility for the following areas: Culture, Modernization, Innovation, Digital Transition, Smart Cities and Tourism. He is also representative of the Municipality of Guimarães on the board of the Associação Norte Cultural and at the General Assembly of the Portuguese Association of Municipalities with a Historic Center, and in Culture Forum of Eurocitties and in Intelligent Cities Challenge – ICC. Graduated in Computer Engineering and Master in Systems Engineering from the University of Minho, he has training in SCRUM Master and Digital Transformation from the Instituto Superior Técnico of the University of Lisbon.

About the city

• 100 climate neutral and smart cities mission
• Guimarães 2030 Sustainable Development Strategy
• Ecological Footprint: guide greening policy to develop a consistent vision of sustainability, especially in land use and consumption, and interventions in food and transport will be prioritized
• Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan

Guimaraes District C City Pilot Project (more here): District C (social experiment for neighbourhood development based on culture, knowledge and creativity) as a testing ground for zero-carbon policies. The basis of the pilot activities are a citizens’ pact for carbon neutrality and co-creation strategies that enable action in different areas, such as energy, mobility, circular economy, waste and land use.

Entirely dedicated to the European Union, Joanna Drake’s career has been propelled by her relentless energy and passion for the project and the values the EU stands for. As such for the last 40 years, she has contributed to the EU in several roles at the national and European level. Since 2021, Joanna DRAKE has been the Deputy Director-General of the European Commission's Directorate-General (DG) for Research and Innovation (DG RTD). In this role, she provides overall assistance to the Director-General in the management of the DG, contributing to the definition, coordination and implementation of strategy and policy orientation.

She currently focuses mainly on the green transition policies, health (she is mission manager for Cancer) and culture, synergies and co-chairs the Group on Earth Observation for the Commission.

Between 2016 and 2021, she Deputy Director-General in DG Environment where she chaired a crosscutting Task Force spear-heading strategic positions for the DG on (inter-alia) the post-2020 Commission financial framework negotiations, Brexit co-ordination, the urban agenda and the future-proofing of the EU's environmental acquis.

Between 2010 and 2015 she was director for SME's and Entrepreneurship in the DG for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW). During her tenure in DG GROW she also led the Commission's Task Force on The Collaborative Economy, New Business Models And SME's. By training, Joanna holds a doctorate in laws from the University of Malta, where she also taught EU law full time in the Department of European and Comparative Law in the run up to Malta’s EU accession. She acquired a post-graduate degree in Advanced European Legal Studies from the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium.

She held various legal and management posts in the private (including Head of Legal/Regulatory Department in Vodafone Malta) and public sector before joining the European Commission as head of the European Commission Representation in Malta in 2005. She also had a key role in the Malta-EU accession negotiations as member of the Malta-EU Steering and Action Committee and chaired the national ‘YES movement’ in the run up to the referendum on Malta’s EU accession in 2003.

Joanna is a trained actress (and still treads the boards in Brussels, agenda permitting) and is very keen on sticking to her daily dose of physical training…apart from taking care of her cat, Winston.

Anna Athanasopoulou is Head of Unit, ‘Proximity, Social Economy and Creative Industries’, at the European Commission. An EU official since 2002, she has held different positions at services and Cabinet-level at the European Commission and the Council of the EU, relating to tourism and textiles, culture and media policy, creative industries, and external relations.

Before joining the EU civil service, Anna worked as Adviser to two Ministers of Culture in Greece and as Director of Programme Planning for the Athens 2004 Cultural Olympiad.

In parallel, she lectured on History of Art and Cultural Management. Anna studied Archaeology (University of Thessaloniki), specialised in History of Art, where she holds an M.A. (George Washington University) and a Ph.D (Courtauld Institute of Art), and is the author of publications on History of Art and cultural policy.

Mayor Lasse Frimand Jensen has been a member of the City Council of Aalborg since 2014 and has also served as the chairman of the Danish Water Association, the Port of Aalborg and Aalborg Utilities Company.

As City Councilor, Jensen has been a key figure in setting up Green Hub Denmark, a strong public-private partnership that uses green innovation, sustainable business models, and large-scale testing to address climate challenges. He has experience working with citizens and engaging them in the green transition, and set up the Green Agent's project, which aims at promoting sustainability among residents of the city.

Since June 2023, he has been the Mayor of the City of Aalborg. As Mayor of Aalborg, Lasse Frimand Jensen, is Chair of the Finance Committee, Chair of Aalborg Business Council and Chair of the Regional Council of Municipalities. Furthermore, Jensen sits on the board of Destination North Denmark.

Up until his appointment of Mayor, Lasse Frimand Jensen was Head of the International House in Aalborg.

Mayor Lasse Frimand Jensen is serving his second term in ICLEIs Regional Executive Committee where he is vice-president.

Lasse Frimand Jensen holds a MSc in Development and International Relations from Aalborg University.

Markku Markkula is the President of the Helsinki-Uusimaa Region Finland. He is one of the Vice-Presidents of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR), having been the CoR President in 2015-2017. He is a long-standing City Councillor in Espoo, the second largest city in Finland, having been the President of the City Council and the Chair of the City Board.

His professional experience focuses on knowledge creation, lifelong learning, societal innovations, and change management. He has worked for years as the Advisor to the Aalto University Presidents and as the Director of Lifelong Learning Institute Dipoli at the Helsinki University of Technology.

Mr. Markkula has many influential roles in the EU policy, including the CoR Rapporteur on important opinions such as innovation, digitalization, research policy, industrial renaissance, start-ups, SDGs and climate. Most recently, he has been the CoR Rapporteur on European Missions and the New European Innovation Agenda.

Within the CoR, he is the EPP coordinator for the ENVE Commission, focusing especially on Green Deal, i.e., climate, energy, and nature policies. He is the Green Deal Going Local working group member and the Covenant of Mayors Ambassador. He has represented European cities and regions in several COPs, starting from Paris COP21 in 2015.

He was a Member of the Parliament of Finland from 1995-2003. As an MP, his international role included the Presidency of EPTA Council, European Parliamentary Technology Assessment Network.

Brigitte Mouligneau studied Law at the K.U.Leuven, Belgium. After a first career in European relations, she became the Head of the Strategic Policy Unit of the Flemish Government. She’s specialised in long term strategies and transition management.

In 2016 Brigitte joined the Circular Flanders’ team at OVAM (the Public Waste Agency).

After 2 years she was appointed by the Ministers of Environment and of Economy and Innovation as the Transition Manager of Circular Flanders. Circular Flanders is a public private partnership working on the transition towards the circular economy in Flanders. In the Flemish Climate Action Plan the goal is set on reducing the material footprint with 30 percent by 2030 by introducing the circular principles in our economy and in our society.

Martin W. W. Horn, Lord Mayor of Freiburg im Breisgau since July 2018. He studied International Social Work at the University of Applied Sciences in Ludwigsburg and then completed a Master’s degree in “European and World Politics”. Until he took office in Freiburg, Horn was the European and Development Coordinator of the city of Sindelfingen and, among other things, ExecutiveDirector of the European city network Eurotowns.

As Lord Mayor of Freiburg, Martin W. W. Horn is committed to climate protection, affordable housing, digitization, social justice and closeness to citizens. Among other things, he is also President of ICLEI Europe - Local Governments for Sustainability. When it comes to climate protection, Horn pursues an integrated policy approach, especially for future generations. Part of this policy is a climate conservation offensive of the city of Freiburg with many concrete climate preservation measures.

Horn considers international collaboration through ICLEI key. Freiburg´s work on putting the SDGs into practice on a local level is a good example of how sustainable development is a cross-sectional theme, touching all areas of living and all tasks of a local authority.

Martin Horn holds a Bachelor's degree in International social work and a Master’s degree in European and World Politics. Before being elected Lord Mayor of Freiburg in 2018, Horn worked as European and Development Coordinator for the City of Sindelfingen (Germany) and as a freelance lecturer at the Ludwigsburg Protestant University of Applied Science.