Climate change is no longer a distant threat but a pressing reality. Floods, fires, droughts, and the loss of biodiversity are impacting us, worldwide. In this context, citizens’ initiatives and local actions have demonstrated greater adaptability, innovation and faster recovery. Local citizens’ communities are making a lasting and decisive impact within their territories, bringing back the sense of human togetherness to the forefront of our lives.
Call for projects
To help the citizens’ community movement emerge and share their benefits across Europe, the European Commission launched the Communities for Climate (C4C) initiative.
Communities for Climate aim to harness the power of citizens-based local initiatives in response to the urgency of climate change by supporting local climate-related community projects. These communities will become beacons for others, providing replicable examples and good practices locally to inspire broader change across Europe.
On 21 February, the European Comission launched a call to select the 50 Communities for Climate projects. Local communities committed to climate actions in the areas of “Biodiversity”, “Water management”, “Circular economy” and “Renewable energy” are invited to submit their project by 3 April. The place-based dimension is a key feature of the C4C initiative:
- Selected initiatives should take place at least in one of the eleven eligible EU countries: Croatia, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania, Spain, and Sweden.
- Project ideas that foster a cross-border collaboration (i.e. between border regions) in tackling climate issues are encouraged.
Benefits for the selected local communities include specialised expertise, peer-learning, customised study visits, mentoring and coaching, and guidance on ways to make local community projects impactful and visible at European, national and local levels.
More information here
Deadline to apply: 3 April 2024
