An EU-funded project – NEUTRALPATH – is expanding its 'City Alliance' to support small to medium size towns in scaling up their sustainable district initiatives.
Launched in February 2025, the NEUTRALPATH City Alliance seeks to make advanced clean energy solutions known, accessible and practical for any city in Europe. It particularly addresses towns and cities in less developed or peripheral regions which often have limited access to European innovation circles and energy transition frameworks.
Building on the experience of NEUTRALPATH’s cities, Dresden (Germany), Zaragoza (Spain), Ghent (Belgium), Istanbul (Turkey) and Vantaa (Finland), the City Alliance facilitates the exchange of knowledge, tools and good practices, ensuring that participating cities gain practical insights into designing and implementing Positive and Clean Energy Districts (PCEDs).
Beyond technology, the Alliance places strong emphasis on the human and institutional side of the transition. Governance models, citizen engagement, co-design processes and capacity building are at the core of its approach—recognising that lasting climate action must be locally owned and socially embedded.
“Through the NEUTRALPATH City Alliance, we aim to reach cities that are often less involved in European innovation initiatives and support them in taking concrete steps towards climate neutrality,” says Stefania Mascolo, Project Coordinator at EUROCITIES. “The Alliance builds on EUROCITIES’ network of over 200 cities and works in close connection with the NEUTRALPATH community, the NetZeroCities Mission and the Covenant of Mayors, fostering peer learning and collaboration across regions.”
Who is the alliance for?
- Small and medium-sized cities (below 250,000 inhabitants)
- Cities and municipalities in less developed or peripheral regions
- Local authorities seeking to understand more, initiate or scale sustainable district initiatives
What participating cities gain
Cities joining the Alliance benefit from a flexible and tailored offer, including:
- Webinars and workshops with experts and urban practitioners on PCED-related topics;
- A structured access to a tailored capacity-building programme for PCEDs combining technical, policy and participatory approaches;
- Peer exchange and mentoring opportunities, including optional site visits to NEUTRALPATH cities;
- Access to knowledge resources, tools and replication guidelines developed within the NEUTRALPATH project.
Interest is already growing in the initiative: since its launch, six cities from three different European countries have joined the City Alliance, signalling a strong appetite among local authorities to collaborate, exchange knowledge and accelerate action on the ground.
Joining the City Alliance does not involve any formal or binding commitments. Participation is voluntary and flexible, and cities can decide their level of involvement — from active contribution to participating as observers only. Municipal staff (technical or political) may sign up directly; no formal political or administrative decision is required. By joining, the city will be listed as a participating city in the alliance, but no mandatory activities or obligations are expected.
The City Alliance is planned to run until the end of the project in 2027. We strongly encourage cities to join this alliance to share experiences and be inspired by peers, in line with their own level of involvement.
Click on this link and sign up to join the City Alliance!
Image credits: Skitz_cz from Pixabay
