Five cities, one mission: Climate neutrality

Currently, over 70% of global CO2 emissions come from cities’ industrial and motor transport systems. Cities, therefore, are key players in the energy transition, which requires a range of new and enhanced policies and measures.

The Neutralpath project will help cities in their transition towards climate neutrality, a key goal of the EU’s Green Deal. It started on the 1st of January and brings together 25 partners from 6 European countries.
The project will focus on the implementation of positive and clean energy districts (PCEDs), involving many stakeholders in the process, with residents and local organisations in the first place.
To this end, climate-neutral labs will be set up in five cities which, as the project motto clearly states, have one common mission: achieving climate neutrality. Dresden (Germany) and Zaragoza (Spain) will lead this challenge and act as innovation hubs to promote the replication and adoption of the Neutralpath solutions and models in the EU. Istanbul (Turkey), Ghent (Brussels), and Vantaa (Finland) will follow their lead and design their own PCED.

“There is a great opportunity for the cities in the project and for other cities in Europe to learn from the demonstration activities and replicate its strategies” said Neutralpath coordinator, Miguel Ángel García Fuentes at the kick-off meeting in Valladolid in late January.
And he added: “They will thus contribute to the global EU challenge to decarbonise the economy by 2050 or, as it is the case of the cities in the project, to become climate-neutral by 2030.”
Ultimately, Neutralpath will contribute to meeting the EU’s climate targets by establishing a collaboration agreement with the Cities Mission Platform for knowledge and experience exchange and with other key European initiatives.

“NEUTRALPATH focuses on fields of action such as smart cities and communities, energy, energy efficient buildings and mobility, which are part of the core competencies ICONS gained through a longstanding experience with European projects. ICONS’ role in NEUTRALPATH is multifaceted, as we have the chance to apply most of our expertise in this project. We will be involved in social science research and citizens’ and stakeholders’ engagement strategies to build climate-neutral labs; communication and dissemination activities to maximize the outreach of the project and its results; and exploitation strategies and IPR clinics to ensure the valorisation, sustainability and replication of the project’s results. We are ready to undertake this path towards Climate Neutrality with the whole consortium.”

(Chiara Bartolacci – ICONS Project Manager)