Recent summers have shown that living in cities with extremely high temperatures is becoming increasingly challenging, and it’s clear that we need innovative policies and solutions to mitigate the impact of climate change. Thankfully, Romania is one of the countries taking significant action on green policies and showing a collective commitment to transforming urban areas for a sustainable future.
In July and August 2024, with the support of UEFISCDI and the Romanian Order of Architects (OAR), partners in the M100 Mirror Mission Cities Hub, UrbanizeHub organized the Climate Neutrality Caravan—a series of events aimed at promoting the open call for 10 Romanian cities that aspire to become climate neutral by 2035. This initiative mirrors the European mission targeting the creation of 100 climate-neutral cities. The Caravan also aimed to spread the principles of urban sustainability widely and encourage the participation of citizens and all urban stakeholders in sustainable urban development.
As the call for the 10 cities closed on September 15, we can reflect on the activities UrbanizeHub and the M100 Hub partners have carried out over the past few months and take pride in the results of our collective efforts.
The Climate Neutrality Caravan
The M100 Climate Neutrality Caravan stopped in Brașov, Timișoara, Buzău, Iași, and Constanța between July 1 and August 13, 2024.
With speeches and panel discussions led by some of the most prominent figures in urban development, the conferences in these cities were aimed at local governments, metropolitan areas, and functional urban zones in Romania. They also targeted experts in urban development, mobility, the built environment, energy, and sustainability, as well as NGOs that are already contributing through their projects to the goal of making Romanian cities climate neutral.
The Caravan events were attended by representatives from the administrative, non-governmental, academic, and private sectors from 17 cities across the country: Alba Iulia, Arad, Bacău, Bârlad, Botoșani, Brașov, Bucharest, Buzău, Constanța, Sibiu, Iași, Oradea, Reșița, Suceava, Târgoviște, Timișoara, and Sfântu Gheorghe. In total, nearly 70 speakers took the stage.
The Caravan generated significant interest in the communities it reached, with a total local/national press and social media reach of 770,000 people.
16 cities planning for a sustainable future
Romanian cities with over 50,000 residents that submitted applications between June and September 2024 as part of the Call for 10 Climate-Neutral Cities have officially entered the competition to receive support in their transformation into sustainable cities with a reduced environmental impact. Out of the 16 cities that applied, 10 will be selected by an international jury, with the results to be announced on October 29.
The cities that submitted applications are Alba Iulia, Bistrița, Bârlad, Brașov, Bucharest, Buzău, Călărași, Constanța, Galați, Iași, Oradea, Reșița, Sfântu Gheorghe, Timișoara, Târgoviște, and Târgu Mureș, representing seven of Romania’s development regions (West, North-West, North-East, Center, South-East, South-Muntenia, and Bucharest-Ilfov).
Encouragingly, it’s not just large cities that are interested in their environmental impact. While 9 of the 16 applicants have populations over 100,000, 7 smaller cities with populations between 50,000 and 100,000 have also shown ambition and courage by committing to the mission of urban climate neutrality.
What’s next?
Following the end of the Call on September 15, 2024, cities’ applications entered the evaluation and selection process. Each proposal will go through three stages: eligibility verification, technical and qualitative evaluation, and strategic selection.
The evaluation process is overseen by an international jury of experienced professionals from various relevant fields, such as urban planning, climate neutrality, and sustainable development.
The 10 selected cities will be officially announced at the Climate Neutrality Forum M100, which will take place on October 29-30, 2024, in Bucharest, at the Mina Museum.
