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The European Commission launches Communities for Climate: An initiative to support local citizens’ actions to respond to climate change

Feb 27, 2024 | News

Climate change is no longer a distant threat but a pressing reality. Floods, fires, droughts, and the loss of biodiversity are impacting people worldwide. In response to these climate, ecological and related socio-economic challenges, the European Commission is kick-starting the Communities for Climate – C4C pilot action.

Communities for Climate aim to harness the power of citizens-based local initiatives in response to the urgency of climate change by supporting 50 local climate-related community projects, to empower these communities to become beacons for others, providing replicable examples and good practices locally to inspire broader change across Europe.

A call to select the 50 Communities for Climate projects is being launched to the attention of local communities committed to climate actions in the following areas: regenerating biodiversity, water management, local circular economies or renewable energy in urban or rural settings.

People actively involved in a dynamic citizens’ community, working on enhancing circular economy within their area, or Climate Pact Ambassador are good examples of the kind of initiatives who could directly benefit from Communities for Climate.

Some benefits for the 50 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.  

The place-based dimension is a key feature of the C4C initiative. The selected initiatives will be located 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 in tackling climate issues are encouraged.

The call will be open from 21 February 2024, with a deadline for submissions set for 3 April 2024 23:59 CET. Interested applicants can learn more about the initiative by joining an informational webinar on Thursday, 29 February at 11:00 CET. Here is the registration link.

For more information about the initiative, the call for applications, and the informational webinar, visit the website of the C4C initiative.

Contact Information:

Shannon Pfohman, C4C Project manager ()

About the project:

The C4C initiative, funded by DG REGIO, is led by AEIDL and composed of ECOLISEREScoop.euDRIFT and an assortment of country and thematic experts, has launched a call for applications today.

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