European Commission: Launch of EU Covenant of Mayors peer-learning programme

A new peer-learning programme aimed at helping towns, cities, regions and provinces learn from each other on city-level energy and climate actions has been launched by the EU Covenant of Mayors. Applications are open until 19 March 2021. Following on from the successful twinning programme implemented in previous years, the new initiative is aimed at pairing up some 50 Covenant cities across the EU, facilitating exchanges that will help cities and regions to increase their capacity to address their energy transition and climate challenges.

The new programme is designed to provide a tailored exchange between participants on issues such as developing a climate-neutrality strategy, or co-creating a climate pact with local businesses and citizens, or how to apply competitive funding opportunities. As with previous successful Covenant of Mayors schemes, the objective is to link up authorities that face similar challenges and learn from each other to find workable solutions.

The EU Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy is an initiative supported by the European Commission, which brings together thousands of local governments voluntarily committed to implementing EU climate and energy objectives. Launched in 2008, the initiative now has more than 10,000 local and regional authorities signed up across Europe, and is an active member of the Global Covenant of Mayors.