M100 Mirror Mission Cities Hub Romania

By project CDREUROPE

Published on 05 November 2024

Romania

About this good practice

M100 is a platform for testing, facilitating and disseminating information for the benefit of cities committed to achieving climate goals.Through knowledge sharing and exchange of good practices among cities, the platform is a top-down initiative that identifies solutions and make recommendations on access and use of resources in a complementary and synergetic way to address the challenges of urban transition. A funding program dedicated to 10 Romanian cities that commit to become climate neutral by 2030 is launched through the M100 platform.The cities will develop an Action Plan, a Climate City Contract and a Climate Investment Plan that will support them in the journey of becoming climate neutral. Part of the C.C.C and C.I. Plan is the formation of public-private partnerships that encourage SMEs to adopt digital technologies and become more digital responsible. It will encourage the adoption of a climate neutral perspective in business operations, thus improving value chains, promoting start-ups and green job creation.The platform is a result of a policy instrument, a MoU signed by the main ministries in Romania. It addresses the challenges of lack of information and good practices regarding the transition towards climate neutrality for cities. The main stakeholders of the platform are: cities, public authorities (national and local), organizations of citizens, associations of urban developers, SMEs, large companies, urban utility companies, NGOs, research and academia.

Expert opinion

This good practice highlights the M100 platform, a Romanian initiative designed to support cities in achieving climate neutrality by 2030. The platform promotes knowledge sharing, fosters public-private partnerships, and encourages digital adoption among SMEs, while aiding cities in developing Climate Action Plans and driving green job creation. This scalable model provides municipalities with a practical framework to advance climate transition goals, enhance innovation, and integrate climate neutrality into urban development strategies, contributing to the objectives of the European Green Deal and Mission Cities.

Laura Varisco

Works at Interreg Europe Policy Learning Platform

Resources needed

At least 4 experts (2 from IT department and 2 for content development),
Estimated technical costs 20.000€.
Estimated budgeted for the development and update of the platform 100.000€.

Evidence of success

Results achieved:
- Launch of the platform and the Open Call to select 10 additional cities; selection and announcement of the 10 additional cities completed
- 2 programs launched to support the 13 cities. Programs aim to support them in exchanging knowledge and practices with other Mission Cities. They also provide financial support to implement innovation actions targeting climate transition.
The platform can contribute to the reducing of tech impact on climate and environment.

Potential for learning or transfer

The platform aims to become the national platform providing support to achieve cities climate neutrality targets. The cities selected in the Mission will become pilot cities, facilitating the exchange of knowledge and experience with other interested municipalities, and turning the experience into a national and international twinning exercise. It expects to have a spill-over effect on innovation policies and cooperation of the quadruple helix, including SMEs. It contributes to the communication and awareness raising efforts on climate impact and neutrality for cities, including a CDR dimension, as the initiative is a strong component of the climate change adaptation and mitigation strategy. The platform creates a facilitating framework for embedding the principles of CDR in companies, promoting startups and green job creation, encouraging partnership between public and private sector to advance the climate agenda; improving value chains to take climate neutrality goals into account.