From 2019 to 2022, TOMORROW supported six pilot cities – Brest-Metropolis (FR), Brașov (RO), Dublin (IE), Mouscron (BE), Niš (RS), Valencia (ES) - in developing 2050 energy transition roadmaps together with citizens and other local stakeholders. The project accompanied the cities as they implemented innovative forms of governance, based on the concept of transition management.
1) Finding inspiration
The innovative engagement processes that were developed in the pilot cities over the course of the project were based on a review of existing methodologies and approaches successfully used by some frontrunner “lighthouse” cities: Leuven, Ghent, and Nantes.
2) Learning how to co-design a roadmap for your city
To ensure pilot cities involve citizens and stakeholders in designing their climate-neutral futures through innovative forms of governance, TOMORROW trained them in Transition Management. This alternative governance approach aims at facilitating and accelerating sustainability transitions through a participatory process of visioning, learning, and experimenting. With this methodology, the cities learned methods for analysing transition dynamics and multi-stakeholder engagement approaches.
3) Developing local Energy Transition Roadmaps and kick-starting first steps of implementation
Each pilot city completed a public engagement process to develop its own Roadmap. Governance structures and management bodies (transition teams) were put in place to manage the process and make sure that the roadmapping efforts will be sustained after the project ends.
4) Beyond the TOMORROW cities
As the pilot cities worked on implementing the processes learnt in the diverse workshops, more cities and professionals were invited to hear about the approaches and methodology developed in TOMORROW during two Energy Transition Learning Relays and two Masterclasses sessions on Energy Transition Road mapping.
5) Recommendations from TOMORROW project
Two sets of policy recommendations provide:
- the lessons-learnt from the pilot cities engaging their community in designing their transition towards climate neutrality;
- the needed changes in legislative and administrative frameworks at European and National levels to support the role of cities in transition.
6) Disseminating the project’s outputs and results
During the three years TOMORROW’s dissemination activities focused on fostering the uptake of the knowledge generated by the project around the development of transition roadmaps. The idea was for more cities to use TOMORROW’s outputs and engage their local stakeholders in developing their city’s roadmap through a toolbox, and to create a European community of practice around the project. To follow up and further extend this dynamic, Energy Cities is managing a Hub on Future-Proof Local Governance.
7) Supporting the research
DRIFT, as TOMORROW’s academic partner, discusses the democratic legitimacy of transition management in a first scientific paper, while another paper was submitted for review to an academic journal in November 2022.
