Speaker
Description
With cities facing complex and systemic challenges, city-to-city (C2C) collaborations are increasingly recognised as an effective mechanism for municipal capacity building and transfer of knowledge and practices (Moodley, 2020). C2C exchanges have become a widely occurring phenomenon facilitated by city networks, funding programmes, and projects. It is positioned as a form of peer learning – an organised yet dynamic process between municipalities for mutual learning among cities that face similar challenges (Hoetjes, 2009; Enseñado, 2024). Despite the popularity of different C2C learning programmes, there is still limited understanding of how the learning takes place, its impact, and the experiences of the participating city practitioners (Haupt et al., 2020; Moodley, 2020). Therefore, using the example of the NetZeroCities Twinning Learning Programme, this study explores the process, forms, outcomes, and enabling conditions of C2C learning, supporting replication and knowledge transfer among cities striving to achieve climate neutrality.
NetZeroCities is a platform supporting the EU Mission: Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities. This platform is designed to help European cities build capabilities and ways of working to advance systemic change through innovation, including piloting (i.e. Pilot Cities Programme) and C2C learning (i.e. Twinning Learning Programme) programmes. While the Pilot Cities Programme enables the testing and implementation of innovative approaches for rapid decarbonisation through single-city or multi-city Pilot Activities, the Twinning Learning Programme makes it possible for other cities to learn from Pilot Cities. This Learning Programme is an expert-facilitated C2C learning programme pairing Pilot Activities with selected Twin Cities and enabling a structured mutual learning experience.
This study explores Cohort 1 of the NetZeroCities Twinning Learning Programme, which takes place from September 2023 until May 2025 and involves 37 Twin Cities paired with 25 Pilot Activities (implemented in 53 Pilot Cities). It analyses (1) the overall structure and outcomes of the Programme and (2) three in-depth case studies (Pilot and Twin pairings) involving 8 cities from 7 countries. The study employs a primarily qualitative approach combining analysis of Twinning Learning Programme (Cohort 1) documentation and participants’ feedback (from cities and facilitators), direct observations during C2C learning facilitation and process documentation, and analysis of the Programme outputs and deliverables.
The preliminary results show mixed outcomes. On the one hand, cities are satisfied with the Twinning Learning Programme and actively share knowledge and practices, especially during face-to-face interactions. On the other hand, the Programme is designed with a greater focus on Twin Cities, enabling structured and result-driven learning from the Pilot Cities while facilitating largely interest-driven learning from Twin Cities. Therefore, it limits the depth of mutual learning that is additionally impacted by the prior matching of cities (alignment of learning interests, climate ambitions and portfolio of actions, and contextual factors). Furthermore, the in-depth cases show that depending on the learning interests, cities engage in different forms of learning; for example, some cities emphasise technical learning while others primarily pursue conceptual or social learning. The participating cities also show different levels of preparedness to activate and engage with their local ecosystem during the Twinning Learning Programme, which is crucial for ensuring learning and knowledge transfer on institutional and societal levels and creating organisational memory. Finally, follow-up research will allow to assess the sustainability of established C2C collaborations and the longer-term impact of the Programme.
References
Enseñado, Elena Marie (2024) City-to-city learning: a synthesis and research agenda. Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning, 26 (1), pp. 14-29.
Haupt, Wolfgang, Chelleri, Lorenzo, van Herk, Sebastiaan and Zevenbergen, Chris (2020) City-to-city learning within climate city networks: definition, significance, and challenges from a global perspective. International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development, 12(2), pp. 143-159.
Hoetjes, Ben J.S. (2009) Trends and issues in municipal twinnings from the Netherlands. Habitat International, 33 (2), pp. 157-164.
Moodley, Sogen (2020) Exploring the mechanics of city-to-city learning in urban strategic planning: Insights from southern Africa. Social Sciences & Humanities Open, 6 (1), pp. 100027–100027.
| Keywords | city-to-city learning; twinning; climate neutrality; capacity building; peer learning |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | No |
