Webinar: Shaping National and Regional Partnership Plans to fund urban climate transitions

The European Commission’s proposal for the 2028–2034 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) introduces National and Regional Partnership Plans (NRPPs) as the main framework for programming a broad range of EU funds. With Member States beginning to prepare these plans, cities and national platforms had a crucial opportunity to help shape investment priorities and make sure urban needs were reflected in national funding strategies. This is particularly important for urban climate transitions. Cities deliver many of the investments needed to reach Europe’s climate goals, but their success depends on access to adequate EU funding. The webinar explored how cities and national platforms could engage in the NRPP process, influence national priorities and strengthen support for investments that accelerate the transition to climate-neutral and resilient cities. Learning from Poland and Portugal At the heart of the webinar were two country cases, Poland and Portugal. In both, cities and national platforms are actively contributing to draft NRPPs through working groups and dialogue processes. Speakers explained why they chose to get involved and how their stakeholder processes were structured, including Better Funding Dialogues, regional workshops and working groups. They also shared the lessons they had learned so far. Programme highlights The session was moderated by Olga Krajewska (ICLEI). It opened with an introduction to NRPPs by Goksen Sahin (ICLEI), who covered: why climate-ambitious cities should get involved; how cities are currently positioned in the MFF process, and what the Local Alliance advocates for at EU level; the timeline and thematic scope ahead. The Poland case was presented by Katarzyna Redzinska (WUT), Justyna Wieczorkiewicz (CKIC). The Portugal case was presented by Maria João Rodrigues (Cities for Climate Network) and Francisco Gonçalves (Energy Cities). The webinar closed with practical tips for getting engaged: identifying a coordinating entity, such as a national platform or national city network; understanding which ministry leads the NRPP process; deciding on the best way to contribute; linking concrete city projects to the process. An open discussion with participants followed. The webinar was co-organised by CapaCITIES and NetZeroCities.