Sustainable Cities Platform launches sixth edition of the Transformative Action Award

The call is open to all cities, regions and civil society organisations. The application deadline is 14 October 2022.

​Local and regional authorities spearheading the implementation of Local Green Deals and civil society organisations advancing the sustainable urban transformation in Europe can now apply and win 10,000 EUR.

More than 80,000 towns and cities across Europe are responsible for ensuring the wellbeing of their citizens and local environments, while implementing 70% of all EU legislation. Local actors are at the heart of sustainable transformation and policy, and the annual Transformative Action Award seeks to recognise these innovative efforts.

The award is open to any local or regional authority and civil society organisation located in an EU Member State, EEA country or EU candidate or accession country that has endorsed the Mannheim Message.

So, what makes an action transformative? Initiatives that help catalyse the socio-cultural, socio-economic and technological transformation of societies and accelerate the local implementation of the European Green Deal. Actions should also reflect local or regional contributions that support the fulfilment of the Paris Climate Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals.

In honour of the 2022 European Year of Youth, applicants with a focus on youth or with youth as organisers are strongly encouraged to apply.

The applicant must be responsible for the implementation of the Transformative Action and the Action must have been in place for at least three months, but no longer than five years, at the time of submission. All applications must be submitted in English. The application deadline is 14 October 2022.

Alongside previous Transformative Actions, the 2022 winner will be widely recognised as a leader of the sustainable urban transformation in Europe. The winner will also receive 10,000 EUR to help initiate further actions in their city or region.

You can submit your Transformative Action here and learn more about Local Green Deals here.

The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) supports this action as part of Green Deal Going Local, the CoR's flagship initiative to place cities and regions at the heart of the EU's transition towards climate neutrality. Previous winners include La Titaranya SCCL and ICLEI Members Katowice (Poland) and Ghent (Belgium). The Catalan cooperative snatched the award in 2021 for its holistic long-term strategy that generated plans for social housing, cooperatives, attractive public spaces, a climate shelter and more. Meanwhile, Katowice won the title in 2020 for developing environmental apps and campaigns that encouraged residents to make the city more sustainable. Finally, Ghent walked away with the prize in 2018 for transforming the city’s local food system through participative governance models. ​