Towns and cities of all sizes are currently working on pioneering strategies and measures for becoming climate-neutral as quickly as possible. In this role as pioneering cities, they are being supported by the Austrian Federal Ministry for Innovation, Mobility and Infrastructure (BMIMI) and the Climate and Energy Fund as part of the “Climate-Neutral City” mission.
Ten cities of over 50,000 people have joined the mission and established a “public-public” partnership (a partnership between multiple public authorities) with the BMIMI back in 2023. They are using the initiative to build extra staffing and organisational capacity and are devising strategies and tangible solutions for the energy transition, the mobility transformation and the circular economy. The pioneering cities have already created over 50 new jobs and recruited experts who are playing a key role in accelerating climate action at local level. In this issue we are exploring the strategies and concepts that Vienna, Salzburg, Dornbirn and Wiener Neustadt are devising and putting into practice.1
New partnership with Small and Medium-Sized Cities
While this process has been going on, numerous smaller towns and cities (10,000 to 50,000 inhabitants) have also prepared climate neutrality roadmaps over the past few years with support from the Climate and Energy Fund.2 These roadmaps contain bespoke solutions and recommendations for cutting local emissions and achieving climate neutrality as quickly as possible. The Climate and Energy Fund’s call “Pioneering City – Partnerships for Future-Ready Small and Medium-Sized Cities”, has enabled a fresh wave of ambitious cities to launch a public-public partnership already this year, using their larger counterparts as a blueprint. 13 pioneers from all four corners of the country (Eisenstadt, Krems, Tulln, Feldbach, Kapfenberg, Gleisdorf, Gratwein-Straßengel, Weiz, Judenburg, Steyr, Altmünster, Bregenz and Feldkirch) have made this step and are keen to take action to accelerate the implementation of climate protection, climate change mitigation and the circular economy. This issue includes project managers from four pioneering cities (Altmünster, Feldbach, Feldkirch and Krems) reporting on the challenges that they are facing and how exactly they are negotiating the path towards climate neutrality.
Pioneering cities as test beds for innovation
The goal of the “Climate-Neutral City” mission is to encourage the development of pioneering solutions to the overall problem and showcase how it is possible in practice to live and do business in a resource-efficient and climate-neutral way. The cities are devising a wide range of highly practical measures and creating their first climate-neutral neighbourhoods. Working closely with the federal government also allows them to make the best possible use of numerous funding schemes and initiatives at national and European level. One major area of focus is the systematic exchange of information amongst the cities, with targeted assistance being provided for networking and shared learning efforts as part of a comprehensive support process. This is enabling the pioneers to share experiences, tried-and-tested technologies and findings from pilot and demo projects, thus transforming them into valuable learning environments that can benefit many other local authorities in Austria as well.
klimaneutralestadt.at/en/initiatives/pioneer-cities/
orte-von-morgen.at
1 The other major cities (Graz, Linz, Innsbruck, Klagenfurt, St. Pölten and Villach) were covered previously in our eia issues eia 4/24 and 4/25.
2 Some smaller towns and cities (Lienz, Tulln, Eisenstadt, Judenburg, Ternitz, Bregenz, Gratwein-Straßengel, Steyr) were also presented in these issues.
