The Technical University of Madrid, through itdUPM, is one of the four universities that make up the consortium of the European NetZeroCIties project. This initiative directly manages the EU Mission Cities, supporting 112 European cities known as “Mission Cities” in reducing their greenhouse gas emissions to achieve climate neutrality.
This interview with Julio Lumbreras, programme manager of CitiES2030 and principal researcher of NetZeroCities at UPM, explains how the itdUPM team contributes to the project, what inspires them to participate and what the main challenges are.
itdUPM is an interdisciplinary centre within the Technical University of Madrid (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, UPM) that brings together faculty, students and researchers to address complex sustainability challenges and co-create practical solutions. Our theory of change is based on a radical collaboration with businesses, public institutions, civil society organizations and other educational institutions.
We practically contribute to tackling climate change through participation in different national and international projects that seek to make cities and societies more sustainable.
At itdUPM we have been part of the EU Cities Mission design (as I was member of the first Mission Board between 2019-2021) and we started working with Spanish cities in 2020 through an initiative called “El Día Después” (The Day After), and since 2021 launching the Spanish NetZeroCities platform called citiES 2030.
Moreover, we consider academia -and specially universities- as a relevant actor to facilitate partnerships and participation processes in order to face complex problems. Universities have not only the scientific knowledge, but the legitimacy and neutral vision when promoting spaces of collaboration among diverse actors.
Therefore, when NetZeroCities was designed (submitting a proposal for the Horizon 2020 call), it seemed a natural step to participate in the consortium as part of our goal of contributing to the sustainability of European and Spanish cities.
Being part of the mission has also reinforced our role as one of the main promoters of the Spanish national platform (citiES 2030).
At NetZeroCities we contribute to various tasks, from building capacities (as an academic partner) to implementing tools to support cities and supporting the development of national platforms across Europe.
Regarding building capacities, we contribute significantly to the design and implementation of training activities aimed at supporting cities to develop their Climate City Contracts. In particular, we are offering cities an economic model (NZC EM) that they can use to develop their Climate Action Plans and their Climate Investment Plans.
Additionally, we are also involved in the process of creating national platforms throughout Europe, to increase impact of the mission via overcoming common barriers at the national level and scaling up the mission to mission-minded cities that are not part of the 112. Therefore, cities of each country can add their knowledge and effort to achieve the objectives proposed by NetZeroCities (Together we are more!)
Perhaps the most inspiring thing about NetZeroCities is the great diversity and cultural richness that it encompasses across all the participating cities (and NZC partners), which makes us learn from each other all the time. At the same time, this complexity represents a great challenge when it comes to agreeing on how to transform our cities, especially if we take into account barriers such as language and political visions. However, we love cooperation rather than competition, and we are extremely excited about the actual and potential impact this initiative embeds. We are all working for a better world that can significantly improve people’s lives!
Julio Lumbreras, citiES 2030 Director: “We love cooperation rather than competition, and we are extremely excited about the impact this initiative embeds”
UPM team: Sean Murray (on the low-left side, as he lives in the US), Óscar Nieto Cerezo, Beatriz Martínez Martín, Julio Lumbreras (IP), Hamid Yammine and Soledad Fontana.
Source: interview originally published in the May monthly newsletter of NetZeroCities.
The Technical University of Madrid, through itdUPM, is one of the four universities that make up the consortium of the European NetZeroCIties project. This initiative directly manages the EU Mission Cities, supporting 112 European cities known as “Mission Cities” in reducing their greenhouse gas emissions to achieve climate neutrality.
This interview with Julio Lumbreras, programme manager of CitiES2030 and principal researcher of NetZeroCities at UPM, explains how the itdUPM team contributes to the project, what inspires them to participate and what the main challenges are.
itdUPM is an interdisciplinary centre within the Technical University of Madrid (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, UPM) that brings together faculty, students and researchers to address complex sustainability challenges and co-create practical solutions. Our theory of change is based on a radical collaboration with businesses, public institutions, civil society organizations and other educational institutions.
We practically contribute to tackling climate change through participation in different national and international projects that seek to make cities and societies more sustainable.
At itdUPM we have been part of the EU Cities Mission design (as I was member of the first Mission Board between 2019-2021) and we started working with Spanish cities in 2020 through an initiative called “El Día Después” (The Day After), and since 2021 launching the Spanish NetZeroCities platform called citiES 2030.
Moreover, we consider academia -and specially universities- as a relevant actor to facilitate partnerships and participation processes in order to face complex problems. Universities have not only the scientific knowledge, but the legitimacy and neutral vision when promoting spaces of collaboration among diverse actors.
Therefore, when NetZeroCities was designed (submitting a proposal for the Horizon 2020 call), it seemed a natural step to participate in the consortium as part of our goal of contributing to the sustainability of European and Spanish cities.
Being part of the mission has also reinforced our role as one of the main promoters of the Spanish national platform (citiES 2030).
At NetZeroCities we contribute to various tasks, from building capacities (as an academic partner) to implementing tools to support cities and supporting the development of national platforms across Europe.
Regarding building capacities, we contribute significantly to the design and implementation of training activities aimed at supporting cities to develop their Climate City Contracts. In particular, we are offering cities an economic model (NZC EM) that they can use to develop their Climate Action Plans and their Climate Investment Plans.
Additionally, we are also involved in the process of creating national platforms throughout Europe, to increase impact of the mission via overcoming common barriers at the national level and scaling up the mission to mission-minded cities that are not part of the 112. Therefore, cities of each country can add their knowledge and effort to achieve the objectives proposed by NetZeroCities (Together we are more!).
Perhaps the most inspiring thing about NetZeroCities is the great diversity and cultural richness that it encompasses across all the participating cities (and NZC partners), which makes us learn from each other all the time. At the same time, this complexity represents a great challenge when it comes to agreeing on how to transform our cities, especially if we take into account barriers such as language and political visions. However, we love cooperation rather than competition, and we are extremely excited about the actual and potential impact this initiative embeds. We are all working for a better world that can significantly improve people’s lives!
Julio Lumbreras, citiES 2030 Director: “We love cooperation rather than competition, and we are extremely excited about the impact this initiative embeds”
UPM team: Sean Murray (on the low-left side, as he lives in the US), Óscar Nieto Cerezo, Beatriz Martínez Martín, Julio Lumbreras (IP), Hamid Yammine and Soledad Fontana.
Source: interview originally published in the May monthly newsletter of NetZeroCities.
+34 910 67 13 97 | itd@upm.es
Av.Complutense s/n. Ciudad
Universitaria, 28040 Madrid (España)
© itdUPM 2024 | Centro de Innovación en Tecnología para el Desarrollo Humano. Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. | by Marmarru Studio
+34 910 67 13 97 | itd@upm.es
Av.Complutense s/n. Ciudad
Universitaria, 28040 Madrid (España)
© itdUPM 2024 | Centro de Innovación en Tecnología para el Desarrollo Humano. | by Marmarru Studio
