Cities Mission Conference 2026 in Turin

2026 Cities Mission Conference: Delivering Europe’s Urban Climate Transition

 Last week, ERRIN participated in key discussions in Turin, shaping the future of Europe’s climate-neutral and competitive urban transition, through 2 pivotal meetings: 


CapaCITIES 2.0 Annual Consortium Meeting and the NetZeroCities Mission Conference 2026.

The CapaCITIES 2.0 project continues to play a strategic role in supporting the implementation of the EU CitiesMission, by strengthening and connecting national platforms that enable cities to deliver on climate neutrality, including the crucial component of the regional levels to facilitate the urban transitions within their territorial contexts.  

Across workshops and exchanges, participants explored urban challenges and national approaches to supporting Mission Cities and Mission-minded cities beyond the 111 Mission Cities. A key message emerging from the discussions was clear: cities cannot deliver the transition alone. Strong national and regional support structures are essential to overcome barriers, mobilise finance and enable systemic change within territories. 

The Cities Mission Conference 2026, co-organised by the European Commission, NetZeroCities and the City of Turin (27–29 May), provided a broader stage for this conversation. The conference focused on moving from ambition to implementation. It brought together Mission Cities and Mission-Minded Cities, EU institutions and key stakeholders to accelerate actions towards climate neutrality by 2030 through peer learning, matchmaking, barrier-solving sessions and exchange of best practices. 

During the event, the European Commission awarded additional 4 cities the EU Mission Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities label for their plans to reach climate neutrality by 2030. They are Elbasan, Sarajevo, Dortmund and Podgorica. Now, the important milestone of 107 cities has received the label, out of the planned 111 cities selected. The EU Mission Label is an important milestone in the cities' work. It acknowledges the successful development of Climate City Contracts, which outline the cities' overall vision for climate neutrality and contain an action plan as well as an investment plan. 

ERRIN’s role at the conference  

ERRIN is an active partner of both NetZeroCities and CapaCITIES 2.0 projects. The NetZeroCities team from the ERRIN Secretariat actively engaged throughout the events, such as:  

  • “Place Matters: Steering Cities into the European Competitiveness Fund” (co-organised with EnergyCities and EU Covenant of Mayor) – This session explored how the proposed European Competitiveness Fund (ECF) can better reflect the territorial and place-based dimension of innovation and investment. Discussions highlighted that competitiveness is not only sectoral or technological, but deeply territorial, rooted in the specific capacities, ecosystems and innovation potential of regions and cities. 
  • Supporting European Consultation Panel – This session contributed to discussing the engagement of several stakeholders to accelerate Cities Mission within their ecosystems, assessing the best practices, where challenges lie and the key messages that national platforms would provide for the consideration of the European Commission.

It was also a pleasure to see many ERRIN members in Turin, actively participating across sessions and discussions. 

Overall, the exchanges in Turin reaffirmed the importance of coordinated actions across governance levels, stronger enabling frameworks and place-based approaches to accelerate Europe’s twin green and competitiveness transitions, with the key role of regions to bridge the multi-level governance and cooperation between cities and countries. 

More details on the conference sessions are available on the dedicated event page.