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Do you think global development initiatives can only be pursued by national or European authorities? Think again.

Local authorities are encouraged to work together for sustainable development under the call “Partnerships for sustainable cities” from the European Commission’s Non-State Actors and Local Authorities Programme. The Directorate General for International Cooperation and Development (DG DEVCO) is now accepting applications for projects that partner local authorities or associations of local authorities in the European Union with their counterparts around the world.

Partnerships with cities in Sub-Saharan Africa will receive the greatest share of funding, but grants will also go to partnerships with cities in Asia and the Pacific; Latin America, Central America and the Caribbean; and the Neighbourhood South and East.

What should the projects look like?

This funding opportunity aims to “promote integrated urban development through partnerships built among Local Authorities of the EU Member States and of partner countries in accordance with the [UN] 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development,” specifically the targets in Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities. But project applications should propose actions that correspond to more specific objectives and that adhere to methodological principles laid out in the call.

All projects should aim to strengthen urban governance. Additionally, they should target at least one of the following objectives:

Ensure social inclusiveness of cities
Improve resilience and greening of cities
Improve prosperity and innovation in cities

Peer-to-peer exchange is the basic methodology to be promoted. Projects can either propose new partnerships or upscale those already existing. Either way, the partnerships funded should implement a form of twinning or decentralised cooperation. Furthermore, actions should facilitate multi-stakeholder and multi-sector approaches to problem solving.

To learn more, consult the call guidelines on the Commission website. The Commission has also posted a video of its recent information session about the funding opportunity. You may find this to be a useful way to find answers to your questions about the call before they arise.

Get started!

Concept notes must be submitted to the online platform by 6 December at 12:00 (Brussels local time). Requests for full applications will be sent out following a preliminary selection.

Be sure to communicate any outstanding questions by 15 November to EuropeAid-161146@ec.europa.eu.

We encourage you to get in touch with the AER Project Unit if you would like to find potential partners to join your application.