The European Union has set itself the objective of becoming carbon-neutral by 2050, a target that the European Commission's president, Ursula von der Leyen, has described as the "greatest challenge and opportunity of our times".

The European Committee of the Regions is committed to playing a full part in achieving this objective and to ensuring that local and regional perspectives are always reflected in the European Green Deal, the EU roadmap to carbon neutrality. The Green Deal sets out objectives, principles, and tools in policy areas ranging from emissions reduction and industrial policy to agriculture and biodiversity.

Apostolos Tzitzikostas, Governor of Central Macedonia, said in his inaugural speech as President of the European Committee of the Regions in 2020 that one of his priorities would be to "translate the Green Deal into local climate action while supporting the communities who will be the most affected". President Tzitzikostas added that "the fight against climate change will be won or lost in our regions and cities". The European Committee of the Regions has been a patron of the Covenant of M​ayors since its creation in 2008 and is a long-standing advocate of a greater role for regions and cities in global governance of climate action.​​

The #EUGreenDeal map is an emerging and evolving effort by the European Committee of the Regions to show the steps being taken across the EU by regions and cities to decarbonise the European economy. It shows how individual communities are transforming their way of living and working, of producing and consuming, and how they are trying to achieve environmentally sustainable and socially and economically just growth.

​Do you want to share your Green Deal local best practice? Submit your Best Practice in our Open Call or drop an e-mail to enve@cor.europa.eu.​

To find fuller de​​tails about our legislative and political work on climate action, please visit the page of the CoR's Green Deal Going Local working group.​ The upload of the Best Practices submitted through the last call launched by the ENVE secretariat is currently ongoing.

​​

​​The #FridayForFuture protests show that young people are ready to engage in the fight against climate change. Young local and regional politicians are key to translating this impetus into policies and actions to achieve climate neutrality.​

In yellow on this map, you will find environmental best practices already implemented or being planned by local and regional politicians who are members of the Young Elected Politicians' network.

Check the map regularly for new stories from across the EU!​​

 ​​​

Towards a ​​​community​​ of best practices at local and regional level

In times when the resilience of our common European project is put to the test by several crises, the need to act to defend and promote our European values is now more pressing than ever before.

This collection of activities and experiences gathered in the form of a virtual map constitutes a concrete step towards creating a community of best practices at local and regional level on how to promote European values through education and culture. With more than 100 examples and contributions provided by the CoR's elected local and regional representatives and partners, its aim is to serve as an inspiration for further valuable ideas and projects, while also providing various opportunities to share experiences, exchange knowledge and start cooperation.

Already in 2017, on the occasion of the Social Summit in Gothenburg, it was underlined that "Education, culture and sport have a pivotal role in promoting active citizenship and common values amongst the youngest generations". But an imperative call to action became evident during the CoR plenary debates with Margaritis Schinas, Commission Vice-President for Promoting our European Way of Life (in June 2021) and French President Emmanuel Macron (in December 2021) on European values and the renewal of democracy. On these occasions, VP Schinas welcomed the fact that "the Commission together with the European Committee of the Regions will be joining forces and call on regions and cities across the Union to make pledges for the development of European classrooms", while President Macron underlined that regional elected representatives are the heart of European democracy and he spoke of the need to build a 'European demos' with local and regional authorities.

Indeed, the local and regional leaders are responsible for empowering young people to understand the importance of these values and of the European Union, which promotes and secures peace and prosperity. Considering the particularly favourable context of the Conference on the Future of Europe, encouraged by the support from CoR members, and building on the existing examples from many regions, the President of the CoR and the Chair of SEDEC commission suggested that a community of best practice be set up, to facilitate dialogue and the exchange of these good practices.

​​The CoR President Tzitzikostas summarized the purpose of the project during the June debate: "It is our responsibility – as parents and leaders – to offer our young generations the tools to realise that the EU made possible today's peace and unity. This is what we must do today, if we want to have a tomorrow. Together [...] we want to launch a pilot project to promote our common European values in classrooms. This will be done on voluntary basis and in full respect of subsidiarity, while using the momentum of the Conference on the Future of Europe." 

The project is also part of the Joint Action Plan between the European Committee of the Regions and the European Commission Directorate General for Education and Culture, Directorate General for Research and Innovation, and the Joint Research Centre, signed in November 2020 by Commissioner Gabriel, the CoR President Tzitzikostas, and the SEDEC Chair Karjalainen.

The project will continue to develop, create, gather and filter all options to develop the best actions that can provide a support on the regional and local level to promote and teach about European values – as a part of EU's bigger goal of strengthening European identity through education and culture.​