Energy Cities Annual Forum 2025: Celebrating the power of connections

Energy Cities Annual Forum 2025 has been extra special. We have celebrated our 35th anniversary with our members, partners and relevant stakeholders. For three days, on the 8^th, 9^th and 10^th of April, we have shared experiences, weaved connections and created partnerships to keep advancing in the green transition.

Collective efforts to make living spaces more sustainable and resilient

Besançon, the forum’s city host and Energy Cities’ birthplace, offered a fantastic setting to weave connections and get inspired. Awarded with the European Energy Award Gold (EEA), the city is one of the pioneering local authorities in the green transition in France. In the five thematic journeys which took place on Wednesday 9^th of April, participants could learn about its initiatives and projects to make the city more sustainable and adapted to the citizen’s needs.

Journey 1, “Engagement for cooperation”, included a visit to the Grette Brulard area development project, which aims to convert a 25-hectare site close to the historic center into 600 housing units. In the afternoon, the testimonial workshop, City Stories of citizens engagement on the energy transition, analysed the evolution of less formalised to more structured forms of collaboration to involve citizens in decision making on local energy.

Journey 2, “Innovative partnerships for a city “100% renewables””, presented the Planoise wood-fired boiler plant, part of Grand Besançon Métropole’s district heating network, and the Port Douvot wastewater treatment plant. In the afternoon, the testimonial workshop, 100 % renewable in action: meet the makers, discussed the mechanisms to accelerate the uptake of renewable energy.

Journey 3,”Doing better with less”, allowed participants to discover the renovation process of the old Arsenal, which is the first ‘circular economy and reuse’ school project launched by the French government, and the initiatives developed by the Hôp Hop Hop association. The testimonial workshop held in the afternoon, Building circular cities, municipal leadership in reuse and sufficiency, showcased practical strategies, real-world examples and tools local governments can use to embed circularity and sufficiency into urban development.

Journey 4, “Eating well, eating local”, focused on local food production in the Graines de maraîchers nursery, an organic market-gardening production for entrepreneurs with no farming background who can test their skills at the nursery before setting up on their own. The testimonial workshop, Local authorities as drivers of change in the food environment, presented examples of how local stakeholders can make food environments better and more sustainable.

Journey 5, “Adapting to climate change”, included a visit to the Place de la Révolution and the Jules Ferry school, two concrete examples of the climate adaptation policy of Besançon. The testimonial workshop, Communities at the heart of resilience: people-driven solutions to cope with heat waves, focused on low-tech and community-led solutions to extreme heat.

All of them concluded with a hold-up session where participants worked together to solve challenges related to the topic of each journey, and a feedback session to share their thoughts and learnings from the day. In the evening, we celebrated our 35^th anniversary during the gala dinner, which took place at the beautiful Fine Arts Museum.

In 35 years, cities have changed a lot, but what they continue to value is the need to exchange on their practices, the need to debate on the mega trends impacting the society. Grasping the world cannot be an isolated exercise and this is what Energy Cities aims to provide: keys to understand it better, and new ways to reinvent thriving places for all. – Claire Roumet, Energy Cities’ Executive Director

Weaving connections to learn and share experiences

On Thursday 10^th of April, we had a wide variety of sessions which allowed our members, partners and relevant stakeholders to come together, share experiences and get inspired. There were three Mayor’s Club sessions, closed meetings which bring together small groups of local elected representatives, which deep dove into three topics: Inclusive renewable energy solutions, Resource-wise urban planning and Engaging local communities in clean heating.

The inspiration fair showcased Energy Cities’ work as participants could have an overview of our 5 Hubs and our key EU policies.  During the session, we presented our Local Transitions Learning centre , an open-access platform with courses to help you tackle urgent climate challenges while connecting you with peers and experts to exchange tools, knowledge, and practical experience. The open mic was a great opportunity to showcase successful projects that could inspire other participants.

The Matchmaking session allowed our members to find the perfect match to harness new funding opportunities on energy poverty and heating and cooling as well as to expand their network and create new partnerships. If you would also like to access these and other exclusive opportunities, become a member.

Martin Vanier, Geographer, professor at the Ecole d’urbanisme de Paris and consultant at the cooperative consultancy Acadie, made the closing speech Le temps des liens, where he highlighted the need to adapt the government structures to be able to meet better the cities’ and citizens’ needs.

We can’t only advocate for the local level and focus on the bottom-up, it’s not enough. We need to renegotiate the relationship between the bottom and the up, a new policy for alliances and cooperation.

Next stop… Guimarães!

We finalised the forum announcing 2026’s host, Guimarães (Portugal)! The city has been awarded the 2026 European Green Capital based on its commitment to achieving continuous improvement regarding all sustainable challenges and developments, as well as realising comprehensive results in all seven environmental management areas. The city is already showing its commitment to the green transition, and it will showcase its initiatives and projects next year during the forum.

We hope you enjoyed the forum and came back with new ideas to accelerate the green transition. Subscribe to our newsletter and keep up with the latest news about the forum.

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