Copenhagenize your streets, Paris-ize your buildings, Ghent-ize citizen participation!

About cities and towns’ amazing willingness to change for the better.

Anyone who already visited Copenhagen would have been amazed by the local bicycle culture. The Danish capital city has been such a frontrunner in the field that the word “Copenhagenisation” was quickly adopted to describe the promotion of the use of bicycles in cities.

But…

…all those who also took a tour in other parts of Europe know that there is plenty of towns and cities that we could look up to as models for building a 3D society*.

Paris-ize your buildings!

In the French capital, a free, online collaborative tool developed by the Paris Climate Agency – “Coach Copro®” – allows to overcome the legal, human and financial barriers to the energy retrofitting of condominiums. This web-based platform has already successfully assisted condominium owners and building professionals through an iterative process which cultivates trust relationships and generates direct and indirect jobs. This tool is currently being adapted to other EUropean cities as part of the INTERREG-NWE project called ACE-Retrofitting.
>> More info on the ACE-Retrofitting project website.

Paris’ match-making forum on energy renovation (2017).

Ghent-ize citizen engagement!

The Belgian city of Ghent has inspired another EU-funded project: Living Streets, a real-life experiment whereby citizens can temporarily transform their street into the sustainable place they have always dreamed of. Since 2013, the concept has triggered the imagination of hundreds of citizens and led to more than 50 Living Streets. 
>> More info in the Living Streets Guidebook for municipalities.

A Living Street in Ghent, Belgium – © photo Dries Gysels

You may also want to…

Växjö-ize your energy supplyBarcelona-ize your city’s political visionZagreb-ize public spaces… Find inspiring stories in our Cities Actions database!

*Local governments of the Energy Cities network are seeking to build a 3D society: Democracy, Divestement, Devolution. Learn more.