The Portuguese municipalities of Tomar and Valongo have been selected to join the third group of the Twinning Learning Programme, an initiative that supports cities in accelerating their path towards climate neutrality.

This new group consists of 24 cities from 14 European countries, joining a network of 184 cities involved in the European Mission “100 Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities by 2030,” either as mission cities, pilot cities, or twin cities selected in previous phases of the program.
This Twinning Learning Programme, promoted by NetZeroCities, facilitates knowledge exchange on climate neutrality in areas such as buildings, energy, mobility, and waste management, while also exploring new approaches to governance, financing, and public policies.
Over 17 months, each new city will be paired with a ‘twin’—a pilot city that, in the case of Valongo, is Thessaloniki in Greece, and for Tomar, it is Trondheim in Norway (see the full list here). Both of these pilot cities are also mission cities.
Collaborative work, knowledge-sharing, and access to expert support will be central to the Twinning Learning Programme program, allowing twin cities to gain insights and best practices from pilot cities. These learnings can then be applied to accelerate climate transition in their own territories. The support also includes limited funding, covering two in-person visits to the respective pilot city and one visit from the pilot city to its twin city.
Twinning Learning Programme: Helping more cities reach climate neutrality sooner
The Twinning Learning Programme provides concrete support to cities that were not yet part of the European Mission “100 Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities by 2030” but have already committed to achieving climate neutrality by 2050. The goal is for the relationships established throughout the program to endure over time, fostering long-term partnerships and encouraging joint actions to tackle common climate challenges.