UTM City2City is the Urban Transitions Mission’s global peer-learning programme to scale real-world climate solutions.
UTM City2City is a space for mutual support, exchange, experimentation and innovation.
UTM City2City illustrates that a local solution can have a global reach.
UTM City2City strives for participants to leave the programme with a pilot.
The UTM City2City programme connects 53 cities in 27 countries through 20 pairings to cooperate, co-create and identify solutions to pilot innovation to advance net-zero journeys.
With a 145 cities strong cohort, we want to facilitate small groups exchange to solve common challenges and accelerate innovative solutions together.
Cities engaging in the twinnings support each other to boost sustainable urban development towards net-zero strategy through a practical exchange on how to design, implement and manage sustainable urban practices in an integrated and ambitious way.
The UTM leverages existing relationships with the Global Covenant of Mayors (GCoM) and international experts (e.g., members of the UTM Global Innovation Alliance, UTM R&I Clusters, other Mission Innovation initiatives, etc.) to broker the co-creation of viable solutions fit-for-purpose and meeting your city’s own needs and ambitions.
With UTM City2City you get access to a global network of cities who share your challenges and your drive to find concrete solutions with the support of technical experts.
UTM City2City is open to all cities in or joining the UTM Cohort. This means cities with at least 50,000 inhabitants which are signatories of the Global Covenant of Mayors.
The city must have a climate action plan/strategy covering the whole city (e.g., SECAP, SEACAP, CAP 2 or equivalent) – each municipality within an applicant consortium of towns must also be a signatory and have its own equivalent plan/strategy in place.
Participants to the programme are cities with ambitious goals and a drive to replicate inspirations that withstood practical testing and/or implementation.
The 53 cities from 27 countries are paired under main thematics and according to their expressed needs.
Energy & Infrastructure
Barranquilla (CO), Córdoba (AR), Quelimane (MZ), and Peñaloen (CL): Installing and scaling up municipal-owned renewable energy and energy communities
Çorlu (TR), Sekondi-Takoradi (GH), and Zhytomyr (UA): Developing scalable renewable energy and storage solutions
Darkhan (MN), Istanbul (TR), and València (ES): Establishing a city-scale digital decision-support tool for renewable energy management
Ann Arbor (US) and Lviv (UA): Transitioning to low-temperature district heating via heat pumps and renewable sources
Sheki (AZ), Pontianak (ID), and Tilottama (NP): Planning the initial steps to launch basic waste-to-energy pilots
Bandirma (TR) and Braga (PT): Implementing energy efficiency retrofits for residential and public buildings
Urban Resilience & Nature-Based Solutions
Ablekuma (GH), Belo Horizonte (BR), and Salvador (BR): Using data and digital tools to manage extreme weather risks, including data-driven investment prioritisation for floods and extreme heat
Guimarães (PT) and Renca (CL): Focusing on nature restoration through green and blue infrastructure
Cuenca (EC) and Mendoza (AR): Managing water stress through data and digital tools for resilient urban water systems
Tegucigalpa (HN), Cascais (PT), and San Luis Potosi (MX): Establishing warning systems and IoT solutions for floods, heat, and wildfires
Nagarjun (NP), Panaji (IN), and Walvis Bay (NA): Advancing data-driven stormwater resilience via sponge city and nature-based approaches
Balikpapan (ID), Nakuru (KE), and Surat (IN): Utilising digital planning for coastal, river, and lake flooding resilience through sponge city strategies
Cooling & Heat Management
Miami-Dade (US) and Porto Alegre (BR): Developing data-driven planning tools that link urban heat solutions with economic benefits
Birmingham (UK), Mumbai (IN), and Belauri (NP): Creating citywide cooling strategies for sustainable buildings and shared urban spaces
Rio de Janeiro (BR), Varanasi (IN), and Yenisehir (TR): Deploying digital tools for the cooling of outside urban spaces
Sustainable Mobility
Baguio (PH), Chefchaouen (MA), Leh (IN), and Dhankuta (NP): Aligning multi-modal hubs for active mobility with e-public transport in mountainous towns
Poti (GE) and Straseni (MD): Planning cycling infrastructure through the use of digital tools
Kisumu (KE) and Mersin (TR): Developing data-driven solutions for e-mobility
Gaziantep (TR) and Chisinau (MD): Utilising digital solutions for planning EV infrastructure, e-mobility, and energy storage
“UTM City2City Knowledge Exchange” was held in the United Kingdom in May 2026, co-hosted by Birmingham City Council and Greater Manchester Combined Authority.
"Birmingham City Council was thrilled to host international partners from Brazil, Turkey, and Moldova as part of the UTM City2City programme. The visit provided a valuable opportunity to exchange knowledge on climate action, from retrofit and EV infrastructure to citizen engagement and delivery models. It also reinforced the importance of global collaboration as cities navigate this evolving agenda, and highlighted the shared challenges and opportunities we face. We look forward to building on these connections through the UTM network and learn from cities already experiencing our future climate conditions."
This novel twinning programme helps UTM’s cohort – current and prospective cities – create a wider sense of community, experience innovation in urban transitions, define new training needs and R&I priorities, as well as identify and scale new pilot actions.
The UTM team is drawing on long experience from leading similar initiatives and exchange programmes to nurture an environment conducive for participating cities to learn valuable lessons from each other and from experts meant to help iteratively transform cities’ challenges into viable opportunities.
Experienced facilitators from the UTM team coordinate each twinning, organize all group sessions and guide cities’ interactive discussions between participants.
City representatives engaged in each UTM City2City pairing will meet at least four times over the course of a year, through series of interactive sessions:
The UTM team will be there every step of the way for your city as it builds up relevant capacities, from launching new twinnings to ensuring effective knowledge transfer to moderating the final showcase which could feature your city’s insights on a global stage.
Though the programme’s design aims to ensure that cities gain relevant expertise, its practical focus is aimed towards preparing the ground for concrete pilot actions to be implemented.
Matchmaking:
Open your city to dialogue and partnership with new global peers and relevant stakeholders (public and private)
Sharing:
Help others to solve issues by sharing your own experiences, testing innovative solutions and relaying lessons you have learned
Learning:
Get access to new ways of approaching challenges and benefit from knowledge from global experts and from a wider pool of urban good practices to draw upon
Showcasing:
Profile your best practices and achievements internationally
Piloting:
Work in a deep exchange environment with new partners who include academia and the private sector to make your vision of sustainable urban development a reality
We’ve put together a comprehensive FAQ to help you find quick answers about the programme — including engagement, how to apply, implementation, and more.
If you can’t find what you’re looking for or have specific questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at utm@globalcovenantofmayors.org. Our team will be happy to assist you.
The UTM City2City programme is funded by the European Union under Grant Agreement n. 101102296 — MI UTM — HORIZON-MISS-2024-CIT-IBA of the Horizon Europe programme. Views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union.
