“How do you make sure that everyone is on board and can contribute?” asked the Mayor of the city of Leuven, Mohamed Ridouani, in a video addressed to the event “Social Cohesion and Climate-Neutral Cities'' hosted by the Baha’i International Community Brussels Office. The event, attended by city representatives, city networks, climate think tanks, and civil society members, was the first in a series to explore the links between social cohesion in cities and effective climate action.

The event took place in the context of the European Union's (EU) efforts to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 and to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Centigrade. The European Commission’s 100 Climate Neutral and Smart Cities Mission will play an essential role in this regard, as cities are a key element to achieving the goal. These 100 cities, including Leuven, are meant to serve as models which aim to be climate neutral and “smart” by 2030, thus paving the way for other cities to follow. 

Inhabitants in most European cities come from highly diverse backgrounds and have different cultural habits and ways of interacting with local institutions. This is where the importance of building social cohesion among a variety of diverse communities becomes relevant for climate action initiatives. 

“Climate adaptation and climate neutrality can only happen if we do it together with the citizens” said Baptist Vlaeminck from the city of Leuven. Participants reflected on what such an involvement could imply, beyond the initial thought of encouraging citizens to be implementers of the plans made at the institutional level. Talia Melic, researcher at the University of Paris-Est, added that “we need to see citizens as protagonists of change”, suggesting that a further step involves allowing people to identify needs and plan initiatives on an equal basis alongside institutions.  In relation to this, attendees further remarked that the kind of posture local institutions have towards the population is thus key in fostering the desire in them to take charge of climate goals. 

In order for citizens to play such a role, “cities need to develop the capacity to engage with the population,” said Brooke Flanagan, from NetZeroCities. The group, however, highlighted that a considerable challenge in doing so is that a significant part of the local population may not be reached. Without this ability to reach communities from every background, climate action in European cities is going to be significantly limited or short lived. 

In connection to this challenge, Roxana Dela Fiamor from the climate think tank E3G added that one of such capacities to be developed is that of having conversations: “Municipalities and the population need to have conversations to identify the aspirations of the population“. 

In response to this suggestion, Namita Kambli from E3G highlighted that it is not enough to simply have conversations: “We need to look at the way we have these conversations, at the format”. Participants then explored the advantages and challenges of various formats, such as "meeting points" or “citizen’s assemblies”.