Making Green Transitions More Democratic - and Democracies Greener

GreenDEMO is a Horizon Europe project that supports public administration and city governments in reimagining how they work to better address climate and societal challenges. At its core, GreenDEMO helps local governments build the skills, structures, and trust needed to lead Europe’s green and democratic transitions.

Across Europe, cities are on the front lines of climate action and democratic renewal. But while political ambition for sustainability is growing, public administrations often struggle to implement and institutionalise the changes required. Limited resources, bureaucratic structures, and weakening public trust all pose barriers to progress.
GreenDEMO addresses this gap by strengthening the transformative capacity of city administrations - that is, their ability to lead inclusive, effective, and legitimate change from within.

Over the course of three years, GreenDEMO will:

  • Explore the evolving roles of public administrations in democratic green transitions.
  • Map promising practices and governance innovations across Europe.
  • Co-develop and test solutions in Demo Cities (Mannheim, Bristol, Aalborg).
  • Support adaptation and scaling through Fellow Cities (Glasgow, Aarhus, Bamberg, Schaerbeek, Poznań).
  • Build a Community of Practice to foster knowledge exchange, peer learning, and long-term collaboration.
  • Provide actionable insights to improve public sector agility, accountability, and responsiveness to sustainability goals.
     

GreenDEMO aims to bridge the gap between political ambition and administrative capacity - making democratic climate action not just a commitment, but a reality. By focusing on organisational innovation, institutional reform, and collaboration with communities, the project seeks to create real pathways toward greener, more trusted urban governance.