U_Can facilitates a practical bottom-up approach with Ukrainian Cities on their way to climate neutrality.

In light of the war and the massive destruction of infrastructures in its cities and communities, Ukraine needs support from international partners in many ways. The EU project U_Can looks towards the future and aims to support reconstruction with a focus on the goals of climate neutrality and smart city strategies. To achieve this, the focus in on networks, participation, knowledge transfer and Ukrainian “model cities”.

Following European standards and the European Green Deal (EGD), which the Ukrainian Government joined in 2020 and is adhering to its goals despite the state of war, the project starts with a core group of 8 Ukrainian cities, Dresden as a mission city of the EU mission “100 climate-neutral and smart cities until 2030”, the European Citizen Science Association (ECSA), DIN - the German Institute for Standardization, as well as NGOs and universities from Poland, Slovakia, Denmark, Italy, Greece, Austria and Ukraine itself. In a networking and co-creation process that addresses the current challenges of Ukrainian cities and their key sectors, all project partners offer their expertise to the Ukrainian cities.

Within the project duration of 48 months, the CNSC-UA-Twinning partners (CNSC= Climate-neutral and smart cities; UA= Ukraine) exchange their experiences with other network communities throughout the country, take into account the European climate standards with the help of DIN, and work together to complete the transition to climate neutrality envisaged in the EGD.

The main activities are among others:

• Co-Creation and Citizen-Science supported training activities for an effective, value-based and  needs-oriented approach,
• a gradual development and promotion of synergies between European and Ukrainian cities,
• the development of use cases in the pilot cities to support the implementation of climate change mitigation and adaptation measures,
• the continuous publication of the progress and results of the activities on a public knowledge platform for all interested municipalities.

Six of the eight partner cities are to become “model cities” for the whole of Ukraine and will exchange their best practice models with the mission cities. Last but not least, other Ukrainian cities can also get in touch with them and adapt successful models. This will be combined with a comprehensive plan for dissemination, utilisation and communication. The given diversity of geopolitical characteristics ensures the inclusion of all relevant sectors and the even distribution of the support, ranging from smaller cities to the Ukrainian capital and most important lighthouse city Kiev.

Within the project, DIN is responsible for the standardisation activities, and in addition to researching existing standards in the field of climate adaptation, will provide support in transferring the project results to European or international standardization.

Project duration

05/2024 – 04/2028

Project coordination

• Technische Universität Dresden (Germany)

Project partners

• Landeshauptstadt Dresden (Germany)
• Verein der Europäischen Bürgerwissenschaften (Germany)
• DIN Deutsches Institut für Normung (Germany)
• Research Center of the Slovak Foreign Policy Association (Slovakia)
• Enviroplan Consultants & Engineers S.A. (Greece)
• Technology Partners Foundation (Poland)
• Wrocław University of Science and Technology  (Poland)
• Aarhus University (Denmark)
• University of L'Aquila (Italy)
• Joanneum Research GmbH (Austria)
• Bureau of Research, Innovations and Technologies (Ukraine)
• O.M. Beketov National University of Urban Economy in Kharkiv (Ukraine)
• Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute (Ukraine)
• Mayors‘ Club Ukraine (Ukraine)
• City institute Lviv (Ukraine)
• Zhytomyr City Council "City Development Agency" (Ukraine)
• Khmelnytskyi National University (Ukraine)
• Leonid Yuzkov Khmelnytskyi University of Management and Law (Ukraine)
• Municipal Enterprise “Institute of Urban Development” (Ukraine)
• Regional Center of Sustainable Development (Ukraine)

Project funding

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.