Community-led initiatives and the European Green Deal

Scope and objectives

On 28 November 2022, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and ECOLISE will host a policy stakeholder event on "Community-led initiatives and the European Green Deal: towards transformational local development policies". The aim of this event is to hold conversations about the role of communities and EU policies on the path to transformational systemic change. 

This event will trigger conversations about 10 theses on what truly transformational local development policies could look like, and how community-led environmental and climate actions can be strengthened through the European Green Deal, with a focus on different initiatives such as the Rural Pact and European Climate Pact as well as existing methods and frameworks such as LEADER/ Community-led local development (CLLD).

This event will present the results of a policy consultation process facilitated by the ECOLISE network together with its core partners, which started with a kick-off session on 28 September and will be the starting point of a wider advocacy campaign in 2023.

The objective of the event is to:

  • Present the outcomes of the policy positioning process of community-led initiatives towards the European Green Deal;  
  • Enable wide-spread community-led response to the climate and ecological crisis through transformational regional and local development policies;
  • Empower the role of local communities and policies for transformational systemic change;
  • Facilitate conversations to better understand the potential and needs of community-led initiatives as change agents.

Background

Since June 2022, ECOLISE, together with various partners, has embarked on a policy positions process of community-led initiatives towards the European Green Deal. This initiative is built around the central question, "the European Green Deal: What's in it for community-led initiatives?" and invites various stakeholders to take part in the policy consultation process to provide a better understanding of the potential and needs of community-led initiatives as change agents, showcasing pathways towards a regenerative society.

Community-led initiative's reinforcing and inspirational role in our collective response to the climate and ecological crisis are featured in Communities for Future, an integrated Europe-wide programme launched in 2020 together with the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), RIPESS and RURENER, and in the presence and endorsement of EU Commissioners, MEPs and ECOLISE members. Communities for Future shows how local communities and networks across Europe can provide concrete steps and solutions towards transformative change including energy communities, community-supported agriculture, locally-led climate change mitigation and adaptation.

As the European Green Deal remains the key policy tool for the transition to a well-being economy within the planet's limits, it is high time to initiate a convergence of communities to policy makers and enable much-needed collective action from the community.  

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