ALTHEA aims at putting peri- urban areas at the backbone of the twin transition to climate neutrality adopting the Transition Super Living Lab approach. It will consist of an innovative cross sectorial (industry, mobility, energy) initiative to support peri- urban areas across a systemic transition path towards climate neutrality, boosting and capitalising on innovation and digitalization and optimal governance and collaboration models. ALTHEA will guide the EU Mission Cities in adopting innovative solutions so accelerate the alignment to their Climate City Contracts building impactful strategies and Local Green Deals.
WHY ALTHEA
Peri-urban areas face a series of complex challenges that hinder their transition towards climate neutrality. One of the primary obstacles is the strong dependence on city-led strategies, which are often shaped by current administrative structures, budgetary constraints, and fluctuating political agendas. This reliance can impede a cohesive and effective climate-neutral transition, as it fails to account for the unique characteristics and needs of peri-urban areas, which are neither fully urban nor fully rural. These areas often fall between the cracks in decision-making processes, resulting in systemic gaps that slow progress and undermine the broader climate agenda.
Another significant challenge is the limited institutional capacity of local authorities in peri-urban settings. Many authorities lack access to data-driven tools, and their governance structures are often weak, which hinders their ability to adopt integrated, evidence-based approaches to climate action.
ALTHEA PROJECT OBJECTIVES
- Co-design new peri-urban configuration by actively involving citizens, local authorities, multi-domain private stakeholders, and civil society in the
- Upgrade, integrate and deploy innovative drivers that enable Cities in the definition of climate-related rules of the game and adaptive governance models (
- Establish co-creation approaches to reduce barriers across local, regional, national, and cross-border governance levels
- Reinforce the level of commitment of public authorities in climate actions, to embrace diverse actors and communities around common actions, with adequate financial resources, stimulating cities ecosystems’ willingness to (functional) and systemic changes
- Deploy new collaboration models able to accelerate the Local Green Deals target achievements
- Propose scalable, multi-domain and multi-level policy and business models for climate neutral systemic transition for peri-urban areas
ALTHEA will accelerate the transition of peri-urban areas towards climate neutrality by establishing TSLLs as dynamic testing grounds for systemic change. Through a multi-level governance approach, ALTHEA will empower 5 TSLLs (Antwerp-Rotterdam, Milan metropolitan region, Alicante-Elche Functional Area, Epirus-Ioannina region and Lisbon metropolitan region) and 3 replicator sites (Greater Copenhagen, Gdynia and Aachen) to implement 59 targeted interventions addressing four key innovation axes: sustainable mobility, decarbonized energy systems, zero-pollution industry, and cross-sectoral governance. To support this systemic transformation, ALTHEA will design and develop 21 cutting-edge and data-driven innovations, forming the ALTHEA Innovations Toolkit. These solutions will optimize transportation networks, decarbonize energy grids, enhance governance structures, and improve industrial sustainability. By bridging governance gaps, strengthening institutional capacity, and leveraging data-driven solutions, ALTHEA will position peri-urban areas as key drivers in Europe’s climate-neutral future.
OUR COMMITMENT
PARTNERSHIP
