Representatives of ODRAZ and the City of Zagreb, partners in the project “Activation of Green Courtyards for Carbon Neutrality” ActGREEN, participated on 13 December 2024 in an interactive collective sensemaking workshop organised by EIT Climate‑KIC for pilot cities in the NetZeroCities project.
Collective sensemaking - what we mean by it and why it is relevant for all pilot cities?
Sensemaking is a structured process of understanding complex, dynamic environments to enable informed decision‑making and action.
It is a process through which people give meaning to their individual, collective and organisational experiences. To support informed decision‑making, the process includes:
- Observation: collecting detailed narratives and data from pilot activities in cities,
- Reflection: discussing observations to identify patterns and make sense of them,
- Pattern recognition: identifying trends across different narratives to guide future activities,
- Synthesis: integrating insights to form actionable understanding.
In the context of the EU Cities Mission (#EUCitiesMission), which aims to drive systemic transformation towards net‑zero emissions and climate resilience, collective sensemaking plays a key role. For systemic interventions where no predefined solutions exist — as is the case with the Pilot Cities Programme (#PCP) — it is necessary to design and operationalise processes that generate rapid and tangible insights.
A continuous learning process is needed, one that reflects new knowledge and understanding as pilot activities evolve over time. Collective sensemaking offers a way to build relationships in changing conditions, create purpose‑driven strategies and strengthen resilience across systems. This approach helps overcome the complexity of implementing climate measures and accelerates systemic change.
Sensemaking - creating meaning as a key to continuous adaptation and improvement
Pilot cities can greatly benefit from facilitated discussions with other cities facing similar obstacles and challenges, to understand the issues, determine how best to address them and share lessons learned and insights. In addition to pilot cities, twin cities are also included in this process. Zagreb’s twin city is Poznań in Poland.
The primary goals of using collective sensemaking in the NZC PCP are:
- Improved learning: facilitating a shared learning environment where cities can reflect on their experiences, share successes and identify challenges.
- Strengthened collaboration: fostering stronger relationships and cooperation between pilot cities and between pilot cities and their twin cities.
- Actionable insights: generating insights directly applicable to current and future climate initiatives of participating cities.
Collective sensemaking: process design principles
- The sensemaking process organised by the NetZeroCities consortium for the pilot‑cities programme is structured around the sequence “What - So what - Now what”:
- What? (Looking back through storytelling): the process begins with observing and collecting data, information and stories from ongoing activities. Participants focus on what is currently happening.
- So what? (Key insights): participants reflect on and interpret the collected data to gain insights and identify patterns. The significance of new trends is explored and the importance of these patterns is questioned.
- Now what? (Thinking ahead): the process then moves to action‑oriented learning, where teams consider the practical implications of their insights.
- As pilot cities present their progress, insights and obstacles, their twin cities have the opportunity to learn from these presentations, followed by facilitated discussions.
The NZC consortium plans to organise collective sensemaking in three phases. The first is the preparation phase, with sessions that initiate the process through mutual dialogue, knowledge sharing and peer learning.
During the two online sessions held as part of the preparation phase, in addition to the plenary part, work was also carried out in thematic groups. The topics were proposed by pilot cities during the first joint meeting at the start of the project. This format allows representatives of pilot cities and twin cities to choose and participate in discussions most relevant to their interests and challenges.
The first session was held on 19 November 2024, launching the process of mutual dialogue, knowledge exchange and peer learning. The second session, held on 13 December, included cities from the first cohort of selected pilot cities. During this “Inter‑Cohort Collective Sensemaking” session, there was also an opportunity for knowledge exchange and mutual learning between the two groups of pilot and twin cities.
Both sessions aimed to enhance our shared understanding of the impact of climate neutrality across different contexts and areas.
- Representatives of the City of Zagreb and ODRAZ actively participated in both sessions. During the session held on 13 December 2024, we took part in group discussions on the following topics:
- Mobility, transport and decarbonisation
- Behavioural, cultural and mindset change
- Data, digital solutions and platforms
- Communication, campaigns and awareness‑raising
- Evaluation and monitoring.
Work in both sessions was active, and all interested participants could contribute either through the collaborative tool Miro or by actively engaging in group discussions on specific topics.
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