Webinar on financial sustainability and the role of stakeholders in the climate transition held

As part of the ActGREEN project, the City of Zagreb and project partners organised a webinar dedicated to financial sustainability and stakeholder involvement in the implementation of measures for climate neutrality. The webinar brought together experts in sustainable development, spatial planning, energy, as well as representatives of the public and private sectors and civil society. The aim of the webinar was to discuss tools and models that can ensure long‑term financing of projects such as ActGREEN, as well as to present ways in which citizens and institutions can become active participants in the transition towards a greener and more resilient Zagreb.

Introduction to the webinar

Nebojša Ivančević from the City of Zagreb opened the webinar by presenting the activities carried out so far within the ActGREEN project and the plans for strengthening financial sustainability. He emphasised the importance of connecting stakeholders, community participation and long‑term planning in order to achieve climate neutrality goals by 2030.

The role of One‑Stop Shops in the transition to climate‑neutral cities

Senad Mrkaljević from the NetZeroCities consortium presented the concept of the One‑Stop Shop (OSS) as a centralised model for providing public and private services to citizens and entrepreneurs, with the aim of increasing accessibility, transparency and efficiency. He highlighted the importance of financial independence of OSSs to ensure long‑term sustainability, resilience to budget instability and capacity for innovation.
Through examples from Warsaw, Greece and Rotterdam, he showed how different OSS models have evolved from dependence on public funds to self‑sustaining systems through public‑private partnerships, subscriptions and premium services. In conclusion, it was emphasised that OSS should not be a cost but an instrument that generates value and income, with a focus on real user needs and financial resilience.

Citizen involvement as the foundation of long‑term sustainability

Ignatius But from the organisation DemSoc presented ways in which citizens can actively participate in financing and implementing the local green transition, especially through civic crowdfunding. He highlighted five basic roles citizens can have — they can act as consumers, voters, knowledge holders, financiers and co‑producers.
An example from Canada (Vancouver - Green Streets programme) shows how citizens, with the support of city authorities, volunteer in maintaining green areas. The city provides support in the form of tools, compost and expert advice. Such models combine financial and labour participation, contributing to a fairer and more sustainable transition.
The presentation included several concrete ways in which citizens can financially participate in local transition projects. Examples were presented from Križevci, where civic financing of solar power plants is implemented; from Rotterdam, Ghent and London, where crowdfunding is carried out with city support; and from Spain, where the energy cooperative Som Energia has more than 80,000 members.
But concluded that citizens can be drivers of change if they are enabled to participate and recognised as equal partners in the green transition.

Financial sustainability of public energy and climate projects

Hrvoje Maras, project manager from REGEA, spoke about the challenges of financing energy‑climate projects, especially when it comes to public infrastructure. He noted that increasingly ambitious emission‑reduction goals often reduce the short‑term financial profitability of projects, which requires a change in approach to evaluating and planning investments.
He offered practical tools for achieving financial sustainability, including blended financing models, use of European funds, public‑private partnerships and innovative approaches such as crowdfunding. He placed special emphasis on planning sustainability from the very beginning of the project, which includes clearly defined financing models, involvement of the local community and strategic networking with partners.

Conclusions and next steps

The webinar confirmed that financial sustainability is an important factor in the implementation of climate‑neutral projects and that it requires strategic planning, cross‑sector cooperation and community participation. Experiences and examples of good practice were exchanged, and participants recognised the importance of continuing dialogue among all relevant actors.
In the upcoming period, activities will focus on nature‑based solutions, citizen participation and other topics that promote the work of the Working Group for Climate Neutrality and Greening.