As we are moving into 2026, the consortium of SUN4Ukraine is reflecting on everything we have achieved over the last 12 months. 2025 was a crucial year for the project, building on the call for expressions of interest from Flagship Municipalities (FMs) and Mission Cities (MCs) in 2024; attending and hosting multiple conferences such as the Cities Mission Conference, the Policy Roundtable, and the Special Event in Munich; the preparation of the Capacity Building Programme and Climate Neutrality Plans (CNP); and (most importantly) launching the Partnership Programme.
The pairings and locations of the Flagship Municipalities and Mission Cities for the Partnership Programme.
Taking off in 2025
The year started by setting a solid foundation in research before launching into the implementation phase of the project. Teams worked on Stakeholder Mapping for Transition to Climate Neutrality and conducted analysis of FMs needs and priorities in terms of climate neutrality. An adaptation of the Support Needs Assessment Process (SNAP) which is used within the NetZeroCities Programme, was leveraged to gather information about their needs through meetings and interviews. This adapted methodology, now called U-SNAP, was crucial for planning climate neutrality actions.
Spring skill-building
In spring 2025, the partners created the Communicating City Climate Action Booklet to support FMs when communicating about this topic. In addition, the FMs Helpdesk was launched to help with any questions on the project.
Collaboration is core to the SUN4Ukraine project, so the preparatory work (data discovery, pre-war emissions baseline, post-war, emissions estimates…) for climate-natural target-setting was done though co-development with Flagship Municipalities.
One of the pivotal events of the year took place last May in Vilnius, Lithuania: the Cities Mission Conference. Here, the FM representatives had the opportunity to meet and exchange with other cities committed to climate neutrality, all while sharing their own experiences with working on recovery strategies at the same time.
Summer selections
While the summer can be a quiet time for many projects, this was not the case for SUN4Ukraine. The Partnership Programme selection team had the weighty task of selecting Mission Cities and matching them with Ukrainian Flagship Municipalities.
In parallel, SUN4Ukraine also invested a huge amount of time behind the scenes designing and setting the groundwork for the upcoming phases of the project. The teams created bespoke Capacity Building Programmes (based on U-SNAP), completed technical needs assessment, etc.
Autumn announcements
After the pairings were made and partnership commitments were reconfirmed, the exciting moment came to announce the pairings and the launch of the Partnership Programme.
In October, representatives from the Flagship Municipalities took part in an interactive capacity-building introduction workshop in parallel with a Multilevel Policy Dialogue on Climate and Energy. This event marked the launch of Climate Neutrality Plan development for Ukrainian cities through capacity building and multilevel policy dialogue. High-level speakers from multiple levels of governance – including Ministers, State Agency Leaders, and Deputy Mayors – provided gravitas and experience to this essential event.
Together, these discussions laid the foundation for a shared vision of climate-neutral urban development and stronger multilevel cooperation across Ukraine.
Winter workshops
One of the year's most meaningful moments unfolded from 17–20 November in Munich, where the Flagship Municipalities gathered for an intensive four-day learning visit. Kicking off with Munich's EU Mission Label celebration, the week featured a rich programme of exchanges, site visits, and hands-on workshops. Ukrainian representatives met their Mission Cities partners face-to-face, discussed their emerging learning roadmaps, and explored avenues for collaboration.
The following days took the delegation into the heart of Munich's climate transition, with visits to the geothermal plant in Riem and the ASCEND Positive Energy District in Harthof. This presented a valuable opportunity for FMs to see concrete examples of renewable heat, building refurbishment, photovoltaics, and climate-neutral mobility in action. The events concluded with a full-day workshop led by Munich experts and SUN4Ukraine trainers on climate governance, stakeholder mapping, and Climate City Contracts.
Participants returned home energised and equipped with insights that will shape their work in the months ahead.
Exchanges and capacity-building are some of the pillars of the project with more than 30 sessions planned over the next 18 months.
Facing the future
In January 2026, SUN4Ukraine launches the fully-fledged CNP process. The project team will support each of the 12 Flagship Municipalities in developing and refining their CNPs as well as in building the practical knowledge and skills required to develop and implement them. The Partnership Programme is unfolding, turning the insights shared in Munich into concrete priorities, actions, and implementation pathways.
In the next phase of the project, SUN4Ukraine will also create a Ukrainian Cities Climate Hub for all Ukrainian municipalities that expressed interest in the project. Here, cities will be able to exchange knowledge and ideas on concrete actions for climate- and people-friendly urban development. The coming years will bring opportunities for deeper collaboration, more climate action, and significant steps forward towards the goal of climate neutrality.
SUN4Ukraine by the numbers:
