This year’s awards place a strong emphasis on replication as a key driver of urban transformation in the City Initiatives category. The real value of replicability lies not in its potential but in its proven success, when cities effectively adapt and apply existing solutions to their own context. Cities that have replicated ideas can apply under two themes: urban climate action and breaking gendered poverty cycles.

The City Heroes category recognises politicians who have championed international cooperation. It celebrates the individuals who have enabled cross-city collaboration, supported the transfer of good practices, and strengthened the role of cities in European and global networks.

Awards categories

• City Initiatives

Concept: The City Initiatives category recognises cities that have successfully replicated a solution developed elsewhere and adapted it to their own local context. In this year’s edition, the city that has replicated the initiative leads the application process and submits the entry, while the original city or cities are listed as partners. All cities involved will be acknowledged and receive visibility throughout the awards process.
Replication from one city to another can take different forms, within the same country or across borders. Whether through large-scale programmes or small, targeted actions, some cities may adopt a solution as it is, while others adjust it significantly to fit local needs. Inspiration can come from many sources such as city partnerships, network meetings, or exchanges within city networks like Eurocities. What matters is that the solution has been applied in a new context and has delivered clear, measurable results.

First theme - Urban climate action
Cities are leading the way on integrating climate action into a wide range of local policies, from social housing and mobility planning to public health and economic development showing that environmental transformation can go hand in hand with inclusion, health, and economic opportunities. Even when national or EU priorities shift, cities continue to advance on this path, demonstrating that ambitious climate action can also reinforce other local priorities and deliver tangible benefits for residents.
We are looking for initiatives that demonstrate how cities are:
•    Embedding climate action within broader urban policies that go beyond climate such as social inclusion, gender, public health, or sustainable economic development
•    Involving diverse stakeholders in the replication and implementation of the measures 
•    Including elements of climate adaptation and resilience

Second theme - Breaking gendered poverty cycles
Poverty does not affect everyone equally. Women, LGBTQIA+ individuals, single-parent families, and other marginalised groups often experience intersecting forms of discrimination. Cities have a unique opportunity to reshape how support is designed and delivered by making services more inclusive, accessible, and responsive to diverse needs.
We are looking for initiatives that demonstrate how cities are:
•    Reducing poverty through a gender and inclusion lens by designing or adapting services that are accessible and responsive to the needs of women, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and single-parent families
•    Applying an intersectional approach that considers overlapping forms of exclusion and discrimination based on gender, disability, migration status, ethnicity, age or caregiving roles. 
•    Breaking the intergenerational cycle of poverty for families, prioritising prevention and early intervention to disrupt the transmission of poverty across generations, with a particular focus on empowering girls and young women and supporting families at risk.
 

• City heroes

Concept: The City Heroes category celebrates individual leadership that has strengthened the urban dimension at European level, fostered collaboration between cities and advanced shared urban development. In this anniversary edition, we honour mayors, deputy mayors and politicians who have championed European cooperation and helped build bridges between cities through visionary leadership, sustained commitment, and active engagement in Eurocities. This category recognises not a single project, but a sustained personal commitment to European cooperation, highlighting the leadership that enables long-term collaboration and systemic change. 
We encourage nominations that highlight the contributions of female politicians, as well as those from communities that experience intersecting forms of exclusion, including those based on gender, ethnicity, disability, migration background, or sexual orientation.

This category recognises politicians who have:
•    Enabled partnerships and city-to-city collaboration
•    Advocated for the replication and transfer of good practices
•    Promoted the role of cities in shaping European and international agendas, including through their engagement in Eurocities