PERSPECTIVE article
Front. Sustain. Cities
Sec. Innovation and Governance
This article is part of the Research TopicBarriers and Enablers to Effective Climate Governance in CitiesView all 14 articles
From Mapping to Alliances: Practice-Informed Entry Points for Stakeholder Engagement in EU Mission Cities
Provisionally accepted
- Resilient Cities Network, Amsterdam, Netherlands
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Stakeholder engagement and co-creation are essential components of urban planning and implementation processes. There is growing awareness that engagement throughout the project lifecycle is crucial for successful implementation and ownership. While several methodologies are available, further progress is needed on how to leverage each stage of engagement to build consensus and foster partnerships. Several EU-funded projects are demonstrating how sustained engagement can be implemented within the context of the European Green Deal and the EU Mission for Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities. As a working resource for city practitioners and other projects, this article provides a perspective on stakeholder engagement by compiling insights on language and terminology, as well as practical tools and examples from cities, organized into three entry points. We trace the process from stakeholder mapping, including reaching beyond commonly engaged groups, to the formation of alliances for ongoing knowledge exchange. Building upon existing research and collaboration with cities, this practice-based perspective aims to stimulate discussion on emerging trends in engagement within the planning and implementation of broader climate action goals.
Keywords: climate action, Climate governance, co-creation, Participation, stakeholder engagement
Received: 02 Jul 2025; Accepted: 12 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Tajuddin and Kapetas. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Nilofer Tajuddin
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