About M100
Table of Contents
- Launch of the M100 Project
- Launch of the public consultation for the Methodology for selecting 10 cities
- Announcement of the international jury for selecting the 10 cities
- Open call for Romanian cities that wish to become climate-neutral
- Launch of the M100 National Caravan
- Third M100 Helpdesk session
- Press announcement, ending the Caravan
Launching the M100 Project
On April 24, at Victoria Palace, the first project within the hub was launched: M100 – 𝗧𝗼𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲-𝗡𝗲𝘂𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗖𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗠𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆-𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴.
Acest proiect, inițiat de UEFISCThis project, initiated by UEFISCDI and financed through EEA & Norway Grants, marks the beginning of cooperation between Romania, Norway, and Iceland in the context of the EU Mission “100 climate-neutral and smart cities by 2030.”
The bilateral collaboration project is coordinated by UEFISCDI, in partnership with UrbanizeHub, the Order of Architects of Romania (OAR), Design and Architecture Norway (DOGA), and the Icelandic Research Centre RANNIS.
At the launch event, held at Victoria Palace, the project’s activities and plans for developing the M100 Hub were presented.
M100 is a Mirror Mission of the EU Mission for Cities and has two objectives:
- supporting the three cities selected in the EU Mission—Cluj-Napoca, Suceava, and Bucharest (Sector 2)—in implementing projects aimed at the green transition and in identifying funding sources for them;
- launching a Mirror Mission that will use European-level tools to support another 10 cities in Romania on the path toward climate neutrality.
The project’s open partnership is working to open the call for another 10 Romanian cities that will be part of the Mirror Mission. The call will open in June. The cities selected to join the Mirror Mission will be announced in October.
We’ll be back soon with more details.
About M100 – Mirror Mission Cities Hub Romania
The EU Mission for climate-neutral and smart cities: Cities play a key role in fulfilling the main objective of the European Green Deal, namely achieving climate neutrality by 2050. Why? Because, while occupying only 4% of EU territory, they host 75% of the population, consume 65% of energy, and are responsible for 70% of carbon dioxide emissions.
Put simply, cities are a significant part of the problem, contributing decisively to the causes of climate change. To turn things around, cities must contribute decisively to the solutions by accelerating the green and digital transition.
For a selection of 100 cities, the Mission proposes creating a framework for action that brings together local, regional, and national authorities, the business environment, investors and—essential!—citizens, to enable concrete actions toward climate neutrality, supported by digital tools. The cities in Romania that are part of the European selection are Cluj, Suceava, and Bucharest through Sector 2. More details, here.
The Mirror Mission—M100 Mirror Mission Cities Hub Romania—is a project that takes up and disseminates (mirrors) the objectives, ideas, and lessons of the EU Mission to another 10 cities in Romania, with the aim of expanding and intensifying the green and digital transition and generating nuclei of influence across the entire country.
The project’s activities are structured around three pillars: awareness (national caravan), capacity building (creating models, guides, and programmatic documents), and mutual learning (study visits). Over the two years of the project, the 10 selected cities will be accompanied and guided to prepare action plans and investment plans for climate neutrality, which will be reinforced by official commitments regarding the transition to climate neutrality.
More here.
OAR’s participation in the M100 project will ensure a bridge between the professional architectural sphere and other actors of power, decision, influence, and action in the 10 Romanian cities that will be selected.
Within the project, we will contribute especially by introducing criteria for architectural quality and for the built environment into all the plans, investments, and actions promoted through the project, and we will generate education and awareness-raising activities regarding the climate crisis and the response that cities can and must give. We will contribute to the development of public policy instruments and guidance documents that can then be used both by the cities included in the project and by other cities and communities in the country.
European Union Missions (EU Missions) are new European public policy instruments intended to generate concrete solutions in a short time (by 2030) to some of the most pressing problems facing our societies and humanity—from climate change to the degradation of oceans and seas, soil, or health issues such as fighting cancer. EU Missions rely on research and innovation, new governance and collaboration models, and the involvement of citizens.
More details, here.
Photo gallery of the launch event
Launch of the public consultation for the Methodology for selecting 10 cities interested in becoming climate-neutral under the M100 umbrella
Launch of the public consultation for the Methodology for selecting 10 cities interested in becoming climate-neutral under the M100 umbrella. Under the umbrella of the national hub M100: Mirror Mission Cities, the Methodology for selecting 10 cities in Romania that can join the European effort toward climate neutrality has been launched for public consultation.
The call aims to select, through a competitive process carried out at national level, 10 cities in Romania that will receive support to develop action plans, investment plans, and other relevant documents for achieving climate neutrality.
The selection process is similar to the one at European level undertaken for designating the 112 cities involved in the EU Mission: 100 climate-neutral and smart cities by 2030. More details about the public consultation on the Methodology for selecting the 10 cities, here.
M100 announces the international jury for the selection of the 10 cities interested in becoming climate-neutral
M100: Mirror Mission Cities announces the composition of the international jury that will evaluate the Call for 10 cities in Romania, conducted under the M100 umbrella. This national initiative aims to support Romanian cities in their green transition toward climate neutrality.
The M100 jury is made up of renowned professionals from various fields such as urbanism, climate neutrality, and sustainable development. Their extensive experience and commitment to environmental sustainability will be essential in guiding Romanian cities toward achieving climate neutrality.
See more about the M100 project, in which the Order of Architects of Romania is a partner, here.
Open call for Romanian cities that wish to become climate-neutral, as part of the M100 Mirror Mission
Until September 15, 2024, cities in Romania are invited to join the M100 Mirror Mission through an open call for project proposals. At the end of the application period, 10 of them will be selected to receive support in capacity building to become green cities.
The call is dedicated to all cities on the territory of Romania with over 50,000 inhabitants that want and aim to improve their environmental impact and thus align with the European targets regarding resilience to climate change. The selected localities will receive expertise, technical and administrative support to build capacity for achieving climate neutrality.
M100 is a national platform through which Romania coordinates its efforts to achieve climate-neutrality targets—a Mirror Mission of the EU Mission “100 climate-neutral and smart cities by 2030.” More about the call, here.
Launch of the M100 National Caravan!
The M100 Climate Neutrality Caravan is a series of regional events aimed at mobilizing urban-life actors to meet the objectives of the Mirror Mission of the EU Mission “100 climate-neutral and smart cities by 2030,” through which Romanian cities receive support to develop action plans for the green transition.
First stop of the M100 Climate Neutrality Caravan, in Brașov, July 1–2
On the morning of July 1, 2024, between 9:00–12:00, within the Caravan we held the Order of Architects of Romania workshop “Youth for Neutrality” (powered by De-a Arhitectura), in parallel with UrbanizeHub; afterwards, participants who were interested in developing their ideas further could join UrbanLab, either with a team already formed or individually to be placed into other teams.
Arh. Ștefan Bâlici, OAR President, at the event: “The contribution of architects must refer to everything that makes up our living environment: the territory, the city, and the building—at every scale of thinking and action.
As architects, we design buildings, spaces, and territories, but we always do it for and with people. When we talk about climate neutrality, it’s very important to keep in mind one of the five factors of the European M100 project mission, namely housing and the existing building stock.
In Romania’s case, we are talking about an existing building stock created in the period after the Second World War, which requires a special approach to energy efficiency and climate neutrality—an approach that takes into account the people who live there, not one that targets only technical indicators of energy performance.”
Images from the conference
Second stop of the M100 Climate Neutrality Caravan, in Timișoara, July 8–9
Here as well, together with members of the De-a Arhitectura Association, we held a workshop dedicated to pupils and students, aimed at informing them about the Mission of climate-neutral and smart cities and mobilizing them for actions that support the objectives of participating cities. The workshop took place on the morning of July 8, 2024, 9:00–12:00, for participants aged 15–25.
Afterwards, participants interested in developing their ideas further could join UrbanLab, either with an already-formed team or individually, to be placed into other teams.
Images from the conference
Images from the conference
Third stop of the M100 Climate Neutrality Caravan, in Buzău, July 23
At the M100 Conference in Buzău, representatives of local authorities in the area had the opportunity to learn about the opportunities they can access by joining the M100 Mirror Mission through applying to the call (open until September 15). They also explored projects already implemented for sustainable cities and discussed how the M100 Mission can contribute to the development of smart and climate-neutral cities.
Images from the conference
Fourth stop of the M100 Climate Neutrality Caravan, in Iași, July 29–30
Here too, together with members of the De-a Arhitectura Association, we held the workshop dedicated to pupils and students, carried out on the morning of July 8, 2024, 9:00–12:00, for participants aged 15–25. Afterwards, participants who were interested in developing their ideas further could join UrbanLab, either with an already-formed team or individually, to be placed into other teams.
Images from the workshop
Images from the conference
Final stop of the M100 Climate Neutrality Caravan, the fifth one, in Constanța, August 13
For the last time within the M100 Caravan, at the Administrative Palace in Constanța, we held the workshop dedicated to pupils and students, which aimed to inform the 22 participants about the Mission of climate-neutral and smart cities and to mobilize them for actions that support the objectives of the participating cities.
The workshop took place on the morning of August 13, 2024, 9:00–12:00, in parallel with the M100 Conference, for participants aged 15–25.
Images from the workshop
Images from the conference
Third M100 Helpdesk session
The third M100 Helpdesk session was opened by Ovidiu Cîmpean, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Investments and European Projects, who spoke about the mission, the important opportunity for cities through the M100 project, and funding directions.
The presentation had three parts:
- The first part was given by Arh. Ștefan Bâlici, President of the Order of Architects of Romania, titled Architecture for climate neutrality—an overall framework and the motivation for the Order’s involvement in the M100 project.
- The second part, titled The architectural and urban dimension in the transition toward climate neutrality. Perspectives and models, was presented by Arh. Eugen Pănescu, OAR expert, offering a broader legislative framework and examples of good practices toward climate neutrality.
- The last part, Quality in public procurement. Design competitions, was presented by Arh. Mirona Crăciun, head of OAR’s Competitions department, and covered good-practice models of architectural competitions in Europe and in Romania, as a way to ensure the guarantee and quality of public procurement.
Possible Cities – integrated toolkit for climate neutrality
The M100 Mirror Mission was created to learn and replicate the European model on a larger scale in the country; in this way, it has succeeded in competitively attracting another 10 cities in Romania to the national program that faithfully follows the steps taken by the selected European cities. Thus, the 10 selected cities will develop, on a common, similar structure, Climate Neutrality Plans and Action Plans that guarantee results by 2035.
The Order of Architects of Romania is a partner in piloting the 10 selected cities and understands this role through integrating and communicating how the built environment and landscape contribute to climate neutrality. This contribution is not limited only to statistics on consumption and emissions, but also targets the capacity to integrate—within climate neutrality plans and action plans—the cultural values worthy of being preserved and passed on, as well as the motivating power of the community, attached to the existing building stock, landscapes, public spaces, and social life.
We are convinced that the effort to transform cities toward climate neutrality is a complex cultural effort of society as a whole, which requires not only technical progress and responsible behavior, but also a community perspective, refined toward a broad cultural understanding of the inevitable future context of our cities.
The future of cities in Romania, as well as in the rest of Europe, depends on contributing to well-being through urban planning, landscape and biodiversity, mobility, buildings, energy systems, circularity, and on how the administration integrates dedicated tools in these areas and, especially, catalyzes the contribution and understanding of urban communities regarding the need to transform our way of life.
The M100 Guide, developed by the Order of Architects of Romania, is a commitment to action on the part of our profession and the others included in this handbook and describes a learning framework intended for those who plan, build, and manage cities. However, it is also addressed directly to those who live—and will live—in them, for a sustainable future, as responsible citizens regardless of their role in the social fabric of cities.
With that said, we invite you to consult the M100 materials:
- Good Practices Guide – Possible cities – Integrated toolkit for climate neutrality – Addressed especially to public administrations.
- Curriculum for architects – Continuous Professional Development Curriculum – Supports all architects and, in particular, architecture students.
- Youth material – Youth for climate neutral cities – Addressed to students and high-schoolers, and also helps workshop facilitators in programs such as “Școala Altfel” (Alternative School).
The M100 materials are also available in English. You can download them below:
Other resources:
