Groningen

Netherlands

Mission city Pilot city
National Mission Ecosystem Netherlands
Groningen Mission City Label
Population 230k
City Area 80 km²
City active since June 2022

"This little jewel of the Northern Netherlands is known as a thriving university town, with one of the youngest populations in Europe, building on a long and proud history as a trading city. Groningen is also known for her progressive urban policy, no-nonsense character, non-stop nightlife, and very large number of bicycles." 

Key Learnings

Sustainable energy-focused district investment platform approach for Dutch Cities

How can cities turn ambitious climate plans into projects that attractve investment and deliver results? Seven Dutch Mission Cities - Amsterdam, Eindhoven, Groningen, Helmond, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht - used support from the City Expert Support Facility (CESF) to tackle this challenge together. Their focus was on district-scale projects such as heat networks, building retrofits and neighbourhood energy transitions. This project was supported by funding from the EU Cities Mission, provided through the City Expert Support Facility (CESF) of NetZeroCities.

Twinning Replication Booklet

Overview of Replications Plans submitted by Twin cities (Cohort 1, 2023-2025) The first cohort of the Twinning Learning Programme (Sept 2023 – May 2025) paired 56 Pilot Cities implementing 25 innovative climate-neutral activities with 37 Twin cities eager to replicate their approaches. Over nearly two years,cities engaged in a structured programme of online workshops, in-person visits, and facilitated exchanges, enabling Twin cities to closely follow pilot implementation and translate insights into Replication Plans tailored to their own contexts. The programme demonstrated that well-designed peer learning, anchored in real pilot projects, creates tangible outcomes. Twin cities developed Replication Plans across diverse areas such as sustainable mobility, energy decarbonisation, circular economy, and citizen engagement, while also contributing fresh perspectives that strengthened Pilot city efforts. The result is Europe’s largest peer-learning initiative under the Cities Mission, with 37 Replication Plans now paving the way toward climate neutrality across a broad range of local contexts.  Featured cities: Genoa, Issy-les Moulineaux, Tallinn, Jyvaskyla, Vilnius, Slavonski Brod, Eilat, Cologne, Soria,  Penteli, Waterford, Eskisehir, Vari-Voula-Vouliagmen, Gabrovo, Matosinhos, L'Aquila, Oulu, Belfast, Torres Vedras, Mytilene, Alba Iulia, Jerusalem, Reykjavik, Lorqui, Viladecans, Lund, Westminster, Wiesbaden, Krizevci, Palaio Faliro, Konya, Fundao, Taurage, Braga, Riga, Lulea, Wurzburg.

Using the energy transition as an accelerator for investment - Dutch cities pilot activity

Dutch cities face a specific maths problem: municipal investments cover only 10–20% of what climate neutrality requires. This pilot introduced district-level investment platforms to solve it—bringing together governments, companies, residents, and institutional investors to co-create joint investment plans. Using the energy transition as an accelerator, seven cities tested whether aligning resources at the district level could mobilise the large-scale investment needed to phase out natural gas. The pilot activity involves. Amsterdam, Eindhoven, Groningen, Helmond, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht.
View all Groningen Resources

Latest updates from the city

Pilot project spotlight

The District Investment Platforms are aiming to close the financial gap to invest into natural gas-free districts, in different neighbourhoods of the seven Dutch cities. With their respective business cases, the seven cities will jointly reach out to the unusual suspects of alternative funding to leverage investments from pension funds, insurance companies, etc.

Read more
Visit Groningen City Website Read Groningen Climate City Contract

External projects

City involvement in related European initiatives