Although many Nordic cities and regions already have sustainability or climate strategies, it has been recognised that they need support and capacity building in implementing these strategies and achieving their climate goals systematically and in a sustainable way. With the help of the NordLead project, Nordic cities will be better able to commit and contribute to the EU sustainability, climate and energy policy as well as Nordic and national goals, which, in the end, are to be implemented on the local level.
Finding the way for sustainable and climate friendly development is a high priority in the Nordic countries. As many of the National, Nordic and EU policies and strategies state, the challenges of sustainability and climate change demands an integrated approach that allows tackling the common challenges in a holistic, cross sectoral manner.
In order to facilitate more efficient cooperation of local and regional authorities in sustainability and climate management, there is a need for finding out the factors for successful implementation and needs for support and making use of those in building up long-term support structures for integrated approach in the fields of sustainable development and climate change. The NordLead project overall objectives are:
- Strengthen local capacities to tackle the issues of sustainability and climate change
- In cooperation with the cities, identifying success factors and the best local solutions for successful Nordic sustainability and climate change management
- Facilitating local cooperation to ensure the leadership of the Nordic cities in sustainability and climate work