Developing Agenda 2030 in medium and small cities building a bridge and filling the current gap between scientists, technicians and citizens to maintain an established relationship among them and increase citizen participation in order to reach the SDGs. 5 medium and small Spanish cities, 5 events with people, citizen organizations and economical and social associations to launch dialogues sharing ideas and different solutions to impulse a new green economy.

The project will be developed in 5 Spanish cities with different social structure and population

Our project is based in 5 different regions of Spain. Some of the challenges that we are trying to solve are the same for all:

-Low citizen participation to develop Agenda 2030, especially by young people
-Low knowledge of the consequences of global warming and its big impact on people's lives
-No connection between scientists and technicians with citizens in general and the local communities
-Lack of spaces to work together and build sustainable cities

Specific challenges:
-Salamanca, Zaragoza and Murcia: Real global warming risk. Lack of water, desertification, etc
-Salamanca: Risk of losing population and economic activity
-Vitoria-Gasteiz: Big industrial zone that has to change towards a green economy to face the future

We are going to develop a space to improve citizen participation and build a Citizen Green Deal together with:
Citizen associations: to encourage their participation in the green transformation of the cities
Ecological groups: to establish a real connection with the other stakeholders, especially the youngest organizations
Entrepreneurs: to incorporate their innovative vision to this transformation
Economic associations: to build a new circular economy together
Social associations: to take all the sensibilities into account
Local scientists and technicians: to know all their knowledge and to connect with the people in order to take into consideration all the social aspects of this transformation
University: to disseminate the green deal among young people and to improve new solution

Our plan to develop a space to improve the citizen participation in 5 cities and build together a Citizen Green Deal is:
First of all, we are going to launch the initiative calling for citizens’ participation and open a website to explain the project.
With the support of the city councils, we are going to hold an open event with the main stakeholders, from citizens associations to social organizations. In these events we will organize a dialogue between scientists, technicians and citizens about how to build a green deal. First, talking about citizens' roles in the ecological transition and after this, looking for initiatives to develop a green transformation of their cities.
Finally we´ll share all this information and work together on a final Green Deal to launch November 2021

Our expected results after one year are:
-Create a permanent open space of dialogue and participation to build a Green Deal in these cities with citizens, local organizations and scientists and technicians.
-Expand this idea to other Spanish and European cities and create a European network of citizens and scientists working together for the Green Deal.
-Improve citizens' knowledge about climate change and SDGs and show how important is a “green” democracy in order to avoid some populisms and other movements that try to prevent a green transformation of the society.
-Increase citizen participation to build sustainable cities, taking into account all their necessities and promoting a fair transition for all. Empower people to decide the future of the cities where they live.

One of the biggest challenges for Europe to face until 2030 will be the vital change to transform our economy and reduce global warming. The EU has just launched a big Green Deal, but, what is the role of citizens in this change? How can we empower them to build sustainable local communities? There is a gap to be filled: we need to establish a dialogue between scientists, technicians and the rest of society to build a real Green Deal, a Citizen Green Deal. Why? Because without people it's impossible to make a real change in social behaviour in order to make more sustainable cities and communities. We want to improve citizen participation to accelerate the green change that Europe needs, generating new shared solutions and commitments.

For more than 30 years, Fundación CONAMA has been organising the biggest environmental congress in Spain and we realise that there is an enormous gap between scientists and technicians with citizens. Scientists and technicians look for solutions to implement in cities but, a lot of times, without taking into account their citizens. We want to solve this problem by improving citizen participation to make a real Green Deal and make real sustainable cities. If we improve citizen participation we get better and more fair solutions for everybody.
On the other hand, if we get a real engagement of people with the necessary green transformation of our society, this transition could be faster

-Design the dynamics for the participations events (including the personnel costs): 8.200 €
-Celebration of the events (including personnel costs, travel and accommodation, informs and dissemination): 29.800 €
-Communication campaign and strategies, public relations and media coverage: 14.000 €
-Website (including content generation): 8.000 €

We are open to any kind of advice from other members, specially feedback about how this project could help in their cities and what the think about the relationship between scientists and citizens