The municipality of Cascais was one of three finalists for the 2026 Local Sustainability Award of ICLEI Europe, awarded during the European Week of Regions and Cities, in Brussels. The project Ecosystem for a Just Energy Transition aims to make the energy transition accessible to vulnerable families, through a Green Support Fund that helps families access energy efficiency improvements in homes, with innovative financing and community support. The prize, promoted by ICLEI Europe, the city of Aalborg, and the European Committee of the Regions, went to Turin.
Of the families supported in Cascais, 384 received 100% funding, and the project contributes to an estimated reduction of 64 tonnes of CO₂ emissions per year. “The Cascais Green Fund shows that a successful energy transition must also be a just transition,” says Luís Almeida Capão, vice-president of the Cascais City Council, who sees the recognition as an important sign at a time when the municipality is approaching one thousand families supported. The work brings together social organizations, the municipality’s One-Stop Shops, and academic knowledge.
The winner, the RePoPP (Progetto Organico Porta Palazzo) project, from Turin, recovers surplus food from urban markets and gives refugees and asylum seekers an active role in this work. In 2025 it recovered more than 220 tonnes of food, supported about 5,000 beneficiaries per month, and contributed to nearly 30,000 meals in shelters and community feeding programs. The third finalist, Muğla, in Turkey, presented a circular model of construction and demolition waste management that, since 2025, has already managed more than 809,000 cubic metres of waste and recovered more than 27,000 cubic metres of materials for reuse.
For Matthew Bach, director of ICLEI Europe, the three projects show “what happens when local governments have space to innovate, work with communities and build solutions around real local needs.” ICLEI, a network with more than 2,500 local and regional governments in 125 countries, emphasizes the role of local democracy in Europe’s sustainable transition.
