Sep 30, 2026
Sep 30, 2026The CITY-ACCEL Training Programme continued with its second hands-on LAB, bringing municipalities one step closer to turning SECAP priorities into stronger, finance-ready project concepts! 🚀
LAB 2 focused on practical project screening and shaping, helping participants explore what makes a climate project implementable, locally relevant, ready for development and financially viable — while testing CITY-ACCEL’s AI-supported tools for structuring information and generating initial project concepts.
🎤 The session opened with a welcome from Mr. Andy Deacon, Co-Managing Director of the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy, who opened LAB 2.
📍 Ms. Aušra Albrechtaitė, moderator, guided participants through a pulse check and introduced the LAB 2 objectives, focusing on the journey from a priority SECAP measure towards a structured project concept.
🏙️Mr. Cemal Baş, urban policy and sustainable development expert, explored “From Climate Ambition to Investment: What Makes a City Finance-Ready?”, highlighting how cities and local governments can transform climate ambitions into credible, well-structured projects that can support sustainable and resilient urban development.
💶 Mr. Grant Ballard-Tremeer, climate finance and strategic change expert, shared insights on what makes a climate project investable, drawing on more than 25 years of global experience in climate finance and highlighting key considerations from a financial perspective.
🤖 Participants then moved into a practical session led by Mr. Doğukan Aycı, IT SECAP expert, exploring the journey from SECAP measure to investable project concept. Through a live demonstration and hands-on testing, participants explored CITY-ACCEL's AI-supported tools for SECAP scanning, data structuring and initial project concept generation.
💶🌍Ms. Daiva Matonienė, MLGP4Climate Lead, focused on “From Project Concept to Funding Opportunity”, sharing practical guidance on how structured project concepts can be translated into stronger funding propositions for EU programmes, structural funds and other financing opportunities.
📝 The session concluded with a short test and survey, followed by key takeaways and the next steps for municipalities - including refining their selected project concepts, completing missing data and preparing for the next stages of CITY-ACCEL project development and financing.
🙏 Thank you to all speakers, experts and participating municipalities for an engaging and practical LAB 2!
The journey from SECAP priorities to climate investment continues. 🚀🌍
CITY-ACCEL LAB 2. Grant Tremeer Presentation 30-09-2026.pdf
CITY-ACCEL LAB 2. Grant Tremeer Sunumu 30-09-2026.pdf
CITY-ACCEL LAB 2. Dogukan Ayci Presentation 30-09-2026.pdf
CITY-ACCEL LAB 2. Dogukan Ayci Sunumu 30-09-2026.pdf
CITY-ACCEL LAB 2. Daiva Matoniene Presentation 30-09-2026.pdf