ICLEI, We Don’t Have Time, and Alfa Laval have launched Learning Lab: Energy Efficiency in Cities, a free micro-learning series designed to equip urban leaders with the tools they need to act on the energy transition.
Through short, insightful episodes, the series highlights proven solutions from local governments, with season 1 featuring interviews with leaders from the Daring Cities 2025 Bonn Dialogues, who convened from 16 to 18 June in the German city.
The series delivers concise, actionable insights on how local governments can speed up the transition to low-carbon urban energy systems. Designed specifically for city developers, policymakers, mayors, infrastructure professionals, and private sector actors working in energy, the Learning Lab provides a front-row seat to innovative solutions from around the globe.
“We are in the age of digitalization, with centralized information and capacity sharing, you don’t need to be physically present to benefit from knowledge exchange. Mayors can really gain from this Learning Lab series by seeing that others are facing similar challenges and how they’re overcoming them. The more these solutions are shared globally, the more financially accessible and implementable they become,” said Yunus Arikan, ICLEI Director of Global Advocacy, in an interview with We Don’t Have Time during the Daring Cities.
“This learning initiative responds to the big need to really interact and learn from one another. How cities and the industries need to get together is important for decision makers in the future, because this is the ecosystem where we need to join forces,” emphasized Anna Hall, Head of Public Affairs, Energy Division, Alfa Laval.
Ms Hall added: “If we look at energy systems in the cities that we can make more efficient is a huge gain for both making energy more affordable and accessible. If we get this ecosystem going, for example, industries and data centers, we can also find business cases and foster industrial competitiveness.”
“Cities in the world are driving energy saving solutions that are not used by others. What we want to achieve is how can we use these climate actions and spread them through the Learning Lab,“ said Christina Carlmark, Partnership Manager, We Don’t Have Time
Participants will hear directly from local government leaders who have implemented district heating, cooling, and other high-impact energy efficiency solutions in their communities. Each episode explores how cities are using technology, financing models, and policy tools to overcome common obstacles in the energy transition and how others can replicate their success.
The first season, now available, features the following lineup:
- Nancy Metayer Bowen, Vice Mayor, City of Coral Springs, Florida, USA
- Katja Dörner, Mayor of Bonn, Germany
- Jane Lomax-Smith, Lord Mayor, City of Adelaide, Australia
- Dorah Marema, Head of Municipal Sustainability, South African Local Government Association (SALGA)
- Antonio Da Costa e Silva, Chief International Advisor, Ministry of Cities, Brazil
Three additional seasons of the series are scheduled to launch throughout the year. Future episodes will include insights from Climate Week NYC in September and will conclude with compelling case studies presented at COP30 in November. All content is freely available and delivered directly to subscribers’ inboxes.
This initiative is the result of a unique collaboration between the three organizations ICLEI, a global network of more than 2,500 local and regional governments driving sustainable urban development; Alfa Laval, a world leader in heat transfer and energy-efficient technologies; and We Don’t Have Time, the world’s largest social network focused on climate action.
The Learning Lab: Energy Efficiency in Cities is open for subscription and completely free of charge.
Subscribe here.
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