C:REATE (Integrated and equitable climate action for resilient communities), a new project to strengthen resilience in disadvantaged urban districts, launched with a two-day kick-off workshop in Dortmund, Germany, on 6 and 7 October 2026. Led by the ICLEI World Secretariat together with its European Secretariat, and funded by Stiftung Mercator, the project works with the German cities of Dortmund, Dresden, and Kiel to examine how resilience, understood as an interplay of mitigation, adaptation, and social equity, can be strengthened in these districts in the three project cities.
The project aims to address the issue that multiple forms of inequality often intersect with one another, with lower-income communities facing greater environmental burdens and fewer environmental benefits, such as green areas and infrastructure that helps to cope with climate impacts.
To implement this goal, the cities will establish community resilience labs bringing together the municipalities with civil society and community stakeholders. Building on pre-existing networks, relationships, and physical spaces, the labs will be places for ongoing dialogue that help residents identify what their neighborhood needs are. Based on these inputs, local governments, partners, and residents will jointly design and carry out concrete local measures.
At the kick-off event, Stiftung Mercator defined the “spaces” where people can experiment as crucial, as they help bring research into practice; and that is exactly why projects like C:REATE are so valuable.
The workshop brought together representatives from department head to district manager from the three project cities to exchange on the next steps of the project, specifically on how to start working in the neighborhoods.
The working sessions benefited from the various backgrounds of the city representatives and revealed diverse starting points for establishing the community resilience labs. In the discussions, the opportunity of building up new structures to match project goals was assessed against the benefits of building on strong existing structures. The discussions also highlighted that establishing relationships with local residents and breaking down climate topics to people’s realities, for example in relation to high energy costs and heat stress, will be important elements for building the networks. Further, the city representatives stressed the value of listening to residents and making them feel valued, sharing decision-making power, and trying to establish structures that last beyond the project timeline.
After the meeting in Dortmund, the cities will now start identifying local partners to help build their networks and co-design local measures that the project will support in implementing.
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