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Sustainable cities

See how neighbors are turning SDG 11 into everyday action.

Cities that feel like gardens for people: green streets, safe homes, and places we shape together.

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Ideas advancing SDG 11: Sustainable cities

Programme nearbyRewildingFrankfurt

Photograph insects for Frankfurt biodiversity research

Photograph insects for Frankfurt biodiversity research Frankfurt's Umweltamt supports SLInBio (Städtische Lebensstile und die Inwertsetzung von Biodiversität): researchers from Senckenberg, Goethe University, and neighbourhood partners study how everyday city life connects to insect diversity. Residents can join by uploading insect photos to the Insekten Hessen reporting portal. What you can do - Photograph bees, butterflies, or beetles in your garden, balcony, or park (no faces needed) - Upload sightings through the Insekten Hessen meldeportal - Follow project updates on insektenvielfalt-frankfurt.org and join open events when listed - Visit the Insect Embassy art installation by ISOE and HfG Offenbach to learn why urban insects matter How it works Scientists use crowd-sourced images to map distribution and population trends across Hesse. SLInBio links the data to questions about urban lifestyles, green yards, and shared stewardship with NABU Frankfurt, BioFrankfurt, and the Palmengarten. Why it matters Insects pollinate food, recycle nutrients, and signal healthy neighbourhoods. A few phone photos from many streets beat a lone expert survey.
insectscitizen-sciencebiodiversity
Programme nearbyCommunityFrankfurt

Join Foodtura City Experiences in Frankfurt

Join Foodtura City Experiences in Frankfurt Foodtura is a ten-day festival (18 to 27 September 2026) where restaurants, farms, initiatives, and kitchens open their doors. Klimagourmet and Initiative Gastronomie Frankfurt organise about 50 City Experiences: tastings, workshops, bike tours, playground markets, and neighbourhood tables. Many events are free. Massif Central on Bethmannstraße is the festival hub. What you can do - Browse the live programme and book the events that fit your week - Start at the free Opening (18 September) or the Playground market (19 September) - Bring neighbours to a supper club, farm day, or unpackaged shop action listed on the map - Follow Über Foodtura for who is behind the festival (not a Solarpunker event) How it works Hosts publish dates, prices, and booking links on each event page. Tickets, if any, go to the organiser. Solarpunker does not take bookings. The programme can still grow through September, so check the festival site before you travel. Why it matters Sustainable eating is easier when it is delicious, local, and shared. Foodtura turns that into a week of doors you can actually walk through.
festivalfoodfrankfurt
Programme nearbyCommunityCologne

Walk Cologne with the Zero Waste Schweif

Walk Cologne with the Zero Waste Schweif Grab the Schweif booklet and one to four friends, then wander your Kiez with small tasks that help you spot waste, reuse, and resources in everyday streets. No tour guide: you set the pace. How it works - Pick up a booklet at partner cafés, unverpackt shops, or Zero Waste Köln info stands (hours vary by location). - Work through quizzes and observation prompts designed in Cologne, usable in any urban neighbourhood. - Optional deep-dive facts on the project page after you have tried the riddles yourself. Why it matters Cologne burns roughly 2,000 tonnes of waste every day; the Schweif turns that abstract number into curiosity about what we throw away and what could stay in the loop.
walkingeducationlocal
From a builderCommunityFrankfurt

CleanUp-Spaziergang am Fluss

Ufer Cleanup Gemeinsam am Flussufer entlanglaufen, Müll aufsammeln und Zeit mit Menschen verbringen, die einem wichtig sind. Inspiriert von Aktionen wie dem Frankfurt Cleanup und dem RhineCleanUp, wollen wir dasselbe Prinzip kleiner und persönlicher machen. Kein großes Event, keine Logistik, nur ein paar Freunde, Handschuhe, Müllsäcke und danach vielleicht ein Kaffee. Manchmal reicht es, einfach anzufangen. --- Riverside cleanup stroll Walk along the riverbank together, pick up litter, and spend time with people you care about. Inspired by initiatives like the Frankfurt Cleanup and the RhineCleanUp, we want to bring the same spirit down to something smaller and more personal. No big event, no logistics, just a few friends, gloves, bin bags, and maybe a coffee after. Sometimes it's enough to simply start.
cleanupoutdoorclean water
Rafael
Programme nearbyCommunityFrankfurt

Clean up a square with friends and make it feel in Frankfurt

Clean up a square with friends and make it feel in Frankfurt Frankfurt has a small public square near almost every home: a market corner in Höchst, a quiet Platz in Nordend, a bench area in Ostend, a spot in Bockenheim or Westend. Most just need people to show up. Gather a few friends, spend an hour picking up litter together, then stay a while and enjoy the place you just cleaned. That is the whole idea, and it works because you repeat it. What you can do - Pick a square near where you live. Browse Wikimedia Commons: Squares in Frankfurt am Main for names and photos, or explore a district first on Visit Frankfurt: Frankfurter Stadtviertel (Bockenheim and Westend, the Brückenviertel in Sachsenhausen, Höchst's old town, Nordend and Bornheim, or Ostend along the Main). Well-known squares like Opernplatz, Konstablerwache, or Höchster Markt work too, but any square near you is just as good a start. - Message two to six friends who live close by and agree on a time. A Saturday morning works well. - Sign up once as a Sauberkeitspatin or Sauberkeitspate on the FES page Bürgerinnen und Bürger helfen mit. You choose the square or street, FES gives you grabbers, gloves, and bags and keeps restocking them, and you get one fixed contact person for questions. You clear small litter yourself and report anything larger, like dumped furniture, by phone or email. - Or plan a one-time group clean-up through FES Bürger-Sammeltage. Pick an upcoming date, such as the Main Cleanup on 12 September 2026 or World Cleanup Day on 20 September 2026. FES supplies the equipment and collects the waste afterward. For parks, playgrounds, or the city forest, contact the Grünflächenamt first (gruenflaechenamt@stadt-frankfurt.de), as the FES page explains. - Or join the citywide Frankfurt Cleanup weekend, run together by cleanffm and FES Frankfurt. The last edition, in March 2026, brought together more than 7,000 people across around 200 pickup points. The next one is set for 12 and 13 March 2027; registration opens closer to the date. - Add a reuse table once the litter is gone, the way Klimaschutz-Initiative Riedberg does it: lay out tools, toys, and household items nobody needs anymore so a neighbour can take them home instead of them being thrown away. - Finish by staying. Bring coffee, sit on a bench, talk to whoever passes by. That last part is what turns a cleaned square into a square people actually want to be in. How it works The Sauberkeitspate programme has run since 2000 and keeps adding people: 416 patrons by 2022, 476 by 2023, plus schools and kindergartens that care for an area as a group. You decide how large your patch is and how often you show up; there is no minimum. Bürger-Sammeltage work the same way for a single day: register, pick up gloves and bags at a collection point, clean, and FES takes the waste away afterward. Frankfurt Cleanup scales that same pattern to one weekend a year, city-wide. None of this changes who owns the square. It stays public land; you are simply the person, or group of friends, who looks after a small part of it. Why it matters Showing up for the same square more than once turns strangers into people you recognise and greet. It is a low-effort way to meet neighbours, and there is no guilt attached: you are not fixing a crisis, you are just making one place a little nicer to be in. A handful of small groups doing this across Frankfurt adds up to a city where public squares get used and looked after instead of avoided.
cleanupplazaneighbourhood
Programme nearbyCommunityFrankfurt

Join Frankfurt's water-saving pledge, one habit at a time

Join Frankfurt's water-saving pledge, one habit at a time The city's "Frankfurt spart Wasser!" campaign, now running its fourth-plus warm season, asks residents to treat drinking water as the precious resource it is as heat and drought periods stretch longer. Posters, tram wraps, and postcards carry pledges like "Ich dreh ab", "Ich spar's mir", and "Ich fang dich auf": turn it off, skip it, catch it. What you can do - Shower instead of bathing: five minutes under the shower uses roughly a third of a full bath (about 50 versus 150 litres), and a water-saving showerhead or flow restrictor cuts it further - Turn off the tap while brushing your teeth or lathering up: saving hot water saves energy too - Run washing machines and dishwashers only when full, on eco programmes, and look for water-efficient models when buying new - Water the garden or balcony pots in the morning or evening, collect rainwater in a barrel, and choose drought-tolerant plants How it works The city renews the campaign each warm season with posters on Litfaßsäulen, tram and digital ads, U-Bahn messaging, and postcards stocked at neighbourhood libraries, restaurants, and cafés. It is part of Frankfurt's municipal water concept for securing long-term supply, and even children get a turn, with a button-making station at the GrünGürtel-Tier's birthday festival. Why it matters Longer heat and dry spells are lowering groundwater levels in and around Frankfurt. None of these habits cost much, but multiplied across a city they ease pressure on a resource everyone assumes will keep flowing from the tap.
waterdroughthousehold
Programme nearbyCommunityMexico City

Learn from zero waste municipalities across Mexico

Jalisco to Baja California: replicable pilots Mexico’s zero-waste momentum spans states and municipalities, including Jalisco, Apaxco, and Baja California programmes cited in the 2025 regional report. GAIA members help local governments design reuse, source segregation, and organics systems instead of defaulting to conventional waste contracts. What you can do - Ask your municipal environmental office whether a zero-waste diagnostic or segregated organics pilot exists locally. - Connect neighbourhood groups with GAIA Mexico partners for training on compost and recycler inclusion. Why it matters Curiosity and political determination, not expensive end-of-pipe contracts, are what the report celebrates as the region’s leading edge.
municipalcompostreuse
Programme nearbyCommunityLjubljana

Zero Waste strategies for Laško, Zreče, and Gorenja vas-Poljane

Three municipalities: formally approved by end of 2024 Ekologi brez meja (EBM) supported Laško, Zreče, and Gorenja vas-Poljane in developing full Zero Waste strategies together with plastic prevention plans: all three formally approved before the end of 2024. All three are now Zero Waste candidate municipalities under the ZWE network, joining Slovenia's already strong field of 5 certified and 7 candidate cities. What the strategies cover - Source-separation improvements and expanded composting - Plastic prevention measures at the municipal level - Roadmap for Zero Waste certification What you can do - If you live in Laško, Zreče, or Gorenja vas-Poljane: contact your municipality to learn how to participate in the implementation - Follow EBM for public events and workshops connected to the strategies Why it matters Municipal Zero Waste strategies convert commitment into policy and budget: and EBM's approach of pairing a waste strategy with a plastic prevention plan is becoming a template for Central European cities.
strategycandidateplanning
From a builderRepair & ReuseFrankfurt

Zerowaste Frankfurt

Der Zero Waste Guide für Frankurt: Abfall reduzieren heißt Klima schützen. Kampagne: Gemeinsam mit allen Menschen in Frankfurt wollen wir den Restmüll pro Kopf und Jahr von derzeit 205 kg auf 120 kg reduzieren. Was ist Zero Waste? Frankfurt möchte, als eine der ersten Städte Deutschlands, Zero Waste City werden. Was genau bedeutet das? Wirklich gar kein Abfall mehr? Zero Waste meint „keine Verschwendung“. Und damit weniger Müll. Genau dies ist das Ziel unserer groß angelegten Dafür gibt es viele interessante und motivierende Aktionen und Angebote. Wir möchten dich zum Mitmachen ermutigen. Denn: Sich gemeinsam gegen Verschwendung und für den Erhalt von Rohstoffen einzusetzen, macht Spaß und ist ganz einfach im Alltag möglich. Privat genauso wie im Job. Zero Waste Initiativen & Projekte in und um Frankfurt https://zerowaste-ffm.de/initiativenprojekte/ © Umweltamt der Stadt Frankfurt am Main 2026
circular economyreusereduce
Rafael
Programme nearbyCommunityLisbon

PAYT pilots in Portugal: municipalities taking control of waste costs

Pay-As-You-Throw arrives in Portuguese cities In 2024 the Portuguese national government opened new Pay-As-You-Throw (PAYT) funding schemes, making it financially viable for municipalities to overhaul their waste collection systems. Municipalities including Fornos de Algodres, São João da Madeira, and Silves are implementing the measures they observed during study visits to Italy and Spain: including door-to-door collection schedules, smart bin tags that identify and reject incorrectly sorted bins, and digital monitoring tools. What PAYT means for residents - Households that separate waste correctly and generate less residual waste pay lower bills - The system creates a direct, fair link between individual behaviour and cost - Monitoring data helps municipalities pinpoint collection problems before they worsen What you can do - If your municipality is piloting PAYT, attend public information sessions and ask how your household can benefit - Advocate with your local council to apply for the new national PAYT funding - Follow ZERO for the latest funding rounds and municipal case studies Why it matters With 60 % of Portugal's waste going to overflowing landfills, cost-based incentives for households are one of the fastest levers available. PAYT pilots in Silves and São João da Madeira are the first step toward national uptake.
paytwaste-reductionfunding
Programme nearbyCommunityZagreb

Zagreb Pay-As-You-Throw: fairer billing, less landfill

Citizens control their own waste bill Zagreb introduced a Pay-As-You-Throw (PAYT) system following recommendations from Zelena Akcija under the EU-funded ERIC (Elevating Reuse In Cities) project. By late 2024 the city had cut landfilling by 20 % and boosted separate collection by 50 % compared to 2022: with full rollout expected by end of 2026. What changed - Open street bins in the city centre replaced with underground containers for separated and mixed waste - Elsewhere, bins relocated into buildings and courtyards; caged and semi-underground containers added - Households charged based on the volume of mixed waste they generate, not a flat fee How to participate - Sort household waste into the correct streams: you directly reduce your bill - Follow Zagreb's city environmental office for updates on PAYT rollout in your district - Support the advocacy to extend door-to-door collection to more neighbourhoods Why it matters PAYT aligns the incentive system: the less mixed waste you produce, the less you pay. Combined with infrastructure improvements, Zagreb is turning around one of Central Europe's larger urban waste footprints.
paytwaste-reductionurban
Programme nearbyRewildingTallinn

Walk green routes on everyday trips

Greenery within reach The strategy wants most daily journeys lined with trees, shrubs, or other vegetation, and a connected green network so residents can choose sustainable ways of living and moving. Parks, street trees, and linked paths should be reachable on foot from home. What you can do - Prefer routes through parks and tree-lined streets for errands and school runs. - Take part in district consultations when new landscaping or calm-traffic schemes are planned. Why it matters Visible everyday green makes walking pleasant, cools streets, and signals that nature belongs in the commute, not only in distant reserves.
greenwalkingparks

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