EU Mission Cities: how can policy interventions break governance silos to effectively support climate neutrality mission at local level? The case of Bucharest - 2nd District
(2025) In IIIEE Master Thesis IMEM01 20251The International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics
- Abstract
- Acknowledging the role of cities in climate action, EU designed the mission “100 climate neutral and smart cities by 2030” or the Cities Mission. The Cities Mission aims to provide cities the opportunity to exchange knowledge and best practices, as well as to offer guidance with respect to achieving climate neutrality, including through governance innovations. Given the recent implementation of the Mission, little research has been performed in relation to actual participating cities, especially in lesser studied contexts with post-communist setting. This paper is a case study on how the Climate City Contract signed in the context of the Mission can help innovate governance in the case of the 2nd District of Bucharest, focusing on the... (More)
- Acknowledging the role of cities in climate action, EU designed the mission “100 climate neutral and smart cities by 2030” or the Cities Mission. The Cities Mission aims to provide cities the opportunity to exchange knowledge and best practices, as well as to offer guidance with respect to achieving climate neutrality, including through governance innovations. Given the recent implementation of the Mission, little research has been performed in relation to actual participating cities, especially in lesser studied contexts with post-communist setting. This paper is a case study on how the Climate City Contract signed in the context of the Mission can help innovate governance in the case of the 2nd District of Bucharest, focusing on the following research questions: RQ1: How is the governance de-siloing process implemented at the level of the local administration of 2nd District of Bucharest in the context of the Mission and its Climate City Contract? RQ2: What are the challenges and barriers for effectively implementing the governance de-siloing process at the level of the local administration of 2nd District of Bucharest? RQ3: What are the solutions to such challenges and barriers; what strategies are or could be in place for overcoming these? Using the theoretical concepts of governance silos, multi-level governance perspective and mission approach, this research was designed as a single case study. The primary data was collected through semi-structured interviews and document analysis, all of such being qualitatively analysed through inductive coding. Based on these, this paper finds that, through its participatory model, 2nd District of Bucharest is set to tackle more silos than those inherently included in the Mission documents, being aware of the challenges and barriers as well as some of the solutions for their overcoming. Thus, this paper can be used as a starting point for practitioners, policy makers and the civil society to better engage in communication in order to reach a common ground for improved collaboration. Going forward, future research could deepen some of the conclusions of this research and further explore the connection between de-siloing process and innovative governance models, including reflexive governance, in deeply siloed administrations such as those emerging from post-communist contexts. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9209306
- author
- Porojan-Gheaja, Ilinca LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- IMEM01 20251
- year
- 2025
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- local urban governance, de-siloing process, Cities Mission, 2nd District of Bucharest, climate city contract
- publication/series
- IIIEE Master Thesis
- report number
- 2025:11
- ISSN
- 1401-9191
- language
- English
- id
- 9209306
- date added to LUP
- 2025-08-12 14:21:17
- date last changed
- 2025-08-12 14:21:17
@misc{9209306,
abstract = {{Acknowledging the role of cities in climate action, EU designed the mission “100 climate neutral and smart cities by 2030” or the Cities Mission. The Cities Mission aims to provide cities the opportunity to exchange knowledge and best practices, as well as to offer guidance with respect to achieving climate neutrality, including through governance innovations. Given the recent implementation of the Mission, little research has been performed in relation to actual participating cities, especially in lesser studied contexts with post-communist setting. This paper is a case study on how the Climate City Contract signed in the context of the Mission can help innovate governance in the case of the 2nd District of Bucharest, focusing on the following research questions: RQ1: How is the governance de-siloing process implemented at the level of the local administration of 2nd District of Bucharest in the context of the Mission and its Climate City Contract? RQ2: What are the challenges and barriers for effectively implementing the governance de-siloing process at the level of the local administration of 2nd District of Bucharest? RQ3: What are the solutions to such challenges and barriers; what strategies are or could be in place for overcoming these? Using the theoretical concepts of governance silos, multi-level governance perspective and mission approach, this research was designed as a single case study. The primary data was collected through semi-structured interviews and document analysis, all of such being qualitatively analysed through inductive coding. Based on these, this paper finds that, through its participatory model, 2nd District of Bucharest is set to tackle more silos than those inherently included in the Mission documents, being aware of the challenges and barriers as well as some of the solutions for their overcoming. Thus, this paper can be used as a starting point for practitioners, policy makers and the civil society to better engage in communication in order to reach a common ground for improved collaboration. Going forward, future research could deepen some of the conclusions of this research and further explore the connection between de-siloing process and innovative governance models, including reflexive governance, in deeply siloed administrations such as those emerging from post-communist contexts.}},
author = {{Porojan-Gheaja, Ilinca}},
issn = {{1401-9191}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
series = {{IIIEE Master Thesis}},
title = {{EU Mission Cities: how can policy interventions break governance silos to effectively support climate neutrality mission at local level? The case of Bucharest - 2nd District}},
year = {{2025}},
}