The City of Winterthur - one of the project’s three Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) co-demonstrators, represented PEDvolution as a visiting city at the 5th Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Workshop in Barcelona on Thursday 27th and Friday 28th of March 2025.

Hosted by Scalable Cities and Barcelona City Council, this high-level event brought together over 10 European cities to exchange insights on innovative financial strategies to unlock private investment for climate transition projects - one of the key challenges in the clean energy transition.

Collaborating for a Greener Future

Co-organized by GNE Finance, Barcelona City Council, and the cities of Dijon, Bristol, Lund, and Leuven, the workshop served as a knowledge-sharing platform, featuring contributions from cities including Liepaja, Mannheim, Vilnius, Čačak, Kifisia, Tallinn, Nea Smyrni, Piano di Sorrento, and Palma de Mallorca. Discussions focused on scaling up municipal projects through public-private partnerships (PPPs) and exploring successful legal and financial models for sustainable urban transformation.

Winterthur’s Contribution to the Energy Transition

As a PED co-demonstration city, the City of Winterthur took the stage to present its approach to innovative legal frameworks and financial strategies for energy transition and climate protection. Their insights contributed to critical discussions on:

• Unlocking private investment for urban decarbonization
• Bridging the gap between public entities and private investors
• Leveraging Smart Cities initiatives for data-driven decision-making

The event featured the Scalable Cities Roadshow, emphasizing the role of the Smart Cities Marketplace in accelerating the just and green transition of small and mid-sized cities. Participants exchanged new ideas, explored consultancy opportunities, and gained access to investor networks designed to support municipal sustainability and the clean energy transition.

Key Takeaways: Driving Change through Public-Private Collaboration

• No business case, no private partner – securing private investment requires trust, flexibility, and transparency
• Smart Cities empower local governments with data-driven decision-making, stakeholder collaboration, and financial innovation
• Future urban climate solutions must prioritize co-creation, inclusion, and sustainability

The PEDvolution project continues to engage with European cities to scale up PEDs and a vision to implement sustainable and innovative interoperable solutions.