28/11/2024
Unlocking Europe’s industrial transformation: a pathway to a competitive and inclusive net-zero economy
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How do we best equip our network to accelerate climate action? How do we build on the expertise our partners have in-house for continued, shared impact? At the European Climate Foundation, we go beyond strategic grantmaking — we also focus on empowering our partners by fostering their organisational capacity and resilience. Through tailored development initiatives, we support them in building the skills, structures, and networks essential for driving scalable and meaningful climate action.
Tailored mentorship for broader impact
As the leading strategic grant-maker and network enabler in the European climate ecosystem, we launched a network and organisational development strategy in 2023 to strengthen the health, capacity, and resilience of our strategic networks and partners. Over the years, we’ve organised a range of capacity-building initiatives that go beyond workshops, which are a key example of this strategy in action, supporting projects that aim to strengthen the broader climate movement.
One prime example is our PowerUp Academy, launched in 2022. Designed for communications professionals in the energy sector, the programme has expanded year by year, offering mentoring and workshops across Belgium, Türkiye and Hungary. This year, we held a session in Budapest, where we brought together 23 communications and policy professionals focused on energy democracy across Europe. What began as a year-long training and mentorship programme for 30 professionals has grown to engage more partners, both in person and online, with over 500 people registering for online communications skills sessions on a range of crucial topics. The goal is to enhance our partners’ ability to share stories of citizens driving the energy transition, equipping them with tools for impactful storytelling while also fostering collaboration and sparking new ideas and connections within the network.
Similarly, in 2023 we introduced The Green Mob Bootcamp, an annual in-person training programme focused on transforming how we communicate about transport decarbonisation. This programme equips professionals in the transport sector with the necessary communication skills to accelerate the shift to greener mobility. The initiative, now in its second year, brings together media and communications experts to sharpen the messaging around transport decarbonisation across Europe. In addition, the Bootcamp is complemented with monthly online trainings to empower professionals and drive impactful change in transport advocacy.
Our efforts aren’t limited to training sessions. In Spain, for example, we established the Spain Climate Communications Group to foster collaboration and knowledge-sharing among Spanish communication professionals within the ECF network. Today, the group welcomes over 70 professionals from 40 organisations, meeting regularly and helping participants enhance their communication strategies and coordinate collective actions.
Empowering partners for lasting change
What all these initiatives have in common is that they empower a diverse cohort of communication and policy professionals to catalyse impactful change within their respective spheres of influence.
For example, in 2023 we organised a one-off six-month training and mentorship programme for 25 Ukrainian partners in Kyiv, which helped them improve their communications strategies, reach new audiences, and build support for Ukraine’s green recovery. In the same year, the PowerUp Academy generated ideas that we supported with almost €100,000 of new funding, including the Green Collar Jobs initiative, which promotes climate and environmental jobs for women, and the Great For Real Life project, highlighting real-life climate solutions through pop culture. The 2024 edition in Istanbul set the stage for expanding our efforts in the Mediterranean, with colleagues from Türkiye, Italy, and Spain now developing a regional strategy.
At their core, these capacity-building efforts are about more than just training—they’re about creating a community committed to a shared vision, and long-term cooperation. Participants regularly apply what they’ve learned in their work and are eager to continue engaging. In the transport sector, for instance, collaboration continues long after the bootcamp sessions, and feedback surveys reveal that 100% of workshop participants expect to “stay in touch with people they met for the first time” at the events.
Next steps
Looking ahead, we remain committed to helping our partners to improve their capacity and resilience to amplify their impact, adapting to the evolving needs of the climate landscape. Building on our ongoing organisational development work, we are expanding our targeted support through a comprehensive suite of services—from strategy development and governance to reinforcing operating functions and equipping partners with the tools for effective planning, advocacy, and communication, among other areas. By addressing these needs, we aim to provide our network with the support required to strengthen both individual organisations and the broader climate movement.