The Hague Climate Agreement: Collaborative Transformation (HK-ACT)

Background

As one of the 112 EU Mission Cities, the Municipality of The Hague has committed itself to accelerating the transition to climate neutrality. To stimulate local engagement, a participatory process was developed over the course of a year, leading to the launch of the Hague Climate Agreement (HKA) in April 2024.

This agreement has resulted in 44 sustainability deals, known as climate deals. Each deal is initiated and implemented by local stakeholders. Together, these deals cover a broad range of actions: from greening rooftops to promoting car sharing, and from establishing an international greening network to sharing knowledge and best practices among international organizations.

The objective of the HK-ACT consortium is to improve citizen participation within the deals, scale up the deals, and strengthen collaboration and impact through communication, leadership, and the implementation of a platform designed to facilitate these goals.

Objectives

• HK-ACT focuses on strengthening collaboration and integrating scientific research to underpin interventions, as well as testing these interventions to promote climate neutrality across various sectors of the city.
• As a key pillar of this mission, the Public Dialogues platform developed by the Civic Technology research group will be further developed to support the HKA.
• The Future Urban Systems research group will work together with the Civic Technology research group on integrating the Public Dialogues platform into HKA climate deal #9 – Mini District Heating Networks, as well as into the broader HKA ecosystem through a larger-scale pilot.
• During the Climate Café in The Hague in 2025, user tests were conducted with the entire HKA group, involving all climate deals. The first presentation of the platform generated significant feedback and enthusiasm, highlighting the need for such a digital tool to support collaboration.
• The project will also focus on creating a dedicated space within the platform for knowledge sharing and for tracking various progress and performance indicators across the deals.
• The Hague University of Applied Sciences collaborates with the Municipality of The Hague, the Leiden Leadership Centre (Leiden University), Kickstad, and Duurzaam Den Haag as partners. These partners focus on leadership development, reaching marginalized groups and involving them in climate deals, fostering further collaboration and scaling of the deals, and empowering and motivating citizens to participate in climate projects.

Target Group

Specific partners involved in climate deals within the Hague Climate Agreement.

Method

• Conducting user testing with the Public Dialogues platform and further developing the platform based on feedback.
• Focusing on climate deal #9 – Mini District Heating Networks for testing, implementation, and feedback.
• Implementing a larger-scale pilot involving the entire HKA ecosystem, where each deal has the opportunity to create and participate in its own dialogue.
• Organizing an exhibition at the Experience Center – Innovation Playground to demonstrate how the platform supports specific climate deals.

Impact

The Hague Climate Agreement represents an important strategic and practical approach to accelerating the energy and climate transition in The Hague. The success of the various climate deals depends heavily on effective collaboration, efficient information exchange, and active citizen engagement.

The implementation of the Public Dialogues platform, including the necessary functionalities and support, significantly increases the likelihood that the HKA will achieve its objectives. Research and projects that were previously less visible are given a central place, while residents gain the opportunity to participate directly in initiatives within the agreement. Enhanced knowledge sharing also reduces the risk of duplicated research efforts, contributing to a more efficient and effective climate transition.

More Information

More information can be found on the NetZeroCities website.

Start and End Date

March 2025 – September 2026

Funding

NetZeroCities – Enabling City Transformation Programme under EU Horizon, supporting the EU Mission: “100 Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities by 2030”

Collaboration

Municipality of The Hague, Leiden Leadership Centre (Leiden University), Kickstad, and Duurzaam Den Haag

Team

• Rizal Sebastian (Professor, Future Urban Systems)
• Jos van Leeuwen (Professor, Civic Technology)
• Daniëlle Strydom (Researcher, Future Urban Systems)
• Klaas Jan Mollema (Researcher, Civic Technology)

Contact

Daniëlle Strydom
[email protected]
+31 6 15085548