Valladolid City Councillor for the Environment, Alejandro García Pellitero, has signed the renewal of the agreement of the Cencyl Cities Network; an alliance of municipalities that promotes cross-border collaboration between Spain and Portugal to strengthen economic and sustainable urban growth and cooperation in the Atlantic Corridor.
Together with Valladolid, the Network brings together the cities of Almeida, Aveiro, Ciudad Rodrigo, Coimbra, Figueira da Foz, Guarda, Salamanca and Viseu. The agreement has been ratified today in the Plenary Council, organised by the Salamanca City Council, and will maintain the commitment of a joint work, which already has more than a decade of common projects and actions.
The Cencyl Network has been working since 2013 on sustainable, integrated, inclusive and safe urban development projects. These initiatives do not only reduce climate related risks in their environments, but also strengthen urban resilience in adapting to climate change. They also foster economic, social and environmental links between the participating municipalities.
Its main objectives include: the development of strategies to solve and adapt efficiently to the impacts of environmental and climate crises; the improvement of the quality of life of the inhabitants of the cross-border area with joint management and shared use of public services; and the implementation and promotion of projects for climate change adaptation.
Valladolid, a Strategic Role
In these ten years, Valladolid has participated in five INTERREG-POCTEP projects, of cooperation between Spain and Portugal, with different cities of the Network, from the first initiative of CENCYL, in 2014, to the latest projects: CENCYL GREEN TRANSITION, which ended in 2023, and ADAPT CLIMA CENCYL, which is currently being implemented.
Precisely in April last year, Valladolid, through TRANSICIÓN VERDE CENCYL, promoted a great meeting that brought together all the actions carried out by the Spanish- Portuguese cities to strengthen sustainable development: the improvement of urban environment and the reduction of atmospheric pollution and noise, among other measures. It was also the first meeting to bring together the Spanish and Portuguese cities of the Mission 100 Smart and Climate Neutral Cities in 2030, which has strengthened the role of Valladolid as a liaison between the two groups.
In the new ADAPT CLIMA CENCYL project, Valladolid faces the climate challenge with a joint and shared vision with the CENCYL Network, always with the aim of reducing cities' carbon emissions.
Specifically, Valladolid City Council is working on the development of a methodology for the development of decarbonisation plans for companies in order to reduce their carbon footprint and help them define their climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies.
The Cities Forum
In this context of the Cencyl Cities Network, Valladolid City Council, with the Councillor for the Environment, Alejandro García Pellitero, also participates in the Cities Forum in Madrid, at the meeting on June 19th "Urban transformations for a new social organisation".
The Forum will once again propose an open and transdisciplinary debate on the main challenges faced by cities and their possible solutions. It thus reinforces its commitment to progress in the field of green, digital, social and energy transition.