The Citizens’ Assembly of District C met for the second time

The United Nations University (UNU-EGOV) hosted the second session of the Citizens’ Assembly for the Bairro C: Zero Carbon Commitment project.

The session, which featured two experts from the European Net Zero Cities consortium, David Brito and Georgia Cameron, discussed and proposed solutions in the areas of waste and circular economy, energy, and green areas and biodiversity.
The aim of the Citizens’ Assembly is to give the inhabitants of Guimarães an active voice in decision-making on environmental issues, so that they can contribute with environmentally effective solutions.

The Citizens’ Assembly is composed of a maximum of 100 people, with 80% being residents of the parishes that make up the Bairro C area (UF Cidade, Creixomil and Urgezes) and the rest being residents of other parishes in the municipality. In addition, the group aims to ensure equality between the number of female and male members, as well as the inclusion of members from all age groups from 16 to over 65 years old.
The third and final session is scheduled for January 11, 2025, where the projects selected by the participants in each area will be voted on.

About Bairro C: Zero Carbon Commitment
Developed by the Guimarães City Council, Landscape Laboratory and RdA, and included in NetZeroCities, the pilot project “Bairro C: Zero Carbon Commitment” aims at an integrated approach in the areas of energy, mobility, waste and land use, leveraging behavioral change, social innovation, culture, policy, green technologies, sustainable finance and new business models. The key piece of the project is a Citizen Pact for neutrality and co-creation processes, thus making it possible to act in all emission domains. The project promotes strong citizen involvement and decarbonization through, among others, the promotion of the use of public transport, energy efficiency and local production of renewable energy, namely in historic buildings and circular economy strategies.