Digital government for green municipalities and cities

Municipalities are in the centre of digital and green transition. More experienced municipalities with a better background and potential, can provide examples for other municipalities. DiGreen supported the international exchange of digital and green good practice between municipalities. *Digital and Green topics are essential for the entire society, and for the municipalities in particular. Digital and Green topics are interlinked and depending on each other. Effectively implemented digital solutions can lead to and be a means for reaching sustainable goals. *Digital and green topics needs to be implemented in non-technical HE study programmes. Public administration, management, policy, and related study programmes, profiling graduates for future employment at the municipal public bodies, should be improved to convey digital and green skills. *DiGreen aimed to tackle digital and green skill gaps in HE and municipal practice. The incorporation of digital and green learning in HE, where this is not a primary focus and in municipal practice, where there is the need for practical use of such knowledge, were targeted. Involvement of municipal practitioners, who may be a left-out group regarding digital and green skills was emphasised.

*General objective was to establish a transnational collaboration between partners involved and apply innovative approaches for addressing their target groups. *Specific objectives (SO): -SO1: Establish a network of universities, research institutions, municipalities sharing common values regarding digital/green transformation. -SO2: Establish a digital/green knowledge base bringing theory and practice, by collecting good practice examples, producing accessible and easy-to-read publications on these topics. -SO3: Identify digital/green skills needed and set up an appropriate curriculum. -SO4: Identify existing knowledge level and awareness on the digital/green European agenda and develop sectoral skills strategies and methodologies.

DiGreen produced four main Project Results (PRs). **PR1: Handbook of DIGITAL good practice - cities and municipalities as the source for viable solutions. The Digital Handbook presents 14 different good examples of providing public services using digital means and ICT tools. The digitally provided public services present ways to rationalise the provision of competencies that the municipalities and cities have, to engage inhabitants in governance, to enhance the provision of public services qualitatively, to base public policymaking on evidence and to take transparency and openness into consideration when providing public services. The importance of targeting municipalities and cities is relevant in terms of their involvement in HE. HE students of public administration, public management, public policy and other similar study programmes also fulfil their practical part of the study at the municipality and city public bodies. PR1 was materialized in concrete outputs: six publications, the full version of the Handbook and five short versions: - DiGreen Handbook of DIGITAL good Practice. Solutions for cities and municipalities. (Full version in English), - DiGreen compass for DIGITAL cities and municipalities (Short version in English), - DiGreen kompas pre digitálne mestá a obce (Short version in Slovak), - DiGreen Guida per città e comuni DIGITALI (Short version in Italian), - DiGreen Ghid de bune practici pentru localități digitalizate (Short version in Romanian), - DiGreen DIGITALE Lösungen für Städte und Gemeinden ((Short version in German). **PR2: Handbook of GREEN good practice - cities and municipalities as the source for viable solutions. The Green Handbook presents 12 different good examples of providing public services using green means. The ecologically provided public services present ways to rationalise the provision of competencies that the municipalities and cities have, engage inhabitants in governance, enhance the provision of public services qualitatively, base public policymaking on evidence, and take transparency and openness into consideration when providing public services. The importance of targeting municipalities and cities is relevant in terms of their involvement in HE. HE students of public administration, public management, public policy and other similar study programmes also fulfil their practical part of the study at the municipality and city public bodies. PR2 was materialized in concrete outputs: six publications, the full version of the Handbook and five short versions: - DiGreen Handbook of GREEN good Practice. Solutions for cities and municipalities. (Full version in English), - DiGreen compass for GREEN cities and municipalities (Short version in English), - DiGreen kompas pre zelené mestá a obce (Short version in Slovak), - DiGreen Guida per città e comuni VERDI (Short version in Italian), - DiGreen Ghid de bune practici pentru localități verzi (Short version in Romanian), - DiGreen GRÜNE Lösungen für Städte und Gemeinden (Short version in German). **PR3: Crosscutting teaching and education DiGreen concept. With experts coming from different countries and familiar with different policy frameworks and communal strategies, it has been possible to develop new perspectives on how municipalities and cities in Europe can respond to new trends and challenges and how they can adapt their policies and relations with their citizens. PR3 address challenges focusing on digitalisation and climate change. The publication was designed as an interdisciplinary knowledge base encompassing backgrounds, common topics and challenges relevant to communal policy, digitalisation at the level of municipalities and cities, and green transition topics. The main target groups of this publication are teachers and researchers, HE students in public administration, political sciences and related disciplines, and professionals already working in the municipality or city self-government public bodies. PR3 was materialized in concrete outputs: six publications, the full version of the Knowledge base and five short versions: - Exploring Digital and Green Concepts – Knowledge Base for Cities and Municipalities (Full version in English), - Understanding Digital and Green Municipalities and Cities (Short version in English), - Digitálne a zelené obce a mestá v skratke (Short version in Slovak), - Alla scoperta di concetti digitali e verdi per cità e comuni (Short version in Italian), - O perspectivă asupra municipalităților și orașelor digitale și verzi (Short version in Romanian), - Digitale und grüne Gemeinden und Städte verstehen (Short version in German). **PR4: Multidimensional DiGreen Curriculum. The Curriculum interconnects all the developed and produced PRs with the overall intention to transfer communal good practice and theory into HE. The Curriculum is well-balanced and available for non-technical study programmes across different countries for integrating digitalization and climate neutrality topics into HE. The Curriculum focuses mainly on understanding the digitalization of the society, international comparison and analysis of the digitalization and climate neutrality in public policy. The present and future digital skills of students and communal employees, respecting green sustainability are at the forefront of this curriculum. PR4 was materialized in concrete outputs: five language variants of the Multidimensional DiGreen Curriculum (English, Slovak, German, Italian, Romanian). **Furthermore, DiGreen achieved: - Strengthening existing cooperation between consortium partners and developing new partnerships, - Providing more attractive educational and training programmes for the target groups, - Increasing the capacity and readiness of public institutions' employees, students and citizens to deal with the digital and green transition by co- creating those programmes; - Increasing knowledge and awareness on crosscutting teaching and education DiGreen concept by establishing a digital and green knowledge for the target groups, - Promoting education and life-long learning at local and European levels, - Exchange of experiences and good practice between municipalities and cities involved in project activities that serve as good examples in digitalisation and climate neutrality across Europe.