SURGE Umbrella Program

Supporting Climate-Smart Cities Across Europe and Central Asia

The ECA Cities and Climate Change Program (ECA C&CC Program) supports countries and cities across the Europe and Central Asia region in addressing the growing challenges of climate change through urban climate mitigation and adaptation actions. Financed by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Finance with a total budget of approximately US$8.17 million (EUR 7.5 million) for the period 2023–2029, the program helps governments develop climate-responsive urban investments while strengthening knowledge and capacity across the region.

The program is part of the World Bank’s Sustainable Urban and Regional Development (SURGE) Umbrella Program, which aims to enable cities and regions to become drivers of green, sustainable, resilient, and inclusive economic development. Managed by the World Bank’s Urban, Disaster Risk Management, Resilience and Land Global Practice, SURGE supports national and local governments in addressing urbanization challenges and building more livable, competitive, low-carbon, and climate-resilient communities.

The ECA C&CC Program seeks to:

·       Provide technical assistance and advisory support to help countries address urban climate change challenges;

·       Facilitate knowledge exchange and peer learning across countries, cities, and institutions;

·       Increase the number of bankable World Bank investments focused on urban climate change mitigation and adaptation; and

·       Support the alignment of urban development investments with the goals of the Paris Agreement.

To achieve these objectives, the program is structured around two complementary components.

Component 1: Country Grants - Technical Assistance for Climate-Smart Urban Investments

Component 1 provides technical assistance to help client countries integrate climate mitigation and adaptation considerations into urban development projects and World Bank lending operations. While the World Bank maintains a substantial urban portfolio across the ECA region, many countries and cities continue to face capacity constraints in designing and implementing complex climate-related investments.

Through targeted technical support, analytical work, and capacity building, the program helps national and local authorities already engaged in lending projects to identify, prepare, and prioritize practical, no-regret investments that strengthen urban resilience, reduce emissions, and improve the sustainability of cities.

Support is allocated through competitive calls for proposals. Since 2023, thirteen country-level grants have been approved across ten countries, helping them translate climate priorities into concrete urban investments and strengthening the pipeline of climate-focused lending operations.

Component 2: Knowledge Exchange and Peer Learning

Component 2 focuses on fostering knowledge exchange and building regional expertise on urban climate change solutions. The component connects policymakers, practitioners, researchers, and technical experts from across Europe and Central Asia with leading cities, institutions, universities, and private-sector partners in Austria and across Europe.

A cornerstone of this component is the organization of Technical Deep Dives (TDDs), which provide practical, experience-based learning opportunities on urban climate mitigation and adaptation. Through expert presentations, peer-to-peer exchanges, project clinics, and site visits, participants gain direct exposure to best-practice policies, technologies, and implementation approaches that can be adapted to their own country contexts.

The TDDs are part of the Vienna Development Knowledge Center’s (VDKC) knowledge sharing activities under one of its priority themes focused on Competitive and Livable Cities.

To date, four events have been organized, with a fifth on Solid Waste Management planned for October 2026. The Launch Event and TDD Workshop in Vienna (May 2023) focused on Austrian experiences and best practices in climate action planning, municipal waste management, and climate-smart urban regeneration. In December 2024, Uzbekistan’s Territorial Development Forum was organized in Tashkent in cooperation with the Uzbek Ministry of Finance, the European Union, SECO, the Austrian Ministry of Finance, and IMRS, and focused on promoting sustainable territorial development through green and climate-resilient regions and cities. In June 2025, the TDD on Urban Space, Mobility and Decarbonization in Vienna was held in cooperation with VDKC and explored integrated approaches to urban space and mobility development, decarbonization, urban street design, non-motorized and public transport, and transit-oriented development. In November 2025, the TDD on Energy Efficiency and Resilience in the Built Environment in Vienna was also organized jointly with VDKC and the ECA Energy Knowledge Network and focused on policies and regulations for energy-efficient and resilient buildings, retrofit programs, sustainable urban development, and the role of public housing in resilient building design.

Knowledge exchange has become one of the program’s defining strengths. The TDDs and related learning activities have enabled participants to share experiences across countries, develop practical solutions to common urban challenges, and strengthen regional networks of climate practitioners.

Delivering Impact Across the Region

Since its launch, the ECA C&CC Program has supported a growing portfolio of country-level activities across Europe and Central Asia. Now in its third year of implementation, the program has matured into a well-established instrument for advancing urban climate change mitigation and adaptation in World Bank operations across the region. Through targeted technical assistance and high-quality knowledge exchange, it has made tangible contributions to preparing investment-ready projects, strengthening institutional capacity, and supporting more resilient, low-carbon, and sustainable urban development.