European Day of Sustainable Communities 2025: Join the 9th Edition this September!
Mark your calendars! The 9th edition of the European Day of Sustainable Communities (EDSC) will take place during the week of September 22nd, 2025. This year’s edition once again celebrates the powerful role of community-led initiatives in shaping a just, sustainable, and resilient Europe.
For nearly a decade, ECOLISE has coordinated the EDSC—bringing to light the transformative efforts of local communities across Europe. This campaign offers a platform for sharing stories, building connections, and advocating for stronger recognition and support for grassroots sustainability.
What’s Happening in 2025?
This year, EDSC is all about connecting local action to European policy. Communities and organisations across the continent are invited to host policy dialogues at the local, regional, or national level, focusing on key EU priority areas that directly impact community-led initiatives:
General:
- Future EU funding programmes
- EU Strategy to support, protect and empower the civil society
- Citizen assemblies and participatory democracy
Sectoral:
- Vision of the future of agriculture and food
- Climate adaptation plan
- Water resilience strategy
- Affordable energy plan
- Affordable housing strategy
- Circular economy strategy
- Bioeconomy strategy
To support this, we’ve developed a toolkit on how to organise a policy dialogue—a step-by-step guide to help anyone, anywhere, plan and host a dialogue in September, whether you’re new to this or already engaged in community-led advocacy work.
These conversations will feed into a broader effort to amplify community voices at the EU level, culminating in a policy event in Brussels in November 2025.
Through the Regenerative Communities Fund Initiative, ECOLISE will support national dialogues in Spain, France, Croatia, Finland, and Portugal, ensuring diverse perspectives and experiences help shape the future of EU sustainability policy.
Join the Online Dialogue
In parallel with in-person events, the EDSC social media campaign will bring the dialogue online. Each day of the week will spotlight one EU policy theme, showcasing impactful community stories from across Europe. Stay tuned to our Instagram account to follow all the campaign content!
Check the slides of our recent event about how to engage with the social media campaign.
In a nutshell, we invite you to:
1. Join the national policy dialogues in Spain, France, Croatia, Finland, and Portugal.
2. Like our daily campaign posts, join the online conversation by making comments and interacting with our online content.
3. Repost on your own channels! Use the hashtag #EDSC25 and tag ECOLISE/Communities for Future for us to like back (LinkedIn, Instagram, BlueSky, Facebook)
4. Tag other relevant partners, local policymakers, media, and influencers to expand the reach.
Together, let’s showcase the power of community-led action and push for a Europe that puts people and the planet first.
