The three-year project was launched by Global Footprint Network and four Portuguese partners: the non-governmental organization ZERO-Associação Sistema Terrestre Sustentável and the universities of Aveiro, Coimbra and Porto.

During the first year of the project, the ecological footprints and biocapacities of the six participating cities – Almada, Bragança, Castelo Branco, Guimarães, Lagoa, and Vila Nova de Gaia – will be measured to establish a baseline. 

The ecological footprint measures the city’s demand for natural resources and CO2 sequestration, while biocapacities measures the capacity of the city’s natural resources to meet that demand. According to a statement announcing the project, this data will then be used to help guide the sustainability policies for the participating cities.

In the second year, the five partners will develop calculators for the cities to allow citizens to measure their personal ecological footprints. The calculator will be used to catalyse local workshops and roundtables to discuss the implications of the footprint results, as well as mitigation and policy options.

In the final year of the project, the partners will propose alternative approaches to state funding for the six cities based on the size of their ecological footprints and biocapacities.

The project partners are convinced that state funding can be a powerful incentive for environmental action. “Above all, the actions and the effort that municipalities take to reduce this footprint can be rewarded,” said ZERO president Francisco Ferreira.

The project will begin in January 2018.