The first day brings together local governments, implementation partners, climate finance practitioners, and technical experts for a full day of plenary and breakout sessions focused on best practices and case studies for advancing local projects and generating pipelines. Participants may choose the track that best aligns with their work and interests.

Who Should Attend?

• Local government and Tribal leaders
• Municipal Investment Fund participants
• ICLEI USA members
• Climate finance practitioners
• Technical assistance providers
• Investors
• National partners
• Clean energy implementation partners

Explore the tabs to learn more about the Day 1 breakout tracks and their sessions. Attendees are welcome to move between Track A and Track B breakout sessions based on their interests. For Track C, we encourage attendees to stay for all three sessions to get the most out of the deep-dive format — however, some flexibility to step out is accommodated.

Track A: Sustainability & Market Building

This track is designed for local governments looking to advance clean energy projects through policy and financing strategies. Participants will explore ICLEI USA’s Starter Guides (Solar and Storage, Electrification and Efficiency, and Clean Transportation), learn from peers working on similar initiatives, and test new implementation roadmaps through facilitated breakout discussions.

Breakout sessions are organized around common project types, allowing attendees to dive deeper into the topics most relevant to their community.

Breakout Sessions

• 1A. Energy Efficiency & Electrification
  Explore strategies for improving municipal and community building performance through water and energy efficiency and electrification projects. Participants will draw from the Residential & Commercial Building Efficiency and Electrification Starter Guides to work through an implementation roadmap for municipal energy efficiency building portfolio upgrades.
• 2A. Solar & Storage
  Learn how communities are planning and deploying solar and battery storage projects. This session includes an overview of the Solar & Storage Starter Guide and a collaborative exercise focused on implementing projects on municipally owned properties.
• 3A. Clean Transportation
  Examine approaches to expanding electric vehicle infrastructure and fleet electrification. Participants will use the Clean Transportation Starter Guide to work through an electric vehicle charging deployment roadmap with technical support and peer feedback.

Track B: Project Development & Finance

This track explores the financing strategies, partnerships, and delivery models that help local governments move projects from concept to implementation. Through expert-led discussions and interactive workshops, participants will learn how communities are leveraging regional collaboration, public-private partnerships, and innovative financing approaches to advance clean energy investments.

The breakout sessions and the workshop provide opportunities to explore different financing pathways, build coalition support, and apply new concepts relevant to participants’ communities.

Breakout Sessions & Workshop

• 1B. Interactive Finance Workshop: “The Capital Absorption Playbook: From Community Priorities to Funded Projects”
  How do you transform a pipeline of projects from concept into real investments? In this facilitated workshop, attendees will use the Capital Absorption Framework to build sustained momentum around their local priorities, including mapping key stakeholders and engaging the right policy and system change levers. The session is designed to root project pipelines in community priorities and drive lasting progress toward implementation.
• 2B. Filling the Gaps: Local Strategies for Unlocking Private Investment
  Learn how local governments can catalyze private-sector investment by filling key gaps in the investment landscape, repurposing existing funding, and helping projects navigate funding opportunities. This session is designed for those establishing new incentives, policies, or financial tools, as well as those working within already-limited funding environments. This facilitated panel will focus on local government case studies.
• 3B. Strength in Numbers: How Regional Collaboration Unlocks Scale
  If you want to go far, go together. Hear from communities leading the way in building multi-jurisdictional coalitions to advance projects at scale and at lower cost. Learn how they are seizing opportunities to aggregate demand, coordinate procurement, pursue competitive funding, collectively administer funds, and develop shared policies that reduce costs and accelerate implementation.

Track C: Resilience & Adaptation Finance

Are you already seeing climate impacts show up on your financial balance sheets? Are you interested in learning more about how you can move promising resilience projects from concept to finance-ready? In this interactive workshop, participants will work alongside resilience finance experts and peers to apply the Resilience Finance Guidebook to real-world projects. 

Participants will learn how to:

• Session 1 – Define the risk a project addresses and the value it creates for residents, infrastructure, public services, and local systems.  
• Session 2 – Build the evidence base funders, lenders, insurers, and public decision-makers need before a project can move forward, and identify who benefits, who has authority, and who needs to be at the table
• Session 3 – Navigate and overcome common barriers to finance and explore how different funding, financing, insurance, and catalytic capital can be combined to fill critical gaps.
  
  

Each of the three breakout sessions builds on the last, so participants are encouraged to join all three sessions of Track C to get the most from the experience. 

Do you want to receive focused feedback on a specific resilience project or priority? Volunteer to serve as a project host during the session, where your project will serve as the case example for discussion in break-out groups.

Participants will leave with practical tools and a clear action plan to move their resilience work forward to implementation.