The MENA region is in transition. It is undergoing rapid population growth and from an urban population of 165 million, a further increase of 80 million is expected by 2025. This makes the region one of the most urbanized in the world, with around 80% of the total population living in urbanized areas. Such growth coupled with high population densities in urban areas leads to higher demands being placed on the energy infrastructure which in turn leads to stressing the natural environment through increased GHG emissions.

Many EU member states have in the past undergone the same urban transition and are now in the midst of implementing their sustainability and low-carbon strategies as they shift their focus towards developing sustainable green economies. The Sustainable Urban Demonstration Projects (SUDEP) was developed to provide demand driven technical assistance to 12 municipalities across Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, Israel, Tunisia and Morocco. In brief, SUDEP aims at supporting its partners to enable them to create their own working methodology and implementation models. By the end of SUDEP, best practices and lessons learned will be synthesized from all participants to create a master strategy for sustainable municipal development.