$50 million commitment establishes pioneering Bloomberg LSE European City Leadership Initiative to equip local governments with the capabilities to drive progress and deliver results

Unites expertise from the London School of Economics and Political Science, the Hertie School in Berlin, and more than a decade of work by Bloomberg Philanthropies to strengthen city hall capacity worldwide

Inaugural class of 30 mayors and 60 city officials hail from 17 countries, serving over 21 million residents

New York, NY & London, UK – (October 6, 2025) – As national governments across Europe—from the UK’s devolution deals to EU recovery packages—turn to mayors to lead on countrywide priorities, Bloomberg Philanthropies and the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) today announced the launch of the first-ever professional leadership and management programme designed specifically for the region’s municipal chiefs.

Established with a $50 million investment from Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Bloomberg LSE European City Leadership Initiative will be delivered by LSE Cities in collaboration with the Hertie School in Berlin. The programme will provide mayors and top local government officials from cities across Europe with pioneering expertise to tackle problems, modernise services, strengthen operations, and improve people’s lives – advancing progress on the issues—from housing to transport to youth outcomes—residents care most about.

The inaugural class includes 30 mayors and 60 senior officials from 17 countries, representing over 21 million residents.

“We continue to expand our municipal leadership programmes globally, because we've seen how well they work – and we want more cities to benefit,” said Michael R. Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg L.P. and Bloomberg Philanthropies and 108th mayor of New York City. “As Europe increasingly looks to local governments to lead, we’re glad to join forces with the London School of Economics and Political Science and the Hertie School on this new initiative. Together, we can bring mayors and senior officials the tools, training, and peer networks they need to take on their biggest challenges – and succeed.”

“Cities are where our most complex, urgent challenges show up first, and so where real solutions often start,” said Professor Larry Kramer, President and Vice Chancellor of LSE. “Mayors across Europe are looking to lead—but to address the unique problems they face and deliver on new opportunities that emerge, they need sharp management, strong teams, and the skills to innovate. This is precisely what the Bloomberg LSE European City Leadership Initiative will help provide. I am deeply grateful to Mike Bloomberg and Bloomberg Philanthropies for their steadfast commitment to strengthening local governments here in the UK and across the globe. This Initiative is a testament to their visionary thinking—and to the enduring partnership between our two organisations to help the continent’s mayors push further and do more.”

National and global policies increasingly require local progress – and in recent years, Europe’s municipalities have served as intermediaries for infrastructure, resilience, and more. Still, they face a confluence of challenges. While attending to the fundamentals, they must also mitigate climate shocks, stem building shortages, manage rising costs, and meet growing resident demands alongside navigating complex central government rules and slow bureaucracies with strained budgets and stretched capacity.

The data underscores the need: 86 per cent of mayors surveyed by Eurocities report that their city will have to innovate to overcome a lack of resources to deliver on their priorities—and two thirds rank leadership and commitment from mayors and senior municipal officers as the most important factors to achieve this.

The Bloomberg LSE European City Leadership Initiative will equip these urban leaders with the strategies, skills, and networks to meet the moment. Through the nine-month intensive classroom, field-based, and capacity-building training, they will learn evidence-backed strategies from world-class faculty, researchers, and policy leaders on how to drive performance, work across departments, mobilise collaborations, and marshal solutions that deliver tangible results for citizens.

The 30 mayors of the inaugural class include:

ALBANIA:

• Mayor Emiriana Sako of Durrës, Albania

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA:

• Prime Minister Nihad Uk of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

CROATIA:

• Mayor Tomislav Tomašević of Zagreb, Croatia

CYPRUS:

• Mayor Charalambos Prountzos of Nicosia, Cyprus

FINLAND:

• Mayor Daniel Sazonov of Helsinki, Finland
• Mayor Niko Kyynäräinen of Lahti, Finland
• Mayor Piia Elo of Turku, Finland

GERMANY:

• Lord Mayor Alexander Vogt of Halle, Germany
• Lord Mayor Sven Schoeller of Kassel, Germany
• Lord Mayor Martin Ansbacher of Ulm, Germany

GREECE:

• Mayor Stelios Angeloudis of Thessaloniki, Greece

IRELAND:

• Chief Executive Richard Shakespeare of Dublin, Ireland
• Mayor John Moran of Limerick, Ireland

ITALY:

• Mayor Stefano Lo Russo of Turin, Italy
• Mayor Giacomo Possamai of Vicenza, Italy

NETHERLANDS:

• Mayor Roelof Bleker of Enschede, Netherlands
• Mayor Wim Hillenaar of Maastricht, Netherlands

NORWAY:

• Governing Mayor Eirik Lae Solberg of Oslo, Norway

POLAND:

• Mayor Aleksandra Kosiorek of Gdynia, Poland
• Mayor Aleksander Miszalski of Krakow, Poland
• Mayor Konrad Fijołek of Rzeszów, Poland

ROMANIA:

• Mayor Dominic Fritz of Timișoara, Romania

SPAIN:

• Mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida of Madrid, Spain

TURKEY:

• Mayor Cemil Tugay of Izmir, Turkey

UK:

• Council Leader Lynn Williams of Blackpool, UK
• Council Leader Dimitri Batrouni of Newport, UK
• Mayor Oliver Coppard of South Yorkshire, UK
• Mayor Richard Parker of West Midlands, UK
• Mayor Tracy Brabin of West Yorkshire, UK

UKRAINE:

• Mayor Ihor Sapozhko of Brovary, Ukraine

“In West Yorkshire, we don’t just believe in local leadership – we prove its power every day,” said Mayor Tracy Brabin of West Yorkshire, UK. “Across the UK and Europe, mayors are getting things done – rebuilding trust, hope and opportunity, and delivering real change. The Bloomberg LSE European City Leadership Initiative will help us go even further, helping us to raise ambitions, learn from each other, and lead with confidence.”

“From an industrial capital to a hub of culture and innovation, Turin has gone through many transformations throughout its history,” said Mayor Stefano Lo Russo of Turin, Italy. “Our city has long benefited from Bloomberg Philanthropies’ support to advance local government, and the Bloomberg LSE European City Leadership Initiative will provide our team with even more. I am honored to join its inaugural class, and participate in a programme that understands precisely what mayors need today, and where we belong: at the center of Europe’s future.”

“As Madrid rapidly grows, so too does our responsibility to grow by ensuring environmental, social, and economic sustainability, so that it remains one of the cities with the highest quality of life in the world,” said Mayor Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida of Madrid, Spain. “Public leadership today is about more than setting ambitious goals—it is also about delivering on them. I am proud to join the groundbreaking Bloomberg LSE European City Leadership Initiative to help our municipality do just that—and build towards our future.”

To kick off their participation in a four-day convening beginning today in London, the 30 mayors will receive keynote instruction and engage with global experts from Bloomberg Philanthropies, LSE, the Hertie School, UCL IIPP, and fellow peers including: Michael R. Bloomberg, 108th mayor of New York City and founder of Bloomberg L.P. and Bloomberg Philanthropies; Mayor Sadiq Khan of London, UK; Professor Ricky Burdett, Director of LSE Cities and the Bloomberg LSE European City Leadership Initiative; Professor Dr. Andrea Römmele, Dean of Executive Education and Professor of Communication in Politics and Civil Society at the Hertie School; and more.

“Mayors are democracy’s frontline, grappling with today’s most pressing challenges - from climate change to migration, from housing to mobility,” said Professor Dr. Cornelia Woll, President of the Hertie School. “The Bloomberg LSE European City Leadership Initiative comes at exactly the right moment to strengthen the skills, networks, and capacity of city leaders across Europe. By uniting the Hertie School’s expertise with that of our partners at Bloomberg Philanthropies and the London School of Economics and Political Science, this programme will provide mayors and their teams with the knowledge and support they need to innovate, govern effectively, and deliver for their citizens, and we are proud to contribute to this transformative Initiative.”

Two top officials selected by each mayor will begin their participation in the Initiative in December with an immersive classroom experience in Berlin. Through the programme, these officials will also support their mayor in overseeing a ten-member city team that will develop an innovative approach to solve a pressing, resident-facing challenge.

The Bloomberg LSE European City Leadership Initiative builds on more than 10 years of work led by Bloomberg Philanthropies to advance mayoral leadership and local government innovation across the globe. The Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative, housed at the Bloomberg Center for Cities at Harvard University, has to date trained 387 mayors and over 2,400 senior city officials—including 8 in 10 of America’s big city mayors and 9 of England’s mayoral combined authorities. With initiatives that operate today in over 900 city halls, tens of thousands of mayors and municipal officials receive support from these efforts to better the lives of the hundreds of millions of residents they collectively serve.

The local governments joining the Initiative will benefit from this global community of practice, and learnings from peers in city halls across the region and around the world.