According to Krista Kampus, head of the EU and foreign cooperation department at Tallinn's Strategy Center, the opportunity came to Tallinn through the global cities network C40, of which Tallinn itself is not a member. "Since we developed a rather good collaboration with C40 during our European Green Capital year, it was actually C40 that suggested Tallinn to the BBC," Kampus explained.

The C40 network includes 96 cities worldwide. "It covers a wide range of areas — innovation, digitalization, urban space, mobility — all activities that help cities become greener and more carbon-neutral," Kampus said.

According to Kampus, the network has previously commissioned BBC StoryWorks to showcase sustainable cities.

"Naturally, we were interested — it's not easy for a small country and a small city to independently reach an audience of 450 million readers and viewers," Kampus noted.

The cost of the project is €58,000. As part of the initiative, the BBC will feature the participating cities across all its platforms for six months. "Websites, social media, various BBC applications, plus C40's own communication channels," Kampus specified.

She noted that Tallinn has never collaborated with such a major platform before. Under the contract, the global campaign will launch in June this year and run for six months, during which the BBC will showcase the participating cities across its platforms. Until Midsummer's Day, the campaign materials will be exclusively owned by the BBC, after which Tallinn will also be able to share the campaign through its own channels.

"Considering that the campaign's audience is 450 million people worldwide, plus C40's communication channels and our own distribution efforts once we can start sharing it — I think, in comparison, the cost is not that high," Kampus said. She pointed out that if Tallinn were to create a global campaign targeting such an audience independently, the expenses could run into the hundreds of thousands.

The project's primary target group includes other cities around the world, organizations involved in innovation and green technology, sustainability experts and global companies.

"Our goal is not so much to attract more tourists to Tallinn, but rather to present Tallinn as a cool, forward-thinking city where innovation happens and new solutions are born. Through this, we aim to attract skilled workers, new businesses and investments to Tallinn and Estonia. That is our main objective," Kampus explained.

According to her, the BBC was particularly interested in how innovative solutions can support cities in their green transition. "Of course, we also want to share with the people of Tallinn the story that is being told about us abroad," Kampus said.

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