Collection
(14)
-
Article
Chapter 2.6: Smart Cities
This chapter is part of the report 'EU research & innovation for and with cities' that provides an overview of the main EU Research and Innovation (R&I) actions for and with cities to help them accelerate their transition towards sustainability and climate neutrality.
-
Article
A European Green Deal
Climate change and environmental degradation are an existential threat to Europe and the world. To overcome these challenges, the European Green Deal will transform the EU into a modern, resource-efficient and competitive economy, ensuring: no net emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050, economic growth decoupled from resource use and no person and no place left behind.
-
Article
Energy and the Green Deal
The production and use of energy account for more than 75% of the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions. Decarbonising the EU’s energy system is therefore critical to reach our 2030 climate objectives and the EU’s long-term strategy of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.
The European Green Deal focuses on 3 key principles for the clean energy transition, which will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance the quality of life of our citizens:
- ensuring a secure and affordable EU energy supply
- developing a fully integrated, interconnected and digitalised EU energy market
- prioritising energy efficiency, improving the energy performance of our buildings and developing a power sector based largely on renewable sources
The Commission’s main objectives to achieve this are:
- build interconnected energy systems and better integrated grids to support renewable energy sources
- promote innovative technologies and modern infrastructure
- boost energy efficiency and eco-design of products
- decarbonise the gas sector and promote smart integration across sectors
- empower consumers and help EU countries to tackle energy poverty
- promote EU energy standards and technologies at global level
- develop the full potential of Europe’s offshore wind energy
The European Commission adopted a set of proposals to make the EU's climate, energy, transport and taxation policies fit for reducing net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels. More information on Delivering the European Green Deal.
-
Article
EU Mission: Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities
EU Missions are a new way to bring concrete solutions to some of our greatest challenges. They have ambitious goals and will deliver concrete results by 2030 . They will deliver impact by putting research and innovation into a new role, combined with new forms of governance and collaboration, as well as by engaging citizens. EU Missions are a novelty of the Horizon Europe research and innovation programme for the years 2021-2027.
They support Commission priorities, such as the European Green Deal, Europe fit for the Digital Age, Beating Cancer and the New European Bauhaus. For instance, Mission Climate is already a concrete element of the new Climate Adaptation Strategy, Mission Cancer of the Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan and the Mission Soil is a flagship initiative of the Long-term Vision for the EU’s Rural Areas.
EU Missions are a coordinated effort by the Commission to pool the necessary resources in terms of funding programmes, policies and regulations, as well as other activities. They also aim to mobilise and activate public and private actors, such as EU Member States, regional and local authorities, research institutes, farmers and land managers, entrepreneurs and investors to create real and lasting impact. Missions will engage with citizens to boost societal uptake of new solutions and approaches.
EU Missions will support Europe’s transformation into a greener, healthier, more inclusive and resilient continent. They aim to bring tangible benefits to people in Europe and engage Europeans in their design, implementation and monitoring.
Each mission will operate as a portfolio of actions – such as research projects, policy measures or even legislative initiatives - to achieve a measurable goal that could not be achieved through individual actions.
How were the Missions prepared?
Five Mission Boards gathering top experts were formed to help specify, design and implement Missions for Horizon Europe.
Based on their proposals handed over to the Commission in September 2020, five Missions were identified in the Horizon Europe Strategic Plan.
In October 2020, the Commission validated the five proposed Missions. They entered a preparatory phase to develop five detailed implementation plans including objectives, intervention logic and indicators for measuring performance. The Commission assessed these plans against specific criteria and gave a go-ahead to the launch of the Missions on 28th of September 2021.
How long will a Mission last?
A mission should last as long as is needed to accomplish its objectives. There is no fixed duration, but they should deliver a stream of benefits with final results expected to be achieved around 2030, given the likely ambition and scale of EU Missions.
How will Missions be implemented?
EU Missions are now launching into their full implementation phase. The first Horizon Europe work programme for 2021-22, published in June 2021, includes a set of actions that lay the ground for the implementation of Missions. It will now be updated with a full research and innovation agenda by the end of this year.
In parallel, Missions will engage with participating regions, cities and organisations as well as citizens. For Missions to be successful, they need to mobilise and activate public and private actors, such as EU Member States, regional and local authorities, research institutes, entrepreneurs and investors to create real and lasting impact. A critical element of Missions will be to reach out to local communities and engage with citizens to boost societal uptake of new solutions and approaches.
Source: EU Mission: Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities. European Commission.
-
Article
Urban Digital Twin - Living-in.EU
This group aims to build a community of like-minded cities, working on urban digital twins. The group will discuss the concept, bring forward concrete use cases from around the EU and then explore why cities would be interested in using urban digital twins. Urban digital twins are a virtual representation of a city's physical assets, using data, data analytics and machine learning to help stimulation models that can be updated and changed (real-time) as their physical equivalents change. Some may consider a digital twin only describing reality (and the history of it), while it is the additional applications that bring the real intelligence and help create the common picture of reality that is the value-added of an urban digital twin. In terms of rationale, they can bring cost efficiencies, operational efficiencies, better crisis management, more openness and better informed decision-making, more participatory governance or better urban planning.
The solution explained
An urban digital should ideally provide the following minimum five capabilities:
- Connected
- Integrated
- Visualise
- Analysis
- Secure
Although there are a number of helpful enablers that can be used for urban digital twins in other cities, such as the Minimum Interoperability Mechanisms (MIMs), interoperable urban digital platforms, the forthcoming data ecosystem for climate-neutral and smart communities and other initiatives such as the work to establish an Interoperability Framework for smart cities and communities.
There are a number of challenges related to governance, ecosystem data management (data availability and sharing, data governance and stewardship, shared data models and standards), cybersecurity and privacy, ethics, interoperability and skills. The goal of the community is to discuss these challenges and find common ground to resolve them. It is our goal to help the concept of European urban digital twins move forward and create the ground for enabling many EU cities to implement their own digital twin, while at the same time increase the twins’ level of maturity and create industry standards that ensure European interoperability.
-
Article
CIVITAS
CIVITAS is one of the flagship programmes helping the European Commission achieve its ambitious mobility and transport goals, and in turn those in the European Green Deal. It does this by acting as a network of cities, for cities, dedicated to sustainable urban mobility. Through peer exchange, networking and training, CIVITAS fosters political commitment and boosts collective expertise, equipping cities to put mobility at the centre of decarbonisation.
Since its launch in 2002, CIVITAS has advanced research and innovation in sustainable urban mobility and enabled local authorities to develop, test and roll out measures via a range of projects. A series of ten thematic areas underpin these.
The need to shift to sustainable urban mobility is clear. Nearly 70% of EU citizens live in urban areas, where the effects of transport-produced greenhouse gas emissions – which account for a quarter of the EU’s total emissions – and noise pollution are felt most severely. These, alongside widespread congestion, are damaging quality of life and health.
CIVITAS supports cities to make smart and sustainable urban mobility a reality for all. In doing so, it is ensuring that mobility is a driving force behind the creation of climate-neutral and resilient cities. The CIVITAS Initiative is currently coordinated by CIVITAS ELEVATE.
Source: CIVITAS - About
-
Article
JPI Urban Europe
Cities and urban areas need to be transformed into regenerative, robust, and liveable places to respond to the climate crisis and enhance urban liveability for all. JPI Urban Europe’s task is to connect public authorities, civil society, scientists, innovators, business, and industry to provide an effectful environment for research and innovation to contribute to urban transformation processes.
This transformation isn’t easily achieved; it requires urgent transnational attention in the fields of urban innovation and technological development. JPI Urban Europe responds to this urgency by committing itself to ambitious intra- and interdisciplinary research on a transnational scale. We function as a gateway and a hub for urban research, facilitating research on a scale which simply could not be carried out by any one nation alone.
JPI Urban Europe - the knowledge hub for urban transitions
JPI Urban Europe was created in 2010 to address the global urban challenges of today with the ambition to develop a European research and innovation hub on urban matters and create European solutions by means of coordinated research.
JPI Urban Europe welcomes anyone with a drive and concern to improve 21st century urban life. Our task is to connect public authorities, civil society, scientists, innovators, business and industry to provide a new environment for research and innovation. We offer experimental zones and long-term research infrastructures in a broad sense. Our mission is to develop knowledge, tools and platforms for dialogue on urban transitions.
Currently, JPI Urban Europe engages 20 countries out of which 14 are members: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Slovenia, Sweden, andthe United Kingdom, and six are obeservers: Estonia, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Turkey, as well as the European Commission. More countries are involved in specific JPI Urban Europe activities.
Members and observers in the JPI Urban Europe Governing Board
Joint programming
Joint Programming is an instrument which was launched by the European Commission in 2008. It was designed for the implementation of the European Research Area (ERA) which aims to promote strategic cooperation between EU Member States and associated countries. The instrument is designed to focus on reducing fragmentation in research whilst simultaneously strengthening research and innovation projects by having European countries and actors voluntarily work together and align their national interests.
This way they can achieve outcomes on a much larger scale, leading to much more complex research results which can be compared and contrasted across nations. Researchers will be able to learn a lot from this cooperation and comparison of different case studies. We will provide the structures and facilities which will make international cooperation in urban research possible.
Long-term Strategy
A Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) was developed to identify and agree on research priorities and define joint implementation measures. The SRIA thus aims to consider the diversity of urban and regional research and innovation needs across Europe and also opens the door for small and less RTDI intensive countries to work together in JPI Urban Europe’s activities. To ensure the highest commitment and relevance for all JPI Urban Europe partners, a co-creative process was applied, involving representatives from all stakeholder groups and regions – scientists, funding agencies, cities, business, industry, and civil society.
The Joint Programming Initiative (JPI) Urban Europe is now presenting its updated Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda, SRIA 2.0. The agenda will guide the activities and research priorities in the programme until 2026. The launching took place during the policy conference “Urban Transitioning – A Joint Adventure” at the Committee of the Regions in Brussels, February 2019.
Explore JPI Urban Europe by the numbers
JPIs and the European Commission
The website of the European Commission ‘European Research Area’ provides information about Joint Programming Initiatives and related subjects:
Source: JPI Urban Europe - About
Read here more about the support to JPI Urban Europe.
-
Article
Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy EUROPE
The EU Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy brings together thousands of local governments voluntarily committed to implementing EU climate and energy objectives. The Covenant of Mayors was launched in 2008 in Europe with the ambition to gather local governments voluntarily committed to achieving and exceeding the EU climate and energy targets. Not only did the initiative introduce a first-of-its-kind bottom-up approach to energy and climate action, but its success quickly went beyond expectations.
The initiative now gathers 9,000+ local and regional authorities across 57 countries drawing on the strengths of a worldwide multi-stakeholder movement and the technical and methodological support offered by dedicated offices. The Global Covenant of Mayors is capitalising on the experience gained over the past eight years in Europe and beyond, and is building upon the key success factors of the initiative: its bottom-up governance, its multi-level cooperation model and its context-driven framework for action.
Click here to read more about their objectives & scope.
Click here to read more about the covenant in figures.
About: Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy EUROPE - About
-
Article
Living-in.EU
The Living-in.EU movement for the European way of digital transformation in cities and communities (DG CNECT) is a collaborative platform for cities and communities to accelerate their digital transformation the 'European way' (citizen-centric approach, ethically and socially responsible data usage, co-creation with and engagement of citizens, open and interoperable standards). Created by a group of cities, city representative groups Eurocities, Open and Agile Smart Cities (OASC), the European Network of Living Labs (ENoLL), and supported by the European Commission (DGCNECT, DGR&I and the Committee of the Regions), it was launched in December 2019 by the Finnish Presidency of the Council of the EU.
The aim of Living-in.EU is to work together to scale up the use of data technology to tackle a range of interconnected challenges, including urban mobility, energy efficiency, and digital public services, while ensuring environmental sustainability in line with the European Green Deal.
Cities, regions and Member States leaders are invited to join the community by signing the ‘Join, Boost, Sustain’ Declaration, which NGOs, businesses and non-EU cities can also subscribe to as supporters.
More than 80 cities and communities across Europe have signed the Join, Boost, Sustain Declaration, from large capitals to smaller rural municipalities; from digital pioneers, to those beginning their digital journey. More than 50 organisations are affiliated as supporters. These include research institutes, large enterprises, SMEs and not-for profit foundations, who all subscribe to the Living-in.EU principles, aiming for a digital, cohesive Europe where digital transformation improves the well-being of all EU citizens.
Mayors about the European way
Read more about Living-in.EU here.
-
Article
Green City Accord
The Green City Accord is a movement of European mayors committed to making cities cleaner and healthier. It aims to improve the quality of life for all Europeans and accelerate the implementation of relevant EU environmental laws. By signing the Accord, cities commit to addressing five areas of environmental management: air, water, nature and biodiversity, circular economy and waste, and noise.
Source: Green City Accord
-
Article
100 Intelligent Cities Challenge
The Intelligent Cities Challenge (ICC) is a European Commission initiative that supports 136 cities in using cutting-edge technologies to lead the intelligent, green and socially responsible recovery. The ICC cities and their local ecosystems will be engines for the recovery of their local economy, create new jobs, and strengthen citizen participation and wellbeing.
The ICC is part of a wider EU support system that recognises the importance of delivering on the promises made by the European Green Deal, the digital strategy, and other EU policies. It looks to move towards a more digital, service-oriented and low-carbon economy, supported by a knowledge-based society, that enables circular economy systems through ‘local value loops’, evidence-based reskilling, and sustainable investments.
Source: 100 Intelligent Cities Challenge
-
Article
Smart Cities and Communities lighthouse projects
Lighthouse cities develop and test integrated innovative solutions at district scale. These lighthouse cities should act as exemplars for their region helping to plan the replication of these solutions, adapted to different local conditions.. Links with the broader Sustainable and Integrated Urban Development Strategies in the framework of the European Structural and Investment Funds should be sought as well as the funds available for the upscaling and replication of the projects (in particular ESIF).
-
Article
European Innovation Partnerships
Details of partnerships that aim to better coordinate different levels of existing financial instruments and initiatives.
What are European Innovation Partnerships (EIPs)?
EIPs are partnerships that bring together relevant parties at EU, national and regional levels to streamline, simplify and better coordinate existing financial instruments and initiatives. They focus on challenges that can benefit society, modernise sectors and markets.
They are launched in areas where it is clear that combining EU, national and regional efforts in research and development will produce effective results.
EIPs aim to
- coordinate investments in demonstration and pilots
- anticipate and fast-track any necessary regulation and standards
- better coordinate public procurement so breakthroughs are quickly brought to market
Existing EIPs
Active and Healthy Ageing (EIP-AHA)
Aims to identify and remove persisting barriers to innovation across the health and care delivery chain, through interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral approaches.
Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability
Works to foster competitive, sustainable farming and forestry to ensure a steady supply of food, feed and biomaterials.
Smart Cities and Communities (EIP-SCC)
Works to improve urban life through more sustainable integrated solutions, including applied innovation, better planning, a more participatory approach, higher energy efficiency, better transport solutions, intelligent use of information and communication technologies (ICT) and more.
Water (EIP Water)
Facilitates the development of innovative solutions to address major European and global water challenges. The partnership also supports the creation of market opportunities for these innovations, both inside and outside of Europe.
Raw Materials (EIP Raw Materials)
Contributes to the security of a sustainable supply of raw materials to the European economy whilst increasing benefits for society as a whole. The partnership also aims to help raise industry's contribution to the EU GDP.
Source: European Innovation Partnerships (EIPs) - European Commission
-
Article
Smart Cities Marketplace
The Smart Cities Marketplace was created by merging the two former Commission projects “Marketplace of the European Innovation Partnership on Smart Cities and Communities” (EIP-SCC) and the “Smart Cities Information System” (SCIS) into one single platform. It is a major market-changing undertaking that aims to bring cities, industries, SMEs, investors, researchers and other smart city actors together.
The Smart Cities Marketplace has thousands of followers from all over Europe and beyond, many of which have signed up as a member. Their common aims are to improve citizens’ quality of life, increase the competitiveness of European cities and industry as well as to reach European energy and climate targets.
Source: Smart Cities Marketplace