Working Group Leaders
Representatives of Brussels-based offices leading the work of the Smart Cities Working Group.
Smart Cities
The objective of the Working Group is to act as a platform to offer early information on priorities and funding opportunities linked to Smart Cities, with a focus on the EU Mission on 100 climate-neutral and smart cities by 2030. The WG aims to facilitate sharing of experiences and support matchmaking to develop new partnerships and projects. The WG targets the smart city topic from an integrated and holistic approach, addressing issues such as citizen engagement, data-driven policy and smart governance models, while exploring synergies between the areas linked to smart cities as addressed by the ERRIN WGs on Energy and Climate Change, Transport and ICT.
ERRIN Contact
Mission on 100 climate-neutral and smart cities by 2030
The Smart Cities WG has taken an active role in shaping the Mission on 100 climate-neutral and smart cities by 2030 - one of the five mission areas under Horizon Europe - and is closely following the implementation of the mission. Visit our dedicated Cities Mission page to learn more about our work on this.
Previous Related ERRIN Working Group Meetings
Artificial Intelligence related strategies at local and regional level – ICT WG Meeting
In December 2023, the Council and the European Parliament reached a political agreement on the AI Act, setting out rules for the development and usage of AI in Europe. With AI's growing importance
Policy & Smart Specialisation WGs meeting: Widening in FP10 and impact on cohesion policy post-2027
The topic of widening gathers high attention in the discussions around the next European Framework Programme for R&I, raising questions with the potential to influence not only the Widening sub-
Policy WG meeting: Role of EU Missions in FP10
ERRIN has been closely involved in the design and implementation of the EU Missions since their inception. Missions remain one of the network's priorities and were one of the four main areas of focus
WG Related Events
Territories as leaders in responsible research and innovation
The Responsible Research and Innovation in Territories Leaders (RRI-LEADERS) project is holding its final policy conference on 19 October from 08:30-20:30 in Brussels. It will bring together participants from across Europe to explore the diverse experience of European territories in integrating Responsible Research and Innovation in territorial policymaking.
EWRC side event: Climate adaptation as a driver for policy-making
Building on regional examples from Catalonia, Normandie, Mid-Norway, and South Ostrobothnia, this EWRC side event will focus on ways to ‘mainstream’ climate adaptation in regional public policies and showcase the efforts towards this process in different EU regions.
EWRC 2023 workshop - Rethinking the post-industrial transition in cities and regions
Are you interested to know more about how local and regional authorities can play a vital role in the post-industrial transition? Join us – the Capital Cities and Regions Network (CCRN) – during the European Week of Regions and Cities 2023 on Wednesday 11th of October!
EWRC 2023: Energy transition – making local and regional solutions replicable for Europe
As part of EWRC, Pomorskie region is holding a session on Energy transition – making local and regional solutions replicable for Europe on 11 October from 09:30-10:30. This workshop will cover initiatives that are contributing to decarbonisation efforts at local/regional level and showcase projects that are establishing integrated local energy systems (energy islands).
5GSC Community Conference
On 11 October (9:30 to 16:30), the 5G for Smart Communities Support Platform is organising the 5GSC Community Conference in Brussels, bringing together key stakeholders, including mobile network operators, alternative operators, equipment manufacturers, and public authorities, to foster a dynamic exchange of ideas, insights and best practices.
EWRC: From reactive to proactive cities on citizens' terms
The cities of Helsinki, Ghent, and Eurocities will hold a European Week of Cities and Regions session to shed light on what opportunities a proactive city can offer citizens. The session will take place on 11 October from 09:30-11:00 at the Jacques Delors building, Brussels.
WG Documents
ERRIN Year in review 2022
The ERRIN Year in review 2022 is out! Read the report to see the numerous activities ERRIN and its members have been involved in throughout the year.
Letter on Cities' Concerns: Mission on Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities
The Smart Cities WG leaders developed a letter directed towards the Mission Manager and the Mission Secretariat of the Mission on Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities, as a follow-up from the Smart Cities WG meeting on the Cities Mission and the Expression of Interest in November 2021.
Handbook on implementation and adoption barriers of urban living labs developing nature-based solutions
Developing Urban Living Labs is a relatively novel approach in urban areas, and consequently, there are many challenges and barriers that cities face during ULL adoption. This handbook, developed by the UNaLab project, aims to identify and explore some common barriers to the adoption of Urban Living Labs, and provide cities with a tool and an understanding of how to strategically address these barriers.
ERRIN Input to the City Mission Implementation Plan
Please find attached ERRIN's input to the Implementation Plan of the Mission on climate-neutral and smart cities.
ERRIN Contribution to the City Mission Interim Report and the Green Deal Call 1.2
Please find attached ERRIN's contribution to the interim report of the Mission on Climate Neutral and Smart Cities and the Green Deal Call 1.2.
Report by the Mission Board: 100 climate neutral cities by 2030 - by and for the citizens
The latest version of the interim report by the Mission Board on Climate Neutral and Smart Cities.
WG Related Content
Exploring Synergies between European Partnerships and EU Missions – Mutual Learning Event
ERRIN and the TRAMI project are organising a Mutual Learning Event aiming to explore synergies between European Partnerships and EU Missions. The event will take place on Wednesday 7 February from 9:00 to 12:00 (CET) at the NCBR Brussels Office, Rue Belliard 40, Brussels.
Innovation Fund calls to drive net-zero technologies open until April 2024
With a budget of €4 billion, the Commission has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting innovative projects that contribute to the EU’s green transition goals. The Innovation Fund 2023 calls covering sectors including decarbonisation, hydrogen, cleantech manufacturing, and maritime and energy-intensive industries are open until 9 April 2024, 17:00 (CET).
Scalable Cities Action Grant: third call for proposals open
The third call for proposals of the Scalable Cities Action Grant is open until the end of January 2024. The grant aims to financially support cities and ad-hoc partnerships that wish to replicate measures that were successfully implemented through Smart Cities and Communities projects to facilitate the transition towards climate neutrality.
The European Heritage Hub project is looking for good practices
The European Heritage Hub is collecting good practices to share throughout Europe and beyond! Administrations of a city or region are asked to submit highlights of their work in heritage in the context of the ‘triple transformation ’ – green, digital and social – of our society. Ten practices will be selected for publication and promotion through the European Heritage Hub. Cities whose good practices are selected also get the opportunity to host a peer learning visit with a delegation of 20 participants funded by the project (3 peer learning visits will take place between Q2 2024 and Q1 2025).
Available support to regions in EU Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change
On 12 December 2023, the ERRIN Adaptation Task Force organised a hybrid event providing an overview of the available financial and technical support for regions and communities under the EU Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change. Here is a summary of the opportunities provided within three initiatives running under the Mission Adaptation.
ERRIN end of year reception - 2023 Highlights
On 7 December, ERRIN celebrated the network’s achievements in 2023. Following an engaging meeting with leaders of our 15 Working Groups, all ERRIN members were invited to a cocktail reception featuring a keynote from Markus Schulte, Head of Cabinet of Iliana Ivanova, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth. Check out ERRIN 2023 highlights in a 3-minute video.
Latest Updates
- By Agnieszka Wieczorek Jetha
ERRIN Year in review 2022
The ERRIN Year in review 2022 is out! Read the report to see the numerous activities ERRIN and its members have been involved in throughout the year.
- By Lucy Hammond
Partner Search EIC Pathfinder - Business Models Developers
A consortium is looking for a partner who may help to develop a business model for an electric grid transition. This task will require knowledge of market estimation, renewable energy economy, payback time evaluation and business planning.
- By Francesca Pozzebon
Open Call: New European Bauhaus Booster 2.0 – deadline 13 March
On 16 January, the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) published a call to support and help to foster the New European Bauhaus transformations. It targets European startups or scale-ups developing innovative solutions with deliberate consideration given to the NEB values. Successful applicants will be welcomed in the EIT Community NEB acceleration program that will be tailored to each company. The deadline for application is 13 March.
- By Lucy Hammond
Pathways2Resilience Project
The Pathways2Resilence project, launched earlier this week, will empower at least 100 regions and communities in designing pathways and innovation agendas to become climate resilient by 2030.
- By Anonymous
Partner Search for Horizon Proposal HORIZON-MISS-2023-CLIMA-CITIES-01
Institute of Advance Architecture of Catalonia and Linköpings universitet have a consortium partially set up for horizon call HORIZON-MISS-2023-CLIMA-CITIES-01 'Demonstration of climate mitigation and resilience solutions in support of the implementation of the Adaptation to Climate Change and Cities Missions' and are looking for further cities to be involved.
- By Lucy Hammond
Final release of the DT4REGIONS platform out now
DT4REGIONS, a project in which ERRIN is a partner, has launched its final release of the DT4REGIONS platform. With the final release, all those interested in the digital transformation of the public sector can now submit related DT Stories and DT Solutions directly on the platform. At the heart of the project, these will serve to unlock experience sharing, mutual learning and connecting with the community of practitioners and experts across Europe.