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
Creating Value in Mobility ecosystems
Coventry University & BOOSTERLabs, members of the Inno-Mob project consortium, are holding an online workshop, "Creating Value in French #Mobility Ecosystems," on 12 December 2023. The workshop will present the upcoming funding opportunities under Horizon Europe 2024 calls and will feature an interactive co-design session using the #EIT Value Creation Model.
Available support to regions in EU Mission Adaptation
To support regions and communities in achieving the ambition of the EU Mission Adaptation to Climate Change, the EU has funded several projects to provide support services to Charter signatories and beyond in the different steps of the journey. This meeting invites three projects that provide support to regions and communities to present the support services.
ERRIN end-of-year Reception
We warmly invite you to the ERRIN end-of-year Reception to take stock and celebrate the network’s accomplishments in 2023. The reception will take place on 7 December at 18:00 at the ERRIN premises, Rue du Luxembourg 3, 1000 Brussels.
Pathways2Resilience launch event Resilient Europe: Empowering regions for climate adaptation
ERRIN's project, Pathways2Resilience is a flagship project under the EU Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change, working to empower 150 regions in developing transformative adaptation plans. On 23 November, in Brussels and online, the first call for applicants will be presented, along with how regions are successfully implementing the EU Mission.
Co-creation in EU Missions
The MOSAIC project, in which ERRIN is a partner, is organising the event ‘Co-creation in EU Missions’ in Brussels on 21 and 22 November. The two-days event will be an opportunity to learn how to make use of the several citizen engagement tools that MOSAIC makes available to support cities in starting their own co-creation processes, as well as network and exchange with the European Commission and other cities on the challenges around citizen/multi-stakeholder engagement and receive support during the participatory workshop.
ERRIN Extraordinary General Meeting
The ERRIN Extraordinary General Meeting will take place on 16 November 2023 from 14:00-16:00 CET in the ERRIN premises, with participation possible online. This Meeting is organised to make the necessary changes to the ERRIN Articles of Association following requirements by the new code for Belgian companies and associations. A minimum of 2/3 of the ERRIN members must be represented at the Meeting, and therefore engagement of each member is of crucial importance.
WG Documents
Proposal for the Driving Urban Transitions Partnership
Attached is the approved concept for the Driving Urban Transitions Partnership.
ERRIN Input to the Driving Urban Transitions Partnership Consultation
ERRIN provided input to the public consultation to shape the European Partnership on Driving Urban Transitions.
ERRIN Contribution to the Mission on Climate Neutral and Smart Cities
Please find attached ERRIN's contribution to the Mission on Climate Neutral and Smart Cities.
ERRIN Draft Contribution to the Mission on Climate Neutral Cities
Please find attached ERRIN's first draft contribution to the Mission on Climate Neutral Cities.
Policy Recommendations - Regional R&I Ecosystems: Contributing to a competitive Europe
Going towards FP9, several reports - including the Lamy report - underlined the necessity to address the challenge of turning research knowledge into innovation and growth.
WG Related Content
ERRIN at the EWRC 2023
The European Week of Cities and Regions (EWRC) has come to an end. This year’s edition has been particularly rich in ERRIN’s involvement, with the Secretariat co-organising four events, promoting projects, and the Working Group Leaders participating in several panel discussions.
Ten European cities awarded with the EU Mission Cities Label
On 12 October, the European Commission awarded the first ten European cities with the Label of ‘EU Mission Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities’ for their plans to achieve climate-neutrality by 2030. The EU Mission Label symbolises a crucial milestone, not only recognising the comprehensive plans of these cities to achieve climate neutrality by 2030 but also serves as a catalyst for facilitating access to both public and private funding to support these ambitious goals.
Multi-stakeholder engagement showcases the path to climate neutrality at European Week of Regions and Cities
On 10 October, a collaborative and interactive event was jointly hosted by ERRIN, MOSAIC and the European Commission during the European Week of Regions and Cities. This session brought together experts and stakeholders from across Europe to explore the significant role of multi-stakeholder engagement in advancing the journey towards climate neutrality for European cities.
Shape ERRIN's agenda 2024 - Annual Member Survey
In view of the annual strategy workshops that we will organise with all the Working Group (WG) and Task Force (TF) leaders in the second half of November, all members are invited to provide input on priorities, topics, and activities that should be addressed in 2024. The input can be provided by 31 October 2023.
Lyon Métropole seeks to join a consortium for Horizon Europe call on Zero Pollution
Lyon Métropole would be interested in joining a consortium as a partner working on the topic of urban pollution and population exposure. The consortium would work to better understand the scope of the problem and contribute to identifying actions that could be promoted to better protect both its population and environment.
13 cities from ERRIN member regions selected as NetZeroCities Twin Cities
The NetZeroCities project, in which ERRIN is a partner, has through its Twinning Programme matched 40 Twin Cities from across Europe with the 53 Pilot Cities that were selected earlier this year. ERRIN is pleased to see that 13 of the selected Twin Cities come from ERRIN member regions.
Latest Updates
- By Gaia Ialisa Marotta
On the lookout for regional pilots to "boost rural economies through cross-sector digital service platforms"
ERRIN is looking for regions interested in being partners for the DT-ICT-09-2020 Innovation Action on "Boost rural economies through cross-sector digital service platforms". Proposals are expected to develop and demonstrate cost-efficient and flexible cross-domain applications through large-scale pilots.
- By Agnieszka Wieczorek Jetha
Declaration on joining forces to boost sustainable digital transformation in cities and communities in the EU
At the end of January during the City Forum in Porto, the 'Join.Boost.Sustain Declaration on Upscaling Digital Urban Solutions' was officially signed by over 60 EU, national, regional and city leaders.
- By Heidi Johansson
Driving urban transitions to a sustainable future partnership
The Partnership Driving urban transitions to a sustainable future (DUT) is the proposal for an urban partnership under Horizon Europe, which is currently under development led by JPI Urban Europe. ERRIN has been invited to participate and actively shape this new partnership.
- By Agnieszka Wieczorek Jetha
'Evidence informed policymaking' training course by JRC
A 2-day training course is organised on “Evidence informed policymaking” which will aim to introduce participants to useful tools, train them to navigate between different types of evidence and research methods, and reflect on how to deal with the many challenges of evidence-informed policymaking. ERRIN has been invited to nominate up to 3 candidates.
- By Agnieszka Wieczorek Jetha
Collaborating towards a Horizon Europe mission on climate-neutral cities by and for citizens – how do we ensure smartness?
On 4 December, Lärosäten Syd – the network of Universities in South Sweden – together with the other south Swedish Brussels offices co-organised a policy event in Brussels to present the main wishes and expectations of south Swedish actors on the Horizon Europe mission on cities, as well as to discuss with European partners the main recommendations for the implementation of the mission.
- By Anonymous
Searching for project partners participating in EU-call CE-FNR-17-2020
This call requires a project consortium of different cities or clusters of cities considering a geographical spread around Europe. Based on this requirement we are looking for further project partners who are willing to establish a European network of bio-based cities with innovative biowaste/waste water treatment technologies or comparable approaches. During our current research about potential partners and cities we figured out increasing efforts in sustainable handling of human waste matter.