112 is the EU’s emergency number. It is also the number of cities that have been selected to take part in the challenge of becoming climate neutral by 2030.
The main question now is: where to start? Cities will need war cabinets to respond to the level of the challenge. Both the way urban actors collaborate, as well as the financing schemes that will enable the related investments, will have to go far beyond today’s established practices.
Inspired by the New European Bauhaus, this session will use local food as a creative meeting space to jumpstart our cooperation towards the Cities Mission. We look forward to embark on this journey together with you!
The Smart Cities Marketplace was created by merging the two former European 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.
The CRAFT project (1 May 2022 – 30 April 2025) will place the transition to climate neutrality at the heart of urban stakeholders. Our cities and communities must be beautiful, inclusive and sustainable – and, of course, climate-neutral. To achieve this, we must engage and empower all of our expertise – both as professional experts, and as citizens who are experts in our own everyday lives.
In the CrAFt project, we will work closely with citizens, tenants and property owners, arts and culture, architects and planners, politicians and policy makers, schools and universities, and many more, to make this happen.
In this way, the Smart Cities Marketplace and the CrAFt project will support the Cities Mission to create at least 112 climate-neutral and socially innovative cities by 2030.
This workshop will identify a portfolio of solutions while relying on the collective insights and experience of the workshop’s participants.
Annemie Wyckmans is the coordinator of CrAFt (Creating Actionable Futures, 2022-2025, HEU-funded), +CityxChange (2018-2023, H2020-funded) and the Joint Programme on Smart Cities of the European Energy Research Alliance. As Professor at NTNU, she is committed to making the transition to climate-neutrality irresistible – with cities and citizens.
Han Vandevyvere is a senior researcher and project manager at VITO-EnergyVille and Associate Professor of NTNU (Norwegian University of Science and Technology). He does research and manages projects with a focus on the energy transition of the built environment, including EU funded smart city projects and climate action plans for cities.