Unite!Widening promotes the Workshop "Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities European EU Mission"

One of the specific objectives of this project is to strengthen the global competitiveness and international visibility of the 9 European Universities that are part of the project, creating critical mass in key areas such as the green transition, digitalization and the Horizon Europe Mission areas. To identify the main RD&I areas, the project will analyze relevant policies and documents at EU level, such as the 5 EU Horizon 2030 Missions (in particular Mission Cities, Mission Adaptation and Mission Ocean), among others. This analysis will result in the identification of the strengths and needs of the expanding countries in the green transition, reinforced by the identification of RD&I areas of interest for common research projects.

In this context, the Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities European Mission workshop will take place on May 17 in Italy, will be hosted by one of the partners in the Unite! Widening project, the Politecnico di Torino.

“Climate neutral and Smart Cities” is an ambitious EU initiative that aims to create 100 climate-neutral smart cities by 2030. These cities will act as centers of experimentation and innovation to enable all European cities to follow suit by 2050. This EU mission is a catalyst for new forms of collaboration and coordination that recognizes the importance and complexity of the challenge of climate neutrality in transport.

The report "Mission-driven Research and Innovation in the European Union" identified mission-driven policy as the key instrument for reshaping Europe's approach to tackling major societal challenges and making them more practical and systemic so that investments in Research and Innovation (R&I) can help achieve specific, targeted and concrete objectives.

The central feature of this Mission is the implementation of Climate Cities Contracts by a group of around 100 cities, selected on the basis of various criteria, including the ambition, preparedness and impact demonstrated in their expression of interest. The contracts will set out plans for cities to achieve climate neutrality by 2030 and will include an investment plan. Although not legally binding, these contracts will constitute a clear and highly visible political commitment to the EU, national and regional authorities and citizens.

Paulo Ferrão, Full Professor at the IST Técnico Lisboa and President of the Centre for Innovation, Technology and Policy Research (IN+), which is part of the EU Mission Council until 2025, will participate in this Workshop representing the Portuguese academic partner of the Unite! Widening project.

It is worth remembering that on March 22, IST hosted the Mission Ocean Restore our Ocean and Waters conference in the same context.