European Commission launches Call for proposals under Smart Cities and Communities initiative

17.07.2012 - As one of the greatest challenges facing Europe is how to best design and adapt cities into smart, intelligent, sustainable environments, the European Commission last week launched the Smart Cities and Communities Communication - European Innovation Partnership, together with the call for proposal opened to industry-led consortia operating in the sectors of energy, ICT and transport.

With a substantial increase in budget - from € 81 Million in 2012 to € 365 Million in 2013 - the Commission launches a first wave of lighthouse projects that could be co-financed:

Smart buildings and neighbourhood projects
Smart supply and demand service projects
Urban mobility projects
Smart and sustainable digital infrastructures.

The call is open only to industry led-consortia which operate within the three sectors: energy, transport and ICT policy. Therefore the consortia will need to include partners coming from three member states and/or associated countries teaming up with at least two cities. These criteria should ensure that the demonstration projects presented and selected are market-oriented and could be replicated in different cities. For the size or population of the cities, the call does not make any specific reference, only to the fact that the projects are expected to have an EU impact and to test solutions at sufficient large scale enabling the market uptake and roll out afterwards.

Climate Alliance considers that the Smart Cities and Communities initiative should help Covenant cities to materialize projects that are rooted in their comprehensive Sustainable Energy Action Plans. These projects will have a strong impact on shifting the energy paradigm towards a decentralized management approach to energy systems. Smart Cities should fund the actions and projects which are „innovative” and to showcase the costs, payback times, different partnerships as well as replicability of those actions and projects.Such projects should also include issues such as innovative management models and financing schemes. It is also very important that citizens are taken on board.

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