SMCNetZero brings together six successful urban innovation initiatives in Europe with seven (7) regional and Pan-European networks and their partners to create a Satellite Network of innovation actors to support public sector representatives from Small and Medium-sized cities (SMCs), SMEs, academia, NGOs and investors across Europe to facilitate decarbonisation in SMCs. SMCNetZero will leverage its diverse Satellite Network to gain an in-depth understanding of SMC needs and barriers; raise awareness and simplify access to existing successful initiatives supporting decarbonisation; support matchmaking between supply and demand sides by linking SMEs, researchers, and investors with SMCs; and help identify and open access to funding for enabling innovation deployment in SMCs currently underrepresented in the European innovation ecosystem. SMCNetZero is unique in that its diverse consortium partners and broad commitment from target stakeholders in the Satellite Network ensure focus in regions with less innovation capacity, with written confirmed commitment from nearly 100 innovation actors at the proposal stage, to participate in the activities - including an emphasis on largely underrepresented regions and stakeholders. SMCNetZero’s vision is to create and strengthen local innovation ecosystems’ interrelations in SMCNetZero regions through brokerage and knowledge-building activities as well as digital resources to increase capacity for planning, deploying and scaling-up of decarbonisation solutions, overall focusing on increasing the inclusivity of these innovation ecosystems and minimizing existing innovation divides.

Mobility is crossing a new digital frontier in terms of connectivity, allowing vehicles to communicate to each other, to the infrastructure and to other transport systems users. However, the potential implications and impacts of integration of CCAM solutions into the mobility system are not well understood neither for specific actors nor for the systems level. MOVE2CCAM will: i) explore the impact of CCAM passenger and freight solutions; define use cases, business models and KPIs through co-creation activities with the “Satellites”, and ii) develop a practical system dynamics-based impact assessment tool that will enable the evaluation of CCAM interventions’ impact on mobility-, socio-economic-, public health- and environmental-related aspects considering diverse European region specifics and different actors’ needs, objectives and perceptions. The Satellites is a multi-systems network of actors across the whole CCAM ecosystem consisting of industries, authorities, researchers citizens, and orbits around the project by participating in a series of co-creation activities. Case studies for different types of organisations, dialogues, social simulation experiments, virtual reality games, and AV demonstrations take place in 8 European countries and at a pan-European level to collect data and specify the multi-systems impacts of CCAMs. The impact assessment tool will allow stakeholders to test and evaluate the system-wide impacts of CCAM interventions along with a range of complementary policies providing also a series of KPIs (within the project it is applied for Helmond(NL), GZM(PL), and Aegean Islands(GR). Given these activities, MOVE2CCAM significantly contributes to a well-founded understanding of the impacts of CCAMs. It will deliver impact evaluation frameworks and tools with KPIs covering sectors such as society, economy, and the environment; policy recommendations for CCAM partnerships and large-scale demonstrations; and recommendations for SUMP.

Railway stations hold a unique position in the urban landscape: they not only act as complex nodes of mobility and transport, but also as public places that can be seen as integral elements of the city. Consequently, stations have a decisive impact on their urban surroundings as places of everyday life, affecting all stakeholders including citizens and the environment. The central ambition of RAIL4CITIES is to develop a new operational, readily available and highly applicable model of stations (SCP model), combined with a common European methodology and tool for its effective implementation. The project takes inter-dependent impediments (profit-orientated business model, complex web of agents and stakeholders, policy gaps) into account and provides decision makers with the tools to transform stations into promoters of sustainable cities. The model will be applied to 5 living labs addressing the stations’ transformation into hubs of green and active mobility (FR), energy hubs (IT), towards Transit Oriented Development (DE), into a socially-inclusive services hub with using Nature Based Solutions (PL) and services hubs enabling the 15-minute city and circular economy (BE). This will be enhanced by 3 case-studies from the high-speed rail line from Lisbon to Oporto (PT) to study the resilience of infrastructures for both adaptation of spaces to new future uses, and adaptation to climate-change issues and health crises. With 14 partners from 7 European countries, further supported by 9 institutions through letters of support, the RAIL4CITIES consortium and ecosystem integrates the relevant stakeholders from universities, industry, government and the public, and is therefore in the position to design, evaluate and publish a EU-wide model for transforming existing stations or designing new ones into socio-technical systems operating as city’s greening engines for the surrounding environment, and new urban hubs aggregating multiple services for the users and its citizens

ENTRANCE offers a common and legitimate European matchmaking platform and complementary off-line services designed to mobilise financial resources to accelerate the market access and scale up of “first of a kind” sustainable transport solutions, thereby reducing the European CO2 emissions and pollutants caused by the transport and mobility sector. The overall concept focus of the ENTRANCE project lies in the “supply-demand-finance” triangle that is envisaged for all transport and mobility modes and all relevant stakeholders. Through the ENTRANCE Matchmaking accelerator funnel workflow, first-of-a-kind zero, or near-to-zero, emission transport solutions will be identified, attracted and matched with potential buyers and financing opportunities and knowledge on good practices on the deployment of innovative solutions, European and national tenders, and legislation will be exchanged through the online platform. Training and brokerage activities will be executed to increase the maturity of the ENTRANCE community and bridge the gap between innovative solutions and the market. In addition, to de-risk the uptake of innovative solutions, ENTRANCE will facilitate purchase aggregation through matchmaking activities and by setting up a neutral trustee for the orchestration of purchase aggregations. Access to finance will be supported through an online funding programme database and individual and personalised innovation finance advice and support will be offered. The funding advice will combine public funding, private investment opportunities, and the best mix of alternative finance models for solution providers. Finally, ENTRANCE will facilitate cross-fertilisation and clustering activities with European transport and mobility associations and initiatives to support critical mass and achieve a coordinated European effort to boost the uptake and upscaling of innovative transport and mobility solutions.

Sustainable energy Positive & zero cARbon CommunitieS demonstrates and validates technically and socio-economically viable and replicable, innovative solutions for rolling out smart, integrated positive energy systems for the transition to a citizen centred zero carbon & resource efficient economy. SPARCS facilitates the participation of buildings to the energy market enabling new services and a virtual power plant concept, creating VirtualPositiveEnergy communities as energy democratic playground (positive energy districts can exchange energy with energy entities located outside the district). Seven cities will demonstrate 100+ actions turning buildings, blocks, and districts into energy prosumers. Impacts span economic growth, improved quality of life, and environmental benefits towards the EC policy framework for climate and energy, the SET plan and UN Sustainable Development goals. SPARCS co-creation brings together citizens, companies, research organizations, city planning and decision-making entities, transforming cities to carbon-free inclusive communities. Lighthouse cities Espoo (FI) and Leipzig (DE) implement large demonstrations. Fellow cities Reykjavik (IS), Maia (PT), Lviv (UA), Kifissia (EL) and Kladno (CZ) prepare replication with hands-on feasibility studies. SPARCs identifies bankable actions to accelerate market uptake, pioneers innovative, exploitable governance and business models boosting the transformation processes, joint procurement procedures and citizen engaging mechanisms in an overarching city planning instrument toward the bold City Vision 2050. SPARCS engages 30 partners from 8 EU Member States (FI, DE, PT, CY, EL, BE, CZ, IT) and 2 non-EU countries (UA, IS), representing key stakeholders within the value chain of urban challenges and smart, sustainable cities bringing together three distinct but also overlapping knowledge areas: (i) City Energy Systems, (ii) ICT and Interoperability, (iii) Business Innovation and Market Knowledge.