Urban Transition Challenge 2023: Catalysing Smart and sustainable urban evolution

What is it? 

The Challenge on Urban Transition aims at identifying cities, consortia, and investors in need of support to accelerate and finance their smart and sustainable projects.

It matches their needs with technical assistance, 1-to-1 consultancy, guidance services and/or peer2peer exchanges from and with EC Smart City experts.

Selected challenge owners (successful applicants that filled in the survey) are eligible to legal, financial, technical and governance assistance, webinar trainings, or even facilitated access to funding and financing via an Investor network.

The expert services are offered by the European Commission’s initiative Smart Cities Marketplace.

How to get involved?

1. Cities, consortia, and technical providers wanting to develop, replicate or scale up a project aiming at climate neutrality, or investors interested in investing in a bankable one shall fill in the following form describing showcasing their needs and project ideas: https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/SCM-Project-Intake

Need help with the form? Guidance document or direct help via email. The project can be in various stages of preparation.

2. The EU Smart Cities Marketplace team evaluates the needs of each applicant and matches them with fitting expert services, potential technical partners, and/or investor interests.
3. The support can vary from identifying potential project ideas to providing targeted technical assistance to make projects bankable and be matched with suitable investors.
4. Expert support will be provided either virtually or via in-person meetings before, during, and after the Smart City Expo World Congress in November adjusted to the time and availability of the successful applicants.

THEY ARE LOOKING FOR YOUR PROJECTS & IDEAS!

Apply here before 15 September! 

Who will be involved?

• Cities or city-led consortia from EU Member States and Associated Countries looking to accelerate their smart and sustainable projects and project ideas
• Cities or city-led consortia from EU Member States and Associated Countries in need of facilitated access to funding and financing through the EU SCM Investor network
• Smart City and Urban Transition experts offering technical assistance, 1-to-1 consultancy, guidance services and peer2peer exchanges to shape, replicate and scale up a project
• Investors looking for smart city proposals or urban transformation projects

Why should you join the Urban Transition Challenge?

• To accelerate the implementation of projects aiming at making your city climate neutral.
• To benefit from hands-on technical assistance from financial, technical and governance experts.
• To have your project maturity level analysed and enhanced with different service offers (online or on-site 1-to-1 consultancy, thematic webinars, financing masterclasses, and peer2peer exchanges).
• To collaborate with investors on the one side, or with investment seeking entities looking to solve their needs and challenges on the other side.
• To benefit from a personalised project support according to your interests and availability (online or in-person).
• To gain access to networking sessions with cities, technical providers, and other key players with interest in co-developing projects in the areas of clean energy, sustainable mobility and ICTs.
• To meet with investors to pitch and improve a project, get feedback, and build a relationship for future investments.

Steps to fully participate

1. Fill in the application form.
2. Register to the brokerage event on b2match and complete your profile before 1st of November.
3. Remember to add an OFFER (into the opportunities section) for each challenge you are applying to.
4. Choose if you want to have physical meetings, online meetings or both.
5. The physical meetings will be organised at Smart City Expo World Congress happening in Barcelona from 7-9 November 2023.

The participation is free of charge. Remember that you can always participate 100% online, meaning all your meetings will be held online.

Click here to download the b2match APP if you want to manage your meetings easily via phone.

The Urban Transition Challenge 2023 is organised by the EC initiative Smart Cities Marketplace as an official partner of the Smart City Expo World Congress Smart Cities Challenges held by ACCIÓ, a department of the Catalan Government’s Ministry of Enterprise and Labour.

Their activities for you before, during and after the challenge

• 1 online info session: 07/Sept (15-16h CEST)
• 2 tailor-made thematic webinars for challenge applicants: 26/Oct (10:30-12:30h. & 14:30-16:30h CEST)
• 1 in-person workshop at SCEWC: 08/Nov (10-12h. European Commission Stand)
• 1 online masterclass: 16/Nov (10-15h.)