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.

The general aim of FUSILLI is to support the participant pan-European cities (and their peri-urban areas) with the aim to address by a strong cooperation for knowledge sharing and mutual learning the challenges of the food system transformation. The main objective is to build an urban food plan to reach an integrated and safe holistic transition towards healthy, sustainable secure, inclusive, equitable and cost-efficient food systems, through feasible and replicable innovative urban policies leading to deploy improving actions in all stages of the food value chain in line with the four FOOD 2030 policy priorities (Nutrition for sustainable and healthy diets; Climate-smart and environmentally sustainable food systems; Circularity and resource efficient food systems; and Innovation and empowerment of communities). Each city will create or improve the development of a living lab, which is an open innovation ecosystem where concrete actions will be deployed to develop and implement urban food systems policies delivering on the four FOOD 2030 priorities. These living labs have an objective to solve with the implementation of different innovative actions through all the stages of the food chain: production and processing, distribution and logistics, consumption, food loss and waste, and governance. Living lab will involve several stakeholders representing all the actors in the food system at local level: it will have at least a public authority, industry partner (SME or association), consumer association and education. A Knowledge Community will compile the current local initiatives to develop a catalogue of best practises to implement and exchange within the network of the participant living labs as well as other global initiatives.

The objectives and impacts of the SUPERSHINE project will assist and support the European Commission to implement the European Green Deal. Particular attention will be paid to the renovation of social housing, to help households who struggle to pay their energy bills. In addition, SUPERSHINE will also contribute to the decrease of energy poverty. The SUPERSHINE lighthouse districts will be characterised by energy efficient buildings, low carbon mobility, smart grids, efficient water and waste management, all underpinned by responsive technologies that optimise resources while promoting wellbeing and sustainable lifestyles. More specifically, SUPERSHINE will adopt an integrated strategy with these key principles: a)‘Energy efficiency first’; b) Affordability; c) Decarbonisation and integration of renewables; d) Life-cycle thinking and circularity; e) High health and environmental standards by promoting sustainable energy behaviours; f) Tackling the twin challenges of the green and digital transitions together; g) Respect for aesthetics and architectural quality. The main areas of intervention are: a) Strengthening information and incentives for public and private owners and tenants to undertake renovations while improving community participation or inspiring new patterns of citizen behaviour; b)Ensuring adequate and well-targeted funding by supporting innovative bottom up financial solutions such as Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) and Green Public Procurement (GPP) and collaborating with innovative local Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs); c) Promoting comprehensive and integrated renovation interventions; d) Making the construction ecosystem fit to deliver sustainable renovation, based on circular solutions, use and reuse of sustainable materials, and the integration of nature-based solutions while reducing whole life-cycle carbon emissions.

Cities need support to implement their Sustainable Action Plans in line with the ambitious and stringent regulations towards a zero carbon Europe. The EYES HEARTS HANDS Urban Revolution (EHHUR) project will develop and test a co-designed methodological structure to support cities in their built environment transformation by using already existing good practices and complementing them with the New European Bauhaus and EU Missions principles. 7 Lighthouse demonstrators will be involved across EU and Associated countries (DK, EL, BE, PT, TK, HR, IT). EHHUR will tackle socio-economic and cultural challenges through relevant case studies facing social segregation, vulnerable residents (experiencing energy poverty), coal transition, depopulated and degraded historic centres. EHHUR relies on engagement and co-design as the “backbone” of its methodology, by deploying a set of tailored social innovation activities aimed not only to engage, but also to commit the participation of relevant urban players at multiple and multidisciplinary levels (technology co-design, co-financing, aesthetic co-creation). The EHHUR new integrated methodology will cover innovative i) engagement practices to transform citizens into active players of their future urban transformation and empower them in the decision-making process, ii) financing schemes involving local businesses and citizens, iii) digital and green technologies, iv) architectural design and materials to meet climate change and sustainability challenges while respecting heritage and cultural eco-systems, v) arts and creative co-design in third sector buildings and public areas. The diversified experiences of the LH demonstrators will provide a variety of good practices and guidelines for future replication. Future adopters will benefit from a DSS tool, supported by a capacity building programme, that offers the ideal mix of best technical solutions, optimal financing schemes and engagement tools and social innovation practice.

An important component of a more socially and economically inclusive urban transition is the ability of the cities to implement energy efficiency and renewable energy (RES) projects and initiatives, especially in the housing sector. Despite the progress already made, the large-scale impact that was expected towards promoting energy efficiency is still far off from being fully achieved. The SUPER-i project will provide a significant contribution to generating investments and collecting data on energy efficiency in the social housing sector. Energy efficiency (EE) renovations of social housing can generate a significant social impact by reducing energy poverty. The objectives and impacts of the SUPER-i project will assist and support the European Commission to implement the European Green Deal. The general objective of SUPER-i is to support the funding of EE refurbishment of social housing stocks across Europe while increasing the share of renewable energy in the final energy consumption through the following specific eight objectives: 1) Tailored ePPPs (EE Public Private Partnerships) and roadmaps; 2) Capacity building among financial investors; 3) Data gathering and processing; 4) Integration of EE investments within portfolio management strategies; 5) SUPER-i KPIs; 6) Awareness and Replicability; 7) SUPER-i investment pipelines; 8) SUPER-i Roadmap and Platform. The SUPER-i project will contribute to generate substantial investments in energy efficiency within the social housing sector in two folds: 1) by establishing a direct dialogue, at local government level, between financial institutions, other private investors and social housing managers while also involving ESCOs (Energy Service Companies); 2) by collecting relevant data on EE investments, helping to develop efficient financial schemes. The direct dialogue and data collection will be pivotal to effectively boost the development of energy efficiency PPPs.