Smart Cities and Communities have been identified as key to achieving the energy efficiency targets for 2020 and 2050. The main objective of this ERA-NET is to stimulate successful practice and facilitate replicability within Smart Cities and Communities projects and also across projects in order to achieve a technological shift in the current energy system and provide smart and integrated solutions for technology, government and society. ERA-NET Smart Cities and Communities aims to create solutions in the form of projects, which demonstrate or at least constitute a decisive step towards implementations that (1) help cities deal with a long uncertain time horizon, (2) monitor ongoing experiences and implement change in the project when necessary, and (3) avoid pitfalls already encountered by others and facilitate collective learning of stakeholders embedded within a physical and social context. Additional activities within the planned ERA-NET are: (A) to work towards a joint call with China and (B) to align national R&D funding with Structural Funds. (A): A structured and systematic approach towards a joint call with China on smart city research will be developed making highest use of existing relations, activities and experience of European Funding Agencies with Chinese partners in order to develop a joint call with China. Beneficiaries of this call (mainly research organisations and companies) would be given a good starting position for further research and development projects. (B) The realisation of smart cities measures requires large investment volumes. Thus, the combination and clustering of different financing instruments is necessary. In line with the new "smart specialization" strategy of the EC, the proposed additional activities should encourage and enable Member States, regions and their Managing Authorities to align their national R&D funding schemes with available Structural Funds (in particular ERDF, but also ESF resources).

In TRANSFORM three European regions join forces and open up their R&I activities to co-create more responsible approaches to innovation. Lombardy in Italy, Brussels in Belgium and Catalonia in Spain are all leaders in experimenting new pathways for territorial development. TRANSFORM brings them together to design, test and disseminate three sound co-creation methodological frameworks (participatory research agenda setting; design for social innovation; and citizen science). These frameworks will be at the forefront of implementation of Smart Specialisation Strategy (S3). They provide approaches and application areas of responsible and accountable territorial development through new forms of local decision-making. They have also proven beneficial in aligning science, innovation and society, making R&D more responsive to citizens’ needs, concerns and aspirations. The three initiatives will implement a mutual learning process within and beyond Europe, pairing with a parallel co-design exercise in Boston (Massachusetts, US). The work in these three clusters will support and increase co-creation and participatory processes within their R&I ecosystems, both building on existing regional commitments towards transformative opportunities and strengthen the opening effect on the organisations involved. Regional governments involved in TRANSFORM will reflect on, experiment with, learn from and adopt RRI approaches to their R&I policies and actions. Concrete examples of inclusive and sustainable territorial development will be attained, thus providing a set of reliable Policy Recommendations to transforming regional R&I ecosystems towards RRI. TRANSFORM will also be integrated into Strategic Roadmaps for the implementation of RRI within S3, addressed to S3 key players, for maximum benefit across all S3 Thematic Platforms.

The event, organised by the Belgian regions represented by the Department EWI from the Flemish Government, Innoviris from the Brussels capital region government, and SPW Economie from the Walloon government, aims to bring together researchers involved in research on digital technologies within the Horizon Europe programme, implementers involved in projects from the Digital Europe Programme, and policy makers working on digital policy at regional, national, and European levels. The primary goal is to discuss policy and practical challenges hindering cooperation between the two framework programmes, particularly in terms of digitalisation. To ensure diverse perspectives, there is a strong emphasis on making this event interactive. Other objectives include fostering networking among different target groups, reviewing the functioning of the Digital Europe Programme, and providing a platform to showcase best practices in cooperation and synergy between the two framework programmes. The event is scheduled for the 5th of February 2024 in Brussels, with visits to relevant organisations in Belgium planned for the following day. Overall, the event aims to create a dynamic platform where researchers, implementers, policy contributors, and other stakeholders can converge, exchange ideas, and contribute to the advancement of digitalisation initiatives in Europe.

WHO: The proposal involves 40 National Funding Authorities and/or Agencies under the Umbrella of Eureka and is coordinated by the Eureka Secretariat in Brussels. Founded in 1985, Eureka is a global network, with 48 Member States plus the European Commission. It includes nearly all countries of the European continent as well as international members like Israel, Turkey, Korea, Canada, Singapore, South Africa, Argentina and Chile. The Consortium also benefits from the fact that is has successfully run the Eurostars 1 and 2 programs. WHAT: The proposed European Partnership on Innovative SMEs will comprise two main instruments (Eurostars 3 and Innowwide) as well as measures to connect to existing EU programs, initiatives and other European partnerships. EUROSTARS 3 (E*3) is an instrument that supports the international cooperation of SMEs in the field of non-military collaborative innovation projects. An E*3 project consortium must be composed of at least 2 independent entities from at least two participating countries and must be led by an innovative SME. The E*3 instrument benefits from accompanying measures that strengthen SMEs’ ability to access foreign markets like the INNOWWIDE instrument, which has already been piloted with the support of some Eureka network members in recent years. WHY: The biggest challenges for innovative SMEs are the access to international cooperation and to enter international markets as well the ability to receive funding. E*3 through its coordination of national innovation programs will in addition support the further development of a European Research Area. HOW: The Eureka Secretariat will organize two joint transnational calls per year for E*3 and one call per year for Innowwide. National Innovation Agencies actively support the implementation of E*3 via national funding and support measures as well as services to applicants and promotion of the program.

Cities around the globe are struggling to meet the needs of their citizens with respect to food, energy and water. These three sectors are inextricably linked and actions in one sector more often have impacts in one or both of the others; these interacting sectors can therefore be seen as a Food-Energy-Water Nexus (FEW Nexus) of systems. The ERANET Sustainable Urbanisation Global Initiative (EN-SUGI) will bring together the fragmented research and innovation expertise across Europe and beyond to find innovative new solutions to this FEW Nexus challenge. Furthermore, by linking the activity of the Joint Programming Initiative (JPI) Urban Europe and the Belmont Forum (BF), EN-SUGI develops more resilient, applied urban solutions that bring research and innovation together from across the globe. EN-SUGI is a project that foresees the participation of 19 Funding Agencies eligible for the EU top up, 18 from JPI Urban Europe and 1 from Argentina, and 6 FAs non eligible for EU top up, under the umbrella of the Belmont forum , collaborating on a volunteer base. EN-SUGI Main objectives and impacts are: To support development of practical innovations and new collaborative research that will allow urban areas to understand and address the challenges of the Food-Energy-Water systems. (Impact = 12-14 projects funded, and 15 cities/local authorities engaged) To provide a framework for aligning R&I agendas of JPI Urban Europe and the BF,. The alignment will help foster transdisciplinary collaboration and co-creation in research and innovation, and facilitate the use of global expertise and knowledge (Impact = 24 funding organisations involved) EN-SUGI will foster development of international relationships between the different parts of the research and innovation community – to enable them to contribute to addressing those challenges and goals, while aligning them to wider, strategic initiatives, including the SRIA agenda, Future Earth and UN –Habitat.