ERA-NET on Smart Urban Futures 2015

Based on concrete urban cases, research and innovation will:

• Analyse the strengths and weaknesses of urban development as a way to shape the economic, social and environmental needs (cf. work, education, housing, mobility, ICT, energy, logistics, health shopping, access to public spaces, culture and leisure) of citizens and in particular the next generation in a sustainable way;
• Identify in which way European cities can become hubs of creativity and innovation;
• Contribute to the establishment of smart urban ecosystem services, where open data, big data and data access help to create thriving urban areas;
• Enhance understanding of urban structures, by creating new methods and tools, network approaches to cities and analysis of the economics of urban and peri-urban areas;
• Evaluate urban areas in terms of current and future "functionalities" opportunities, including urban public spaces and the employment of sustainable infrastructure and networks.

 The following dimensions could be addressed: Urban Living Labs can be a promising option to design research and innovation projects dealing with the multi-dimensional challenges in urban areas; a strong comparative perspective can enhance mutual learning between cities and urban regions; a multilevel context, taking into account the global, European, national, regional and local contexts and actors, enables the examination of urban issues from different perspectives. The proposed ERA-NET aims at coordinating the research efforts of the participating Member States, Associated States and Regions in the field described and to implement a joint transnational call for proposals with EU co-funding to fund multinational innovative research initiatives in this domain. Proposers are encouraged to implement other joint activities including additional joint calls without EU co-funding. The Commission considers that proposals requesting a contribution from the EU of EUR 5 million would allow this specific challenge to be addressed appropriately. Nonetheless, this does not preclude submission and selection of proposals requesting other amounts.