Horizon Europe Mission Area: Climate-neutral and smart cities

Read on to learn about the Horizon Europe mission area, ‘Climate-neutral and smart cities’.

Mission area: Climate-neutral and smart cities background and aim

What are Horizon Europe missions and mission areas?

EU missions are commitments to solve major societal challenges like fighting cancer, adapting to climate change, protecting our oceans, living in greener cities and ensuring soil health and food.

As an integral part of the Horizon Europe framework programme beginning in 2021, they are a new way to deliver on these commitments.

Each mission will operate as a portfolio of actions – such as research projects, policy measures or even legislative initiatives – to achieve a measurable goal that could not be achieved through individual actions. The missions will contribute to the goals of the European Green Deal, Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan as well as the Sustainable Development Goals.

About the Horizon Europe mission area: Climate-neutral and smart cities

Most economic activities take place in cities and metropolitan areas where knowledge creation, innovation, and new technologies coexist and intersect. The labour environment and the quality of people’s lives depend on the quality of the city, and the decarbonisation strategy of energy, transportation, buildings and even industry and agriculture in the city will inevitably affect all aspects of citizens’ lives.

This mission aims to build green cities by involving all citizens, including political participants, users, producers and consumers, in order to achieve a systematic transformation towards climate neutrality, which is essential for achieving sustainable development goal by 2030.

By 2030, the mission will:

1. Support, promote and showcase 100 European cities in their systemic transformation towards climate neutrality;
2. Turn these cities into innovation hubs for all cities, benefiting the quality of life and sustainability in Europe.

Timeline of the mission area: Climate-neutral and smart cities

1. In September 2020, the Mission Board handed in the final recommendations to the European Commission
2. A preparatory phase to decide upon detailed actions, investment strategy and performance indicators began in November 2020 and will last a maximum of 12 months.
3. In the last half-year of 2021, the mission will be officially launched and enter the implementation phase.

Read our article on the ‘Green Cities’ mission: Supporting 100 European Cities to achieve Climate Neutrality in 2030

Read more about Horizon Europe 

Visit the European Commission overview page for “Climate-neutral and smart cities“