CapaCITIES will shape a European environment conducive to urban climate neutrality transitions for national, regional and local authorities. The project aims to initiate and strengthen national change processes by establishing national networks and governance structures and by providing dedicated support for public authorities to put enabling conditions and measures for cities in place for achieving the cities mission. To achieve this ambition, the CapaCITIES consortium represents 15 European countries who have committed to initiative and strengthen national change processes by ministerial or other high political level. CapaCITIES thereby build on a well-established network of national authorities (national ministries and agencies responsible for urban transition) with its relevant urban stakeholder organisations beyond the consortium partners and countries. To all project partners CapaCITIES offers dedicated services to in support of national change process. First, a transnational alliance for public authorities to exchange, learn and inspire each other in their transition towards climate neutral cities. Second, support in prototyping innovative multi-level and cross sector governance structures. Third, thematic capacity building for public authorities and support in taking effective local action and fourth, strategic synergies and access to other initiatives that address the climate neutral and smart cities mission.

In modern economy, digitalization is a major driver of productivity growth across industries and services. However, the construction sector is lagging behind, even behind agriculture. The construction sector is characterised by a high presence of SMEs, low capitalization, a low rate of higher educated employees, low investment in innovation, and a long supply chain. Moreover, in the EU market, different languages, taxation, and regulatory frameworks are obstacles to Union synergies. DigiPLACE will exploit EU added value. Several initiatives have been developed at national level to improve the innovation in this sector. At EU level, some projects were devoted to facilitating the exchange of information, practice and knowledge (e.g. CPR 305/2011 and Levels). DigiPLACE will create a common ecosystem of innovation, standardization and commerce with the aim to collect the achieved results and to increase the productivity of the sector and the quality of its end products (building&infrastructure). Could digitalization help the sector to solve these historical issues and future ones? What kind of digitalization, what kind of market, what kind of production and supply-chain we could imagine? What kind of consumers do we have for our products and services. How do these worlds work together? DigiPLACE aims to investigate all these themes with a strong analysis of markets, actors and barriers. It will define a Reference Architecture Framework (RAF) for digital construction platform based on an EU-wide consensus involving a large community of stakeholders and the expertise of selected key players, resulting in a strategic roadmap for successful implementation of this RAF. DigiPLACE will rely on a large set of partners, linked 3rd parties and an Advisory Board representing leading European entities, companies and/or associations of industry, builders, owners (private and public), architects, research institutes, and ICT firms (for digital production, services and knowledge).

The action will set up a joint programming initiative to develop Smart, Integrated, Regional Energy Systems that enable regions and local communities to realize their high ambitions of moving towards decarbonised energy systems and at the same time link them to a secure and resilient European energy system. This shall include solutions that allow for a high proportion of renewables up to and beyond 100% in the local or regional supply. The initiative will coordinate relevant RDD programs in the involved European, associated countries and regions represented in the consortium connecting them with other funding and financing partners. It will accelerate the deployment of latest resource-efficient and decarbonising energy system solutions, thus strengthening the competitiveness in relevant markets and lerveraging sustainable structures already established by ERA-Net Smart Grids Plus . The latter is focussing on the broad involvement of a large number of countries and regions in order to implement European smart electricity grids research agendas, while the ERA-Net SG+ RegSys will build on this with a new approach, developing integrated, regional energy systems, including the full spectrum of energy carriers and infrastructures. A highly ambitious consortium will pilot new formats of collaboration with regional and local stakeholders as well as supply and demand side oriented technology policy.