On September 5, EIT Climate-KIC-led initiative NetZeroCities launches a two-year programme enabling cities to test and implement innovative approaches to rapid decarbonisation in Europe. The call for Pilot Cities runs under the auspices of the EU Mission Cities and offers €32 million in grants and hands-on support to the selected cities. The programme is open to all cities in the EU Member States and Horizon Europe Associated Countries. 

The Pilot Cities Programme will identify cities or districts to support large-scale piloting activities to exploit, deploy and scale research and innovation and systemic solutions that combine social, cultural, technological, nature-based, regulatory and financial innovations, as well as new business and governance models to underpin the transition to the net-zero. The programme will provide cities with support to implement a systemic approach to planning their activities. 

Thomas Osdoba, Director of Net Zero Cities and Senior Advisor on Cities for EIT Climate-KIC says: “Cities participating in the European Cities Mission will need to test new ways of working in order to achieve climate neutrality by 2030. Since no city is the same, we need to invest in them to test and adapt, learning based on how well changes can help make progress toward the Mission goal. This is what the Pilot Cities Programme is designed for.” 

The selected cities will receive funding in the form of grants and direct support for system innovation-oriented pilot activities from the NetZeroCities (NZC) Consortium partners. The grants are funded under Horizon 2020, the European Commission’s 2014-2020 Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (R&I) and will be awarded to 30 cities.

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