Accelerating energy solutions to achieve climate-neutral cities is not a copy and paste exercise, but a process of connecting stakeholders, competence and capital to create unique innovation ecosystems.

In this Participatory Lab "Positive Energy Districts as Innovation Ecosystems: Connections - Competence - Capital", four cities from across Europe share with you how they are implementing the European Commission's Mission on Climate-neutral cities. Learn what works, what challenges they face and what impact they are achieving.

Inspired by 18 smart city ‘Lighthouse’ projects, the cities of Parma (Italy), Bydgoszcz (Poland), Lviv (Ukrain) and Vaasa (Finland) are customising integrated energy solutions to their local needs and contexts. They will share what it takes to create a robust innovation ecosystem for the future of Europe.

This session is organised by a replication task group working for 18 Smart Cities and Communities Lighthouse projects (H2020-SCC01), encompassing 122 cities in Europe. The session is part of our ongoing campaign of actions to achieve climate neutrality in every city of Europe. The extensive experience of these cities gives insight into what makes replication happen – in practice. As the European Innovation Council's stakeholder consultation on innovation ecosystems (Feb 2020) identified: "it's not about technology, it's about the connectedness of stakeholders, competence, and capital" Insights and actors supporting this session and the ongoing replication drive include a range of smart city networks, such as the Smart City Marketplace/SCALE, EUROCITIES, ICLEI, and the Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy Europe.