The European Commission recently launched the tenth edition of the European Capital of Innovation Awards (iCapital). This competition rewards the European cities that open up their governance practices to experimentation and push the boundaries of technology to benefit their citizens. Directed at innovative cities, the Awards are optimal for cities participating in the Intelligent Cities Challenge (ICC) who are encouraged to apply. The iCapital Awards features two categories for cities to compete in:
The European Capital of Innovation category for cities with a population of minimum 250,000 inhabitants and rewards the winner with EUR 1,000,000 and two runners-up with EUR 100,000 each.
The European Rising Innovative City category that targets towns and cities with a population of 50,000 and up to 249,999 inhabitants and rewards the winner with EUR 500,000 and two runners-up with EUR 50,000 each.
Many past and present ICC cities have won previous editions of the Awards including Cork, Padua and Espoo whilst others obtained positions as finalists such as Braga and Castellón de la Plana. This reflects the strong alignment of the ICC programme with iCapital Awards and how ICC sets cities up for success.
Who can apply
Any city can apply as long as it has at least 50,000 inhabitants and it is located in an EU Member State or an Associated Country to Horizon European Commission.
To apply for the category of European Capital of Innovation, the candidate city must have a minimum of 250,000 inhabitants or be the city closest to this number in its country.
The candidate cities for the European Rising Innovative City category must have a population of 50,000 and up to 249,999 inhabitants.
The award will be rewarded based on six criteria. These include the degree of experimentation in the city’s urban development process, the promoting the acceleration of local actors, building an innovation ecosystem, expanding by sharing knowledge and supporting other cities, having a long-term strategic vision and using innovation to strengthen democracy and protecting citizen’s rights. These criteria strongly overlap with the goals of the Intelligent Cities Challenge where cities are supported in ensuring their projects align with such standards, making it a natural fit for participating ICC cities to apply.
How to apply
The applications are currently opened until 18 June 2024, 17:00 CET. Cities can apply for the European Capital of Innovation, or the European Rising Innovative City. After the deadline for submission there will be a five-month evaluation period after which information on the results will be shared in November – December 2024.
We urge Intelligent cities challenge participants to participate in this competition as the prize brings recognition of the several projects our cities are embarking on and will provide extensive media coverage. Winners and runners-up of the competition will become part of the prestigious iCapital alumni network, where they can share knowledge and work together to find solutions to common challenges.
More information on the European Capital of Innovation Awards and the award criteria can be found here.