On 2 July 2025, the CommuniCity project marked a key milestone with its Final Event, held both in Porto and online, drawing together representatives, partners, and citizens from across 19 European cities. This event celebrated three years of collaborative, citizen-driven digital innovation aimed at addressing pressing urban and social challenges through co-creation and participatory approaches.

Over the course of the day, participants engaged in a rich programme that showcased the tangible outcomes of 101 pilot projects developed jointly by citizens, local authorities, and stakeholders. These pilots covered a wide range of topics—from sustainable mobility and digital inclusion to social cohesion and environmental monitoring—demonstrating how co-creation can generate practical and scalable urban solutions.

The event featured a variety of formats designed to promote learning, exchange, and reflection:

• Plenary sessions with in-depth case studies from pilot teams in Porto, Amsterdam, Prague, Helsinki, and other cities, highlighting successes, challenges, and lessons learned.
• Presentations from both lead cities and replicator cities, sharing key takeaways and strategies for replication and scaling up of successful initiatives.
• Insights from project researchers and partners, including future recommendations to support sustainable co-creation practices and digital innovation in urban settings.
• Demonstrations of innovative tools developed within the project, such as the CommuniLab platform for collaborative project management, AI-driven self-assessment tools for pilot evaluation, and comprehensive piloting manuals designed to support ongoing citizen engagement.

In the afternoon, on-site participants took part in interactive workshops focusing on co-creation processes with marginalized communities, emphasizing inclusivity and diversity in urban innovation. Additionally, technical sessions provided a deeper understanding of piloting methodologies and introduced practical assessment tools to enhance project impact and sustainability.

The CommuniCity Final Event served as a powerful reminder of the value of collaborative approaches to urban development and digital innovation. It also provided a platform to celebrate the creativity, commitment, and resilience of all those involved throughout the project’s lifespan.

If you participated in the event, we encourage you to share your experiences and reflections. Mention your project or team on social media and let us know what inspired you or what you found most valuable.

The day after the Final Event, on 3 July, CommuniCity consortium gathered at the premises of SPI – Sociedade Portuguesa de Inovação in Porto for a dedicated project meeting. This internal session provided an opportunity for partners to reflect on the outcomes of the Final Event, review the progress made throughout the project, and discuss final reporting, impact assessment, and future collaboration opportunities. It was also a valuable moment to exchange feedback, consolidate lessons learned, and reinforce the strong partnerships built over the past three years.

The CommuniCity Consortium gathered in Amsterdam from June 25th to 28th for a series of internal strategic meetings, a training workshop and insightful field visits. These sessions were a crucial step in preparing for the launch of the project’s third and final open call, scheduled for September 10th 2024.

On November 8th, the Open & Agile Smart Cities (OASC), a vital partner of the CommuniCity project, took the stage at the Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona to showcase some of its projects, objectives, and core values. Martin Brynskov, an OASC Board of Director and a professor at the Technical University of Denmark, joined his colleagues in emphasising the significance of inclusive technology in fostering positive changes within urban environments and communities.

The presentation also delved into crucial concepts such as Minimal Interoperability Mechanisms (MIMs), the insights that are possible to be gained from the intersection of artificial intelligence and public administration, the integration of Local Digital Twins (LDTs), and the establishment of governance guidelines as key points to push transformative citizen-centred solutions.

During this event, CommuniCity was showcased and stood out as one of the most significant initiatives dedicated to finding solutions for digital and urban challenges. Josephine Di Pino, the Project Coordinator and Project Director at OASC, along with Carla Santos from OASC, Adeeb Sidani and Sara Neves (Porto Digital), Luma Vasconcelos from Sociedade Portuguesa de Inovação – SPI, and other project partners, were in attendance. The session highlighted the role of digital solutions as valuable tools that should actively engage with grassroots input, foster the exchange of insights encompassing both successful and unsuccessful approaches, and prioritise collaborative development.

The gathering also brought together individuals who expressed a keen interest in CommuniCity’s technical framework, a robust collection of assets designed to facilitate the creation and design of innovative solutions. This framework is dedicated to ensuring interoperability between the existing IT infrastructures of cities and the solutions developed by innovators through Open Calls, with the ultimate goal of enabling pilots to overcome specific urban challenges.

On October 19th, the Conference on Digital Society, Digital Cities took place in Bordeaux, France, and provided a platform for experts and local authorities to discuss how Europe supports cities and communities in innovation and transformation projects. The session, titled “How Europe supports cities and communities in innovation and transformation projects: Presentation of major action programs, by their managers and feedback from local authorities,” brought together key figures in the field to share their insights and experiences.

The event featured presentations by Nicolas Rossignol of the European Spatial Planning Observation Network (ESPON) , Christophe Colinet of Bordeaux Metropole, and Giacomo Lozzi, Senior Project Manager at the European Network of Living Labs (ENoLL). The speakers shed light on the benefits of European networks and initiatives, focusing on the role of Living Labs as open innovation ecosystems.

Nicolas Rossignol and Giacomo Lozzi introduced their respective organizations and highlighted the advantages of local actors participating in their networks. Giacomo Lozzi underscored the pivotal role of Living Labs in fostering collaboration among citizens, research institutions, businesses, and governmental agencies at the local level. He emphasized ENoLL’s extensive global reach, spanning five continents and 35 countries, and discussed the opportunities presented by the “Living-in EU” movement, which supports digital transitions in cities and regions.

Giacomo Lozzi also extended an invitation to attendees to join CommuniCity project, funded by the European Commission, which provides financial support for technological solutions addressing societal challenges in European cities.

In the second discussion round, Federica Bordelot of Eurocities elaborated on the digital contributions of cities to Eurocities and its role as a leading network leveraging EU initiatives such as “Living-in EU” and others. Marion Glatron of Rennes Métropole discussed the role of Europe in Rennes Métropole’s data projects.

The session reached its climax with a collective discussion centered on three core concepts: Europe as a source of rights, Europe as a funding source, and Europe as a collaboration space. A live poll conducted via Menti allowed attendees to express their views and share the challenges they are currently facing. The valuable insights garnered from the five main speakers provided a deeper understanding of the landscape of innovation and collaboration in European cities.

On October 10th 2023, during the European Week of Regions and Cities, an inspiring discussion took place on how citizen-centered tech pilots can address the specific needs of EU cities and communities. The session, organised by the EU-funded CommuniCity project, was held at the SQUARE Brussels Meeting Centre.

With an emphasis on enhancing the quality of life in marginalised communities through technology and innovation, the session showcased how urban challenges could be met with citizen-centric tech solutions. The panel featured Joana Moreira from Porto Digital, Neeltje Pavicic from the City of Amsterdam, and Josephine Di Pino from Open Agile Smart Cities. Giacomo Lozzi from the European Network of Living Labs moderated the informative session.

The CommuniCity project offers 100 pilot grants through its Open Calls, allowing companies and associations to co-create groundbreaking solutions. These solutions harness AI and other emerging technologies to address various city and community challenges. The experience of the 1st round, which focused on the needs identified in Amsterdam, Helsinki, and Porto, set the stage for expanding the project to more EU cities in subsequent rounds. The session also offered the opportunity to launch the Second CommuniCity Open Call for 2023-2024. With the application window running from 12th September to 31st October 2023, this represents a renewed opportunity for innovators across Europe.

The experience of the participating experts enriched the discussion. Joana Moreira and Neeltje Pavicic shed light on why Porto and Amsterdam joined the project and the challenges these cities faced during the 1st round of pilots. They also gave some insights into the selected pilots, and the progress and lessons learned from these initiatives. For instance, Amsterdam tackled issues like empowering low-literate citizens through AI and creating real-time audio translations for asylum seekers. Porto, on its side, is testing digital technologies to decrease loneliness and increase the autonomy of the elderly people in its communities.

On the other hand, Josephine Di Pino outlined the overarching goals of the CommuniCity project and discussed the significant role replicator cities like Aarhus, Breda, Prague, and Tallinn will play. She also discussed the 2nd round of CommuniCity Open Calls and briefly touched on the expectations for the 3rd round, which will open its doors to all EU cities.

Finally, the session also introduced CommuniCity’s technical framework, a robust set of assets that aids the design and development of these innovative solutions. This framework ensures interoperability between existing city IT infrastructures and developers’ solutions, aiming for replicability across different cities involved in the project.

The Living-in.EU Open Supporters Meeting held online on June 6th aimed to provide stakeholders with an understanding of the needs and requirements of signatories and how they can contribute to the development of the CitiVerse – a collaborative platform for a city-simulated metaverse.

The meeting shared ongoing calls, news, and the significance of the standardisation (especially for MIMs and the CitiVerse development path), through different approaches, including perspectives from companies and exploring the roadmap to achieving digital solutions able to tackle a growing range of interconnected challenges.

The fruitful event presented cases that are already unfolding the foundations of a CitiVerse based on the Living-in.EU movement, supporting simultaneously the economic and social benefits of digital transformation in cities.

Text: Sociedade Portuguesa de Inovação
Image: Living-in.EU