Organised by the European Commission, Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy, and the City of Porto, the CITIES Forum 2020 – "Together we shape a sustainable urban future" was a two-day major event of the European Commission bringing together more than 700 key stakeholders from European, national and local levels (30-31 January 2020).
In addition, the EIP-SSC Marketplace team was present at the CITIES Forum 2020.
The EIP-SCC Marketplace engaged with many of the present stakeholders to disseminate the EIP-SCC goals and promote the forthcoming Matchmaking event in Brussels (20 February 2020, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel). Several discussions reflected on the future directions of urban development and the potential of the EIP-SCC for the market uptake of smart city solutions. The networking and received feedback revealed great interest in the EIP-SCC Matchmaking activities. The CITIES Forum 2020 allowed the EIP-SCC Marketplace team to be in contact with mayors (e.g. the Mayor of Ljubljana), EIP-SCC action clusters leaders (e.g. Sustainable Urban Mobility) and EIP-SCC initiative representatives (e.g. Innovate.City), European funding programmes (e.g. UIA, URBACT, JPI Urban Europe), city project developers and important platform representatives (e.g. the European Network of Living Labs).
In a nutshell, the CITIES Forum 2020 allowed for great networking and promotion of the Marketplace of the European Innovation Partnership on Smart Cities and Communities.