Smart Cities Marketplace
Session speakers:
Moderation: First part: Panel, Tatiana Pasquel-Garcia, Smart Cities Marketplace, VITO
Second Part: Interviews, Silvia Assalini, Covenant of Mayors Europe, ICLEI
- Intro EC/Initiatives: Georg Houben, Policy Officer, EC, DG ENER
- Luigi Lo Piparo, Smart Cities Marketplace, Technopolis Group
- Silvia Assalini, Covenant of Mayors Europe, ICLEI
- Eelco Kruizinga, Covenant of Companies for Climate and Energy (CCCE), DNV
- Esben Pejstrup, European City Facility, ICLEI
- Andreas Piller, CIVITAS, ICLEI
- Jeanett Bolther, ENTRANCE, PNO Consultants
Key points:
- The event began with an introduction by Georg Houben, who discussed the EU Green Deal and efforts to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. He highlighted the role of Smart Cities Marketplace (SCM) in assisting small and mid-size cities with limited resources.
- Luigi Lo Piparo from SCM emphasised three key aspects: Explore (sharing information), Shape (shaping projects), and Deal (providing access to investors).
- Silvia Assalini from Covenant of Mayors Europe (CoM) highlighted CoM's efforts to gather 100,000 signatories to achieve climate targets, its methodology, and international presence.
- Eelco Kruizinga from Covenant of Companies for Climate and Energy (CCCE) focused on supporting SMEs in decarbonisation and providing guidance through masterclasses and tools.
- Esben Pejstrup from the European City Facility (EUCF) emphasised investment and the importance of local action in climate initiatives, along with political commitment.
- Andreas Piller from CIVITAS discussed the initiative's role in interpreting, interacting, and inspiring by replicating best practices and connecting various stakeholders.
- Jeanett Bolther from ENTRANCE emphasised market visibility for innovative solutions and supporting private buyers through aggregation.
In the second part, various use cases were presented:
- Alessandra Barbieri from the City of Florence, a Covenant signatory, discussed the transition from plan to action, emphasising the importance of timing and creating business models that benefit the municipality, businesses, and citizens.
- Eelco Kruizinga presented a CCCE video on a packaging company in Poland, addressing Scope 3 emissions from SMEs' products.
- Ángel Batalla from the Last Mile Team shared lessons learned about building partnerships and the challenges cities face in adopting new solutions.
- Luca Boschetti from Pioneer Point Partners, a member of the Smart Cities Marketplace investor network, outlined three success factors for funding: the ESCO model, detailed business plans, and a minimum contract size of over 1 million euros.
- Andreas Piller from CIVITAS focused on mobility initiatives, emphasising the importance of reducing traffic, renewing fleets, and engaging all stakeholders in sustainable urban mobility plans.
Part 3: Group Discussions
The participants split into two groups to identify needs in the areas of discuss digital mobility and energy-related topics, and discuss possible solutions.