The Smart Cities Marketplace (SCM) has launched its first-ever 1-to-1 technical assistance in partnership with NetZeroCities, marking a significant milestone in the Marketplace’s mission to accelerate climate-neutral urban transitions across Europe.
The beneficiary of this collaboration is the City of Antwerp, specifically its Left Bank district, one of the 100+12 EU Mission Cities. As a signatory of the Covenant of Mayors and a recently Mission-Labelled City (recognised at the 2025 Cities Mission Conference in Vilnius), Antwerp is advancing the front lines of urban climate leadership.
The technical assistance (TA), now actively coordinated by a hybrid team with contributions from VITO (on behalf of SCM) and other organisations involved in the NZC, focuses on the critical challenge of developing innovative financing mechanisms for collective housing renovations without triggering ‘renoviction’, where vulnerable households risk displacement due to energy retrofits.
This initiative supports inclusive climate action by targeting multi-family dwellings where some co-owners may lack the financial means to contribute to the renovation costs. The SCM team will offer expert guidance in:
- Technical and regulatory frameworks
- Risk analysis and mitigation
- Stakeholder engagement tailored to local and EU contexts
“This is a timely opportunity to demonstrate how SCM can translate strategic climate ambitions into actionable investment plans,” said Luigi Lo Piparo, Matchmaking Coordinator at SCM and Managing Partner at Technopolis Group. “By aligning with NZC and leveraging expert knowledge, we’re creating a replicable path for equitable urban renovation.”
This collaboration not only delivers practical outcomes for Antwerp but also exemplifies SCM’s evolving role as a trusted partner for investment in the climate-neutral cities movement, bringing together mission-driven policy, technical expertise, and social inclusion under one roof.