ERA-NET Cofund Urban Transformation Capacities, ENUTC, is part of the European cooperation Joint Programming Initiative (JPI Urban Europe) established in 2010 to address today's global urban challenges.
ERA-NET Cofund Urban Transformation Capacities, ENUTC, is part of the European cooperation Joint Programming Initiative (JPI Urban Europe) established in 2010 to address today's global urban challenges. The ambition was, and still is, to develop a European research and innovation hub focusing on urban issues and to lay the foundation for European solutions through coordinated research and development initiatives.
ENUTC's work on building European consortia that explore how research and innovation in urban transition processes can contribute to sustainable urban development is well in line with Viable Cities' mission to accelerate the transition to climate-neutral cities by 2030. Viable Cities has supported the program by informing about upcoming calls and European matchmaking opportunities.
Over the years, a number of projects with Swedish participation have been funded. Below is a summary of the projects that relate to the Viable Cities portfolio.
Promote capacity building and knowledge for the development of urban gardens in European cities.
Urban green spaces and gardens are an important component of Europe's cities. In addition to providing opportunities for local crops and consumption, urban gardens also provide a wide range of ecosystem services that have a positive impact on both the urban and residential environment. The main objective of the U-GARDEN project is to promote the implementation of urban gardens while taking advantage of all experiences from forestry that can be used as key components of a strategic framework for sustainable urban development based on a multidisciplinary approach.
Participants from Sweden: University of Gothenburg, Region Västra Götaland, City of Gothenburg.
Better embedded test beds: Synergistic planning for sustainable urban transition
The EmbedterLabs project works to develop the capacity to utilize e.g. living labs and test beds in urban planning for transformation towards sustainable and more resilient neighborhoods.The project addresses a gap in current urban planning where the lessons from Urban Living Labs (ULL) are not sufficiently utilized and have an impact on e.g. transformative policy decisions. The project works on broader learning processes by jointly testing, refining and analyzing ULL experiments in Gdansk, Stockholm and Maastricht which are then followed up with research in each city. All research and city partners in the project have previous experience in multi-actor Living Lab environments.
Participants from Sweden: KTH, Uppsala University, Lund University, SWECO, City of Stockholm.
Capacities for resilient and inclusive urban public transport infrastructure and the built environment
Public transport is an important part of urban infrastructure. Attempts to accelerate the development of public transport solutions are often based on trying to achieve environmental benefits by balancing costs. The relationship between the built environment and the development of public transport solutions remains unclear. The project focuses on examining inequalities in terms of need, capacity, decision-making and accessibility. The project also analyzes how, and to what extent, public transport and built environment policies take distribution and participation into account. It will create a common understanding of whether and how urban planning objectives for resilience can be strengthened through inclusive processes. The project looks at micromobility, pricing structures, flexible on-demand public transport and more among others in Stockholm and Oslo.
Participants from Sweden: Tyréns, Lund University, City of Stockholm, Public Transport Center K2, Tier Mobility Sweden, Huddinge Municipality, Resenärsforum.
Collective networks for everyday social resilience and ecological transition
The COVID-19 crisis highlighted the fragility of our lives and ways of living, but has also prompted solidarity strategies to support vulnerable groups, while highlighting the importance of already existing practices for improving social resilience and recovery. CoNECT works to catalyze existing civic engagement networks in six EU countries by identifying, mapping, connecting actors and practices. The project promotes cooperation between citizens, thinkers and doers and urban planners from the partner countries to develop common tools and methods. The project will also develop a digital platform that can be used to connect local networks and improve resilience through civic engagement and improved knowledge sharing.
Participants from Sweden: KTH, ArkDes - Sweden's national center for architecture and design.
