Vienna has set itself ambitious targets in its Smart City Framework Strategy. To achieve those targets, efforts must be increased considerably. With a large share of multi-storey buildings and the highest share of large buildings from before 1919, Vienna’s building stock differs significantly from those of the other Austrian provinces and calls for specifically targeted strategies and actions. RenoBooster – the Smart Renovation Hub Vienna proposes a tailored and timely answer to this challenge. It is the joint effort of renowned institutional, technical and social expertise led by the City of Vienna, to create an attractive offer - One-Stop-Shop - for the Viennese private home owners and their building managers built on existing services. The project is designed as comprehensive participatory process, involving the key stakeholders in Vienna and thus laying the ground for stable local partnerships for renovation. Substantial support has already been achieved in preparation of the proposal. The project combines new consulting services, banking and finance instruments, targeted subsidies, communication formats as well as technical and legal framework conditions into integrated services. Careful market segmentation and target-group specific communication will support the development and thorough testing of a number of new packages – including topics like efficient technologies, renewable energy and energy poverty. Quality assurance to support home owners in achieving the expected energy savings will be the essential element. In the first 5 years of the Smart Renovation Hub Vienna the new integrated services are expected to lead to an increase of the renovation rate and quality, triggering at least 110 mio € investments, 5.5 GWh/a of primary energy savings and a reduction of 1000t of CO2 emissions/a. Moreover, RenoBooster is expected to create a positive dynamic going beyond this project and stimulate further energy-efficient renovation initiatives.

URBAN LEARNING gathers capitals and other large cities across Europe facing the common challenge of considerable population growth while being committed to significantly reduce fossil energy consumption and CO2 emissions. E.g. Stockholm grew by more than 12.000 people / a (1.5%); in the next 10 years Vienna has to build for 200.000 new people. Efficient and effective planning processes will be crucial for climbing this mountain. Vienna, Berlin, Paris, Stockholm, Amsterdam/Zaanstad, Warsaw and Zagreb aim to enhance the capacity of their local authorities on integrative urban energy planning, as response to new challenges from EU EPBD and RES directives as well as to changes of technologies and market conditions and the pressure to provide sufficient, affordable homes. The focus is put on the governance processes related to the (re-)development of concrete sites. While some cities already started ambitious urban development projects, the institutionalisation of these experiences is missing - despite awareness and willingness, due to lack of knowledge, lack of time and the need for collaboration across departments, which is not a common practice in many administrations in Europe. External stimulus is needed to overcome these barriers, and to address these issues collectively with external key stakeholders, such as DNOs and energy suppliers, and across cities. Focus will be on multi-disciplinary learning – concentrating on innovative technological solutions, instruments and tools as well as on innovative governance elements - and to capitalise this learning to institutionalise integrative urban energy planning. Improving the governance processes is expected to have significant energy impacts on homes and workplaces to be built and refurbished for over 3 million more people in the participating cities in the next 20 years: more than 1.700 GWh/a of energy savings and over 2.000 GWh/a renewable energy produced. Special emphasis is put on knowledge transfer to 150 more cities.

Climate urgency calls on all political levels to act more stringent and faster. This proposal is the first to unite cities across Europe to work out actionable, spatially differentiated transition roadmaps to decarbonise heating and cooling for buildings in 2050, taking up the challenge to phase out natural gas in heating. Transitioning the sector to energy-efficient, renewable and zero-carbon solutions is key to meet the EU climate and energy targets. Given the long life-cycles of the grid infrastructures involved, there is an urgency to start the planning of this transition today. But how? What first? Which systems? How to govern this process? Increasing complexity of the energy system together with technological uncertainties require a high level of knowledge and skills to act wisely. Cities are ill-equipped for this. They lack capacity and skills as well as legal empowerment to act. Decarb City Pipes 2050 showcases how local authorities can succeed in this challenge. Bilbao, Bratislava, Dublin, Munich, Rotterdam, Vienna and Winterthur, seven cities from frontrunners to beginners join forces to learn from each other and elaborate innovative responses together. They explore pathways suitable for their local challenges and build up skills in the use of data, planning tools and instruments, techno-economic as well as process and transition management knowhow. In a participatory process with stakeholders, they develop tangible transition roadmaps, building up trust and commitment for its implementation along the way. In deep peer-to-peer exchanges, cities and utilities share knowledge to benefit from other perspectives, stages of advancement and planning traditions. Together, they will advocate for the needed changes to framework conditions. Enriched by a distinguished advisory board, the project aims to empower >220 public officers and improve >50 policies. Ultimately, it strives to motivate and support >80 more cities to start the same roadmap process.

The VitalNodes CSA will build a lasting European network of key stakeholders based on existing European, national and regional networks. By enriching and applying a proven approach for the optimisation of economic, social and environmental vitality of urban areas from the perspective of multimodal transport infrastructure and spatial development (‘Networking for Urban Vitality’, NUVit). VitalNodes will deliver evidence-based recommendations for more (cost) efficient and sustainable integration of all 88 urban nodes in the TEN-T network corridors, addressing specifically the multi- and intermodal connection between long-distance and last-mile freight logistics. These recommendations will be validated by applying an appraisal tool and involving experts from the growing VitalNodes network. VitalNodes will deliver three major results: 1. a self-sustaining ‘network of networks’ consisting of experts, end-users and case-owners; 2. a proven VitalNodes approach for future cases consisting of an enriched and fine-tuned toolbox, an appraisal methodology, and a format for workshops and deployment strategy; 3. validated recommendations on integration of urban nodes in TEN-T core network corridors.

CapaCITIES will shape a European environment conducive to urban climate neutrality transitions for national, regional and local authorities. The project aims to initiate and strengthen national change processes by establishing national networks and governance structures and by providing dedicated support for public authorities to put enabling conditions and measures for cities in place for achieving the cities mission. To achieve this ambition, the CapaCITIES consortium represents 15 European countries who have committed to initiative and strengthen national change processes by ministerial or other high political level. CapaCITIES thereby build on a well-established network of national authorities (national ministries and agencies responsible for urban transition) with its relevant urban stakeholder organisations beyond the consortium partners and countries. To all project partners CapaCITIES offers dedicated services to in support of national change process. First, a transnational alliance for public authorities to exchange, learn and inspire each other in their transition towards climate neutral cities. Second, support in prototyping innovative multi-level and cross sector governance structures. Third, thematic capacity building for public authorities and support in taking effective local action and fourth, strategic synergies and access to other initiatives that address the climate neutral and smart cities mission.