Smart Cities and Communities have been identified as key to achieving the energy efficiency targets for 2020 and 2050. The main objective of this ERA-NET is to stimulate successful practice and facilitate replicability within Smart Cities and Communities projects and also across projects in order to achieve a technological shift in the current energy system and provide smart and integrated solutions for technology, government and society. ERA-NET Smart Cities and Communities aims to create solutions in the form of projects, which demonstrate or at least constitute a decisive step towards implementations that:
(1) Help cities deal with a long uncertain time horizon;
(2) Monitor ongoing experiences and implement change in the project when necessary, and
(3) Avoid pitfalls already encountered by others and facilitate collective learning of stakeholders embedded within a physical and social context.
Additional activities within the planned ERA-NET are: (A) to work towards a joint call with China and (B) to align national R&D funding with Structural Funds. (A): A structured and systematic approach towards a joint call with China on smart city research will be developed making highest use of existing relations, activities and experience of European Funding Agencies with Chinese partners in order to develop a joint call with China. Beneficiaries of this call (mainly research organisations and companies) would be given a good starting position for further research and development projects. (B) The realisation of smart cities measures requires large investment volumes. Thus, the combination and clustering of different financing instruments is necessary. In line with the new "smart specialization" strategy of the EC, the proposed additional activities should encourage and enable Member States, regions and their Managing Authorities to align their national R&D funding schemes with available Structural Funds (in particular ERDF, but also ESF resources).