Four RUGGEDISED cities chosen for the European Mission on Climate Neutral and Smart Cities

4 May 2022

All three Lighthouses of RUGGEDISED, Rotterdam, Umeå and Glasgow, plus the Fellow City of Parma, have been chosen as part of the EU’s Mission for 100 climate-neutral and smart cities by 2030, the so-called Cities Mission. Out of a total of 377 applicants, 112 cities (100 inside the European Union and 12 from countries associated with Horizon Europe) were chosen to act as frontrunners.

When announcing the cities, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the Commission, said:

“The green transition is making its way all over Europe right now. But there's always a need for trailblazers, who set themselves even higher goals. These cities are showing us the way to a healthier future. We will support them on this! Let's begin the work today.”

Reflecting on the fact that all the RUGGEDISED Lighthouse Cities, plus the Fellow City of Parma, were chosen, RUGGEDISED Coordinator Albert Engels, from the City of Rotterdam, said:

“It’s a great recognition of the work we have done in the RUGGEDISED project. The ‘Cities Mission’ will require that all of us, not just municipalities but also citizens, academia and private business, urgently develop new methods of collaborating towards a net zero world. With projects such as RUGGEDISED we have a strong foundation for successfully doing that, and we look forward to using the methods and experiences from RUGGEDISED towards fulfilling this new ambitious commitment.”

There will be many opportunities in the coming months to learn from the Horizon 2020 funded RUGGEDISED project. On 11-13 May, RUGGEDISED will join the World Congress of the city network ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability, and a final conference is under preparation in Rotterdam for 6-8 September, 2022.

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Find the Factsheet 'EU Cities Mission: Meet the cities' here.