An annual recognition prize awarded to the European cities that best promote innovation in their communities
2024 edition
The European Commission has announced the six finalists of the 10th edition of the European Capital of Innovation (iCapital) Awards. These cities will compete to become the 2024 European Capital of Innovation or the European Rising Innovative City. The winners will be announced at the Web Summit, in Lisbon (the current European Capital of Innovation), on 13 November 2024.
The iCapital Awards 2024 edition has been launched in March, in a ceremony hosted by the city of Linköping (Sweden), the European Rising Innovative City winner 2023. The next edition of the Prize will be launched in the first quarter of 2025.
About
In Europe, it is estimated that by 2050 almost 85% of Europeans will be living in cities. The capacity of cities to absorb this increasing demand of services and consumption of resources will be key to ensure their sustainability and resilience.
An increasing number of cities are acting as test beds for innovation and run people-driven initiatives to find solutions to societal challenges, such as climate change, digitalisation, sustainable growth, or social cohesion. Cities innovate for a better future, reinforcing democracy and citizens’ rights.
In 2024, we are celebrating the 10th anniversary of the European Capital of Innovation Awards (iCapital). The competition rewards those European cities that are courageous enough to open their governance practices to experimentation and push the boundaries of technology for the benefit of their citizens.
In addition to the monetary reward, the prize brings high visibility in the form of renewed public interest and increased media coverage. Moreover, all winners and runners up will be invited to join the iCapital alumni network. This is a prestigious club where they all meet to share their knowledge, discuss common challenges, and work together to find solutions.
Past winners are Barcelona (2014), Amsterdam (2016), Paris (2017), Athens (2018), Nantes (2019), Leuven (2020), Dortmund (2021), and Aix-Marseille Provence Metropole (2022), and Lisbon (2023) as European Capitals of Innovation.
Past winners in the Rising Innovative city category are Vantaa (2021), Haarlem (2022), and Linkoping (2023).
Categories
In 2024, the European Capital of Innovation Awards features two categories:
- The European Capital of Innovation category for cities with a population of minimum 250 000 inhabitants and rewards the winner with EUR 1 000 000 and two runners-up with EUR 100 000 each.
- The European Rising Innovative City category that targets towns and cities with a population of 50 000 and up to 249 999 inhabitants and rewards the winner with EUR 500 000 and two runners-up with EUR 50 000 each.
Funding opportunities
The applications are closed now. The deadline for submission was 18 June 2024, 17:00 CET.
The full text of the iCapital Awards' call is available in the EIC Work Programme 2024.
The next edition of the Prize will be launched in the first quarter of 2025.
Who should apply
Any city can apply to only one of the two categories as long as it:
- has at least 50 000 inhabitants (please see further details and exceptions in the Rules of contest)
- is located in an EU Member State or an Associated Country to Horizon European Commission
Eligibility criteria
- The candidate cities must be located in one of the Member States or Horizon Europe Associated Countries.
- For the category of European Capital of Innovation, the candidate city must have a minimum population of 250 000 inhabitants. In countries where there are no such cities, the city coming closest to 250 000 inhabitants is eligible to apply for the European Capital of Innovation category, provided that it has a minimum population of 50 000 inhabitants and that the city did not apply for the European Rising Innovative City category.
- The candidate cities for the European Rising Innovative City category must have a population of 50 000 and up to 249 999 inhabitants.
- Winners of former European Capital of Innovation Awards editions, as well as runners-up of both 2023 edition categories are not eligible. This does not apply to previous finalist cities.
- Applicants that have already received an EU or Euratom prize cannot receive a second prize for the same activities.
Award criteria
1. Experimenting – innovative concepts, processes, tools, and governance models proving the city's commitment to act as a test-bed for innovative practices, while ensuring the mainstreaming of these practices into the ordinary urban development process.
2. Escalating – promoting the acceleration of the different actors of the local innovation ecosystem, supporting growth of highly innovative start-ups and SMEs, establishing innovation friendly legal framework, creating an environment that stimulates growth and attracts private and public investments, resources, diversity and talents; and driving innovation demand through efficient innovation public procurement.
3. Ecosystem building – unlocking cities’ potential as local innovation ecosystem facilitators by fostering synergies among different innovation ecosystem players, from public, industry, startups, civil society, citizens to academia, to contribute to the development of an innovation ecosystem within the city.
4. Expanding – acting as a role model for other cities by supporting the dissemination and replication of tested solutions that boost the local innovation ecosystem; by promoting mutual learning, knowledge transfer and capacity building; and by enhancing cooperation and synergies between cities that are front-runners in driving the local innovation ecosystem, and those that are still exploring and testing their role as innovation enablers.
5. City innovative vision – applicants should demonstrate their long-term strategic vision/plan, highlighting the innovative initiatives that have positively contributed to the transformation of the city and which will further support the development of a sustainable and resilient innovation ecosystem ensuring the green and digital transitions.
6. Citizens’ rights – the use of innovation to strengthen democracy, to protect citizens' rights, to foster social cohesion, and ensure integration with a special view on minorities, gender, disability, or race.
How to apply
Please consult the following documents before submitting your application through the links above.
- 5 March 2024Call opening
- 18 June 2024 – 17:00:00 CETDeadline for submission
- June - October 2024Evaluation
- November – December 2024Information on evaluation results/award
Guidelines for applicants
On 9 April 2024, the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA) organised an informative webinar to learn more about the European Capital of Innovation Awards (iCapital).
You will find the recording of the info session here below. The slides are available via this link.
Do you need some inspiration for applying?
Find out more about Lisbon’s winning application. Full document is available here.
Find out more about Linköping’s winning application. Full document is available here.
iCaptal Alumni Network
The EIC Prizes Alumni network is one of the working groups of the European Innovation Council Forum. It is a dedicated space and network for the winners and finalists of the European Capital of Innovation Awards to interact, cooperate, exchange knowledge, and share policy insights to boost innovation across the European Union.
This series of factsheets has been created by the member cities of the iCapital Alumni network, with the purpose of sharing their knowledge. They include the cities’ challenges, their recommendations and best practices.
- 3 OCTOBER 2023
- 3 OCTOBER 2023
- 3 OCTOBER 2023
- 3 OCTOBER 2023
- 3 OCTOBER 2023
- 3 OCTOBER 2023
- 3 OCTOBER 2023
Contact us
European Capital of Innovation Awards
For more information, please contact us at EISMEA-ICAPITALec [dot] europa [dot] eu (EISMEA-ICAPITAL[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu).
For updates, you can consult this webpage, and follow us on Twitter @EUeic with the hashtag #iCapitalAwards or subscribe to our newsletter.
- Name
- European Capital of Innovation Awards
- Organisation
- European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency
- EISMEA-ICAPITALec [dot] europa [dot] eu
- Social media
News
- News article
The European Commission unveiled today the six finalists of the 2024 European Capital of Innovation Awards (iCapital).
- 5 min read
- News article
Three new deep-tech experts join the EIC!
- 1 min read
- News article
12 cities have qualified as semi-finalists in the tenth edition of the European Capital of Innovation (iCapital) Awards. These cities will compete to become the 2024 European Capital of Innovation or the European Rising Innovative City.
- 2 min read
- News article
The European Innovation Council and the European Institute of Innovation and Technology are launching the 2025 edition of the European Prize for Women Innovators. This joint initiative celebrates the outstanding achievements of women entrepreneurs driving positive change for people and the planet.
- 2 min read
- News article
The fourth edition of the European Innovation Procurement Awards (EUIPA) has been launched today by the European Commission. The contestants can submit their applications until 26 September 2024 (17:00:00 CET).
- 3 min read
- News article
The Commission launched today the 12th edition of the European Social Innovation Competition (EUSIC). The prize promotes social innovations that provide solutions to societal challenges and foster sustainable and inclusive growth in Europe.
- 3 min read