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.
Supported by the European Innovation Council (EIC) under Horizon Europe, the iCapital prize recognises those cities that open their governance practices to experimentation and aim at being role models for other cities, by pushing the boundaries of technology for the benefit of their citizens.
The 2024 semi-finalists selected by two high-level juries of independent experts are (in alphabetical order):
The European Capital of Innovation category
- Bristol (United Kingdom)
- Espoo (Finland)
- Tallin (Estonia)
- Tampere (Finland)
- Torino (Italy)
- West Midlands Combined Authority (United Kingdom)
The European Rising Innovative City category
- Braga (Portugal)
- Brugge (Belgium)
- Leiden (The Netherlands)
- Linz (Austria)
- Oulu (Finland)
- Tartu (Estonia)
What happens next?
Each city will be invited to a private, online hearing with the jury members, in September. The hearings follow strict rules that allow each city to present the submitted application and answer questions related to the award criteria.
The jury members will then select three finalist cities for each category. On 13 November 2024, one winner and two runners-up per category will be announced at the awards ceremony in Lisbon, Portugal, the 2023 iCapital winning city.
Apart from the prestigious recognition, the European Capital of Innovation category winner will receive a prize of €1 million while the two runners-up of this category will get €100 000 each.
Moreover, the winner of the European Rising Innovative City category will be awarded €500 000 with two runner-up cities receiving €50 000 each.
All finalists will be invited to join the prestigious iCapital Alumni network, composed of previous finalists of the iCapital Awards.
Background
Supported by the European Innovation Council (EIC) under Horizon Europe, this is the tenth edition of the European Capital of Innovation Awards, also known as iCapital.
Through iCapital, the European Union recognises cities with inclusive innovation ecosystems. The prize identifies cities that successfully connect the citizens with academia, the private and public sector to improve the wellbeing of the whole society, while at the same time boosting game-changing innovation.
Past winners are Barcelona (2014), Amsterdam (2016), Paris (2017), Athens (2018), Nantes (2019), Leuven (2020), Dortmund (2021), 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)
iCapital is one of the four EIC Prizes granted under Horizon Europe, the EU's research and innovation framework programme. The prize is managed by the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency, and the winners are chosen following an assessment performed by two high-level juries of independent experts.
More information:
#iCapitalAwards
Details
- Publication date
- 28 August 2024
- Author
- European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency