Connecting Pockets of MetaCity Excellence around the Baltic Sea Region

Project Title

Connecting Pockets of MetaCity Excellence around the Baltic Sea Region (Metacities).

Metacities, ID No. 101134225

Description

The main objective of METACITIES is to speed up, consolidate, align and leverage the existing MetaCity and Smart City initiatives of the partner regions, and through this, build the world’s leading connected MetaCity Region across the Baltic Sea (BSR).

MetaCity is a novel smart city and urban innovation concept, focusing on open innovation which is supported and encouraged by digital environments and social networks. MetaCity is responding to, and leveraging on the post-pandemic transition to virtual co-operation and virtual urban services. MetaCity is an emerging regional policy objective, already in regional policy planning in Oulu Region and Latvia. MetaCity aims to expand ICT-oriented Smart City development to a wider base of regional innovation capabilities and innovation capture, including for example service innovations and social innovations.

The METACITIES project connects a balanced mix of MetaCity and Smart City ecosystems: definite global thematic leaders, thematic followers, urban capital areas, mid-size central towns, and more rural regions. It will strengthen ecosystem collaboration between the MetaCity Regions in the Baltic Sea area and prepare the collaboration opportunity space. It will create a joint action plan for Baltic Sea MetaCity Regions and decide the action plan details in interaction with regional funding decision-making

METACITIES aims to position the EU BSR area as the World’s leading “Connected Regional Innovation Valley” for MetaCity innovations

Project Partners

  • EIT DIGITAL Belgium (Coordinator)
  • City of Oulu, Finland
  • Electronic Communications Office of Latvia
  • Luleå University of Technology Sweden
  • EdTech Hub Ventures Poland
  • University of Oulu Finland

Project Timeframe

01.11.2023. – 31.08.2024. (10 months)

Funding

The project “Connecting Pockets of MetaCity Excellence around the Baltic Sea Region (Metacities)” is 100% funded by European Commission (Horizon Europe, European Innovation Ecosystem), under call HORIZON-EIE-2023-CONNECT-01.

The total cost of the project is EUR 499,990.63