JPI Urban Europes approach to Widening Countries and

JPI Urban Europe’s approach to Widening Countries and build capacities for urban transitions in science and policy (EXPAND II project) Speaker: Natália Susana Silva Regional Fund for Science and Technology of the Azores

EXPAND II - Widening participation of countries and stakeholders in JPI Urban Europe through capacity building in urban policy, funding and research

Azores at a glance Angra do Heroísmo Calheta São Jorge Corvo Horta Lagoa Lajes das Flores Lajes do Pico Madalena do Pico Nordeste Ponta Delgada Povoação Praia da Vitória Ribeira Grande Santa Cruz da Graciosa Santa Cruz das Flores São Roque do Pico Velas São Jorge Vila do Porto Vila Franca do Campo

ü Climate change adaption ü Environment ü Culture and Cultural Heritage ü Resilient Cities ü Digital Transition ü Mobility ü Jobs and Skills ü Accessible housing ü Circular Economy ü Energy Transition

Demographics Source: SREA

Azores Autonomous Region SRMCT – Regional Secretariat for the Sea, Science and Technology Intermediate Organsim (Axis 1 Research, Technological Development and Innovation) DRCT – Regional Directorate for Science and Technology FRCT – Regional Fund for Science and Technology DRCT RIS 3 Azores: Sea, Agriculture and Tourism Energy, technology and biodiversity

FRCT – Regional Fund for Science and Technology of the Azores FRCT’s Mission of Internationalization of the Azores Scientific and Technological System We act through: Regional Research Funding Organization (ERA NETs, JPI URBAN, Ph. D and Post Docs) Promoting, facilitating and participating with regional research teams in Transnational collaborative projects FORWARD project: Fostering research excellence in EU Outermost Regions

Azores R&I Azores Sustainable Destination Geothermica Era Net Energy self-sufficient Island pilots Administrative Digitalization Digital Literacy Etc…

Expand II – Azores Region participation objectives Small Islands | Small Cities | Same problems | Different scale Under-representation of Outermost Regions in transnational R&I collaboration; Prepare ourselves to Horizon Europe, to better serve the Scientific and Technological System of the Azores; Mobilise cities and urban actors for urban transitions and connect them to other cities, bringing together key stakeholders from European, National and Local levels; Contribute to the development of models for using European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) for research, innovation and implementation activities on Urban challenges.

Expand II – Azores Region participation objectives R&I to support cities and government decision making; Learn lessons from other cities and regions; Tools and methodologies to engaging (urban) actors, practitioners, decision makers in its activities; Promote cooperation across disciplines, sectors and stakeholder groups to create new scientific knowledge and build capacities for action in (islands) urban settings.

For Reflexion: Flexibility of the Programmes Small cities need Research and Innovation to surpass Urban Challenges too! Outermost Regions also have Urban Challenges and they have the perfect scale as Living Labs for Urban Challenges.

Thank you! http: //frct. azores. gov. pt/en/ frct@azores. gov. pt natalia. silva@azores. gov. pt