At its Local Government Board meeting, Valladolid City Council has approved its adhesion to the EIT Climate-KIC community, the leading community in Europe for climate action. This is an initiative that adds to Valladolid's international network consolidation project, which is of vital importance in the context of the '100 Smart and Climate Neutral Cities in 2030 Mission', in which the city is participating. The preparation of the Climate Agreement is now the main task of this Horizon Europe programme, which is working hand in hand with another six Spanish cities in order to present it to the European Commission.
KICs, Knowledge and Innovation Communities, are hosted by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, the largest European innovation network with 3,000 partners. These large partnerships bring together key public, private and academic stakeholders around strategic themes to advance towards sustainable development in areas such as climate, energy, health, digital transformation, food, mobility, manufacturing and raw materials.
The core mission of these networks of experts and strategic partners is for innovative projects to be brought to fruition and on to the market, be it with products, services or systems to be implemented and have an impact on society and on the citizens' quality of life.
In this case, this community focuses on climate action and accelerating the transition to a zero-carbon society to “protect the planet and nature through innovation applied to climate change adaptation and mitigation solutions and measures.”
In addition to integrating Valladolid City Council into the most influential European network for applying innovation to climate action, the City Council's EIT Climate-KIC membership provides an opportunity for identifying and obtaining funding and structural support for research and innovation projects. It also paves new ways to work with companies, academic institutions and the public and non-profit sector to jointly seek holistic solutions.
Other key networks and initiatives in which Valladolid is very active, and which focus on sustainable urban growth, are the Covenant of Mayors initiative, which has been pioneer in Europe and the world in promoting local climate and energy plans; Eurocities, where the Mayor of Valladolid is vice-president of the Economic Development Forum; Alliance for Carbon Neutral Cities; Cencyl Green Cities, which consolidates collaboration with Spanish and Portuguese cities in the Atlantic corridor; and the Green City Agreement.