The OP ERDF Brandenburg 2014-2020 focusses on innovation, competitiveness of SMEs, CO2 reduction strategies and integrated urban and rural development. Especially Priority Axis 3 (159.817.499 EUR) aims at supporting the shift towards a low-carbon economy in all sectors. Four Specific Objectives (SO) in PA 3 will directly benefit from the project (funding related to IP):

1. SO 9 "Improving energy efficiency in private enterprises" (Investment priority (IP) 4b with 15,8 Mio EUR),

2. SO 10 "Increasing energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy in public buildings and infrastructure as well as in urban districts" (IP 4c with 25,8 Mio. EUR),

3. SO 13 "Developing strategies, district development concepts and related implementation measures to reduce CO2 emissions" (IP 4e with 34 Mio. EUR) and

4. SO 14 "Improving the CO2 balance of the transport sector" (IP 4e).

With regard to urban planning, Brandenburg ERDF OP will also benefit in PA 4 "Integrated development of urban and rural areas" adressing sustainable use of natural resources in cities. Edge cities are of high relevance as they act as intermediaries between fast growing Berlin Brandenburg. Owing to the strong trend of suburbanization in the capital region with its challenges in key climate-relevant areas such as supply and use of electrical energy, heating/cooling or public and private transport the need of edge cities for new concepts of CO2 reduction in all sectors of the economy is especially high.

Catalonia's ERDF OP focuses on knowledge and innovation, entrepreneurship and green economy. Axis 4 (128.962.375 EUR) promotes facilitating the transition to low-carbon economy in all sectors, and includes two Investment Priorities that will be directly addressed in the project:

- IP 4.3 "Support energy efficiency, intelligent management of energy and the use of renewable energies in public infrastructure ", with specific objective 4.3.1 of "Improving energy efficiency and reducing CO2 emissions in the buildings, infrastructures and public services";

- IP 4.5 "Promoting carbon reduction strategies for all types of land, especially in urban areas, including the promotion of urban mobility, multimodal and sustainable adaptation measures with a mitigation effect", and its specific objective 4.5.1 of "Promotion of sustainable urban mobility".

Furthermore, Axis 6 (131.971.497 EUR) focusses on resource efficiency and the protection of the environment, with priorities including the improvement of urban environment and revitalisation of cities.

Edge cities are key in the transition to low-carbon economies, but the policy instrument does not specifically tackle them. For example, in Barcelona the use of private vehicles is especially high for the connections between edge cities and the centre. It is essential to focus carbon emissions reduction in edge cities, and SmartEdge can improve the ERDF of developing this specific approach.

RUFS 2050 is both a physical plan and a regional development program. Its vision is to become Europe’s most attractive metropolitan region. RUFS is basis for transport infrastructure investments in the region.

Continuous investments in energy efficiency and mitigation measures since the 1990’s have made the Stockholm region to a forerunner regarding climate protection. The region has achieved a de-coupling of economic growth and GHG emissions. Under the objective of “becoming a resource efficient region without climate impact”, RUFS 2050 sets out ambitious energy and climate goals. The current direct CO2 eq emissions are 2.7 tons/capita*year, goal for 2030 is 1.5 ton and zero-net emissions by 2045. The transport sector stands for 55 percent of the county’s emissions of 6 million tons CO2 (2014).

Another central development feature of RUFS 2050 is to evolve a polycentric region with one central core and 8 regional cores (edge cities). These are growth poles where a big part of future development shall take place (housing, public services and enterprises). Their sustainable development is one of eight major priorities. To bring the region to net zero emission levels together with smart land use solutions contribute to a low carbon society. These commitments need a broad stakeholder approach and a lot of investments particularly in the regional cores. SmartEdge can provide valuable input both in terms of new knowledge and implementation practices of other European regions.

The OP of Lombardy focuses on three main goals in order to implement a regional strategy coherent with a “smart, sustainable and inclusive” growth:

1. Supporting the competitiveness of the Regional SMEs

2. Efficient use of resources

3. Inclusive development for "critical" Areas

The fourth activity line (Asse IV) implementing these goals, with a budget of 194,6 ml€ – 20.05 % of the whole ERDF funding – is “Support the transition to a low-carbon economy in all sectors” with the goal to help cut carbon emissions and make up the shortfall compared with the target of the Europe 2020 strategy over the period 2014-2020.

Its main goal is to support measures to reduce energy consumption in the public sector (public buildings and public lighting) and interventions designed to promote strategies for cutting carbon emissions in urban and metropolitan areas, in keeping with the relevant regional instruments.

More efforts are required to kick start structural support measures such as the identification of bottlenecks that may be represented by the lack of multi-level governance co-ordination between Egde Cities and Region through the role of the Metropolitan City.

Thorugh SmartEdge we aim to achieve this through the use of renewable energy sources, innovation in the monitoring process of thermal heating systems in buildings, implementation and use of new digital tools and improvement of the energy efficiency performance of buildings by increasing the maintenance of thermal plants.

The Regional Operational Programme (ROP) for the 2014-2020 period for Małopolska means up to 2.87 billion euro from the European Funds. The programme consists of thirteen one-fund priority axes. Among them, the largest amounts are planned to be spent on innovation, energy policy and transport infrastructure. In the context of the project, we will address objective of the Priority Axis 4 which is to create conditions for a sustainable growth in the region, with account being taken of the aspects of a modern energy sector and an urban transport sector, ensuring energy security for the region’s residents and improving the quality of their life while, at the same time, respecting with the principles of environmental protection. Funding allocated to this Priority Axis is 420 mln euro.

Goals for axis are for the first time implemented on such – metropolitan – scale. For the first time on such scale, we deal with the issue of sustainable transport and mobility. Why it needs to be improved? The ROP contains a good framework for projects, however it is necessary to develop detailed recommendations - guidelines for creating better projects aiming for solving issues common for the whole Metropolitan Area. The ROP lacks recommendations for wide, system solutions, which would have contribute to consistent growth within the metropolis, using the potential of Cracow and edge cities.

This strategy describes and provides essential data and information on climate variations that have affected and will affect Romania; it is also providing support information and relevant data on the overall contribution of each sector to GHG emissions and how human activity (through productive or consumption / use processes) together with natural processes leads to these emissions.

Lower units and operators in lower energy consumption sectors have as targets the reduction of emissions by 19% in 2020 compared to the level of 2005. Also, Romania has pledged to increase the share of energy from renewable sources in energy consumption to 18% in 2005 to 24% by 2020.

Better cooperation with stakeholder groups and the civil society will contribute to a change of mentality and approach, leading to the much desired shift in between theory and practice. Education efforts must support individuals and societies to make informed decisions about climate change.

Climate. Why improve: The policy instrument doesn't have any particular focus on the role of edge cities in facilitating transition to low carbon economy, and this perspective needs to be strengthened on the basis of good practices freom the other partners .

Changing our own behavior can limit climate change. By switching to energy sources that don't release greenhouse gases, increasing the energy efficiency of our homes and offices, and driving less, we can reduce our effect on the climate and limit climate change.