Athens has been shortlisted for this year’s European Capital of Innovation (iCapital) Award, among 12 other European capitals.

The other prestigious contenders are Antwerp, Bristol, Gothenburg, Hamburg, Leuven, Lisbon, Madrid, Toulouse, Ume and Vienna.

These popular European centres will ultimately be judged by a panel of independent experts from across Europe enlisted by the European Commission.on how they implement innovative solutions to societal challenges.

Will Athens the European city that is best able to demonstrate its ability to harness innovation to improve the lives of its citizens?

To claim the award the Greek capital will have to present its innovation strategies at the ‘iCapital Stories’ session at this year’s European week of regions and cities.

The competition is scheduled to take place in Brussels on 10 October and the winner will be announced at the Web summit in Lisbon on 6 November by Carlos Moedas, Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation.

In particular, Athens and the other shortlisted cities will have to prove how their i-policies contribute to open and dynamic innovation ecosystems, involve citizens in governance and decision-making as well as show how they use innovation to improve the resiliency and sustainability of their cities.

These solutions can be completed or ongoing, but must have been implemented in the year prior to the opening of the contest or the contest year itself.

According to the terms clarified by the EC, the 12 cities will have to show how they created the conditions for innovation by:

  • experimenting innovative concepts, processes, tools, and governance models as a test-bed for innovation
  • engaging citizens in the innovation process and ensuring the uptake of their ideas
  • expanding the city’s attractiveness to become a role model for other cities
  • empowering citizens by bringing concrete and measurable added value through the implementation of innovative practices

The top city will receive one million euros as prize while the five runner-up capitals will also receive €100,000 each to boost innovation.