Santander (Spain) has become one of Europe’s leading smart cities by transforming the entire city into a Living Lab for Urban Innovation. Through long-term strategic planning and participation in numerous EU-funded projects, Santander has tested and scaled digital solutions for mobility, energy efficiency, environmental monitoring and urban governance. Its experience demonstrates how real-world testing environments and the progressive integration of digital solutions into core services can create the institutional and experimental capacity to test, learn and scale solutions over time.

In September 2026, the MICAD consortium will meet in Katowice alongside the New Mobility Congress. If you’ll be attending the Congress, don’t miss the opportunity to meet the project partners and discover how MICAD is supporting inclusive climate and digital transitions across Europe’s metropolitan areas.

Discover how the Municipality of Tirana is leveraging digital innovation to improve public services and support sustainable urban development. By placing citizens’ needs at the centre of its digital transition, Tirana provides an inspiring example for other metropolitan areas across Europe.

How can Metropolitan Areas address the housing crisis while safeguarding Housing Justice and Local Democracy? During the ALDA General Assembly and Festival in Malta, the MICAD project brought together experts, policymakers and practitioners to discuss how metropolitan governance can foster inclusive housing strategies in the context of the Climate and Digital transitions.

Grenoble Alpes Métropole offers a compelling example of how innovation, environmental ambition and participatory governance can converge to drive an inclusive metropolitan transition. By embedding climate action across all public policies and actively involving citizens, researchers and local stakeholders, the metropolis has pioneered a model that combines technological innovation, experimentation and citizen-driven urban transformation. Its experience highlights the importance of long-term vision, multi-level collaboration and co-creation in shaping resilient and future-ready territories.

The City of Dakar is accelerating its transition toward a more sustainable and resilient energy model through the Metropolitan Governance of the Energy Transition (MGET) project. 19 municipalities involved, with hundreds of professionals, representatives and students trained to reinforce local commitment to climate mitigation and empowered new energy ambassadors.

The Metropolitan City of Milan is redefining how public infrastructure can drive innovation through the Smart Metropolitan Campus. This strategic initiative turns digital connectivity into a shared resource for institutions, businesses, and citizens. By presenting this initiative as a best practice, Milan demonstrates how a metropolitan area can harness technology to generate inclusive and sustainable value across its territory.

How to build digital metropolis? MICAD partners, with external stakeholders, explored how collaboration, innovation, and shared knowledge can strengthen metropolitan governance. Towards a common commitment to co-creating inclusive digital solutions and deepening cooperation across cities and stakeholders to drive sustainable urban transitions.

From 18–20 February 2026, MICAD partners met in Barcelona for the General Assembly to review the first year’s progress and shape future plans. A key highlight of the General Assembly was the testing of the first prototype of the Toolkit for Inclusive Metropolitan Planning.