Smart Cities Marketplace and the initiatives associated with it have as one of their main goals achieving European energy and climate goalsThis means that efforts to develop smart cities are closely linked to the need to address climate change and transition to more sustainable models of urban functioning.

Document emphasizes the relevance of citizen involvement in the implementation of climate change mitigation and adaptation measuresIt is argued that if these measures are adopted and supported only by local authorities without broad societal support, they will not have the necessary impact to meet global goals. Examples where citizen engagement is key include: Positive Energy Blocks and Districts (PEB/PED), where the social dimension is as important as financing, technology or resources. Projects IRIS a +CityxChange are examples of initiatives that contribute to local energy transformation and infrastructure with the aim of achieving more energy-conscious behavior citizens, which is directly linked to climate goals. These projects recognise that extensive and innovative work with citizens and their co-creation of solutions is needed to improve energy awareness and change behaviour.

The section “What do cities get out of this?” states that in the future climate-neutral and smart cities in Europe will be citizen involvement from the very beginning to the final evaluation is absolutely crucialAddressing the issue of citizen engagement thus becomes an important part of the fight against climate change at both local and global levels. The document points out that moving from merely endorsing the principles of citizen engagement to their real commitment and concrete implementation is essential for successfully combating climate change.

The document also includes specific tools and projects aimed at engaging citizens in the context of climate change:

• Project I-CHANGE developed "Our Climate Story" game, which aims to engage citizens of all ages in addressing the various risks associated with climate change. The game connects sustainable activities with everyday life and encourages individual and collective action to reduce carbon emissions.
• Project NEURALPATH tests an educational game "Energize" in order to achieve climate neutralityPlayers learn about energy consumption, efficiency and sustainability, which is intended to help residents engage in the development of positive and clean energy neighborhoods and co-create efficient and climate-friendly solutions.
• City Leuven has a clear plan to become climate neutral and founded the organization Leuven 2030 with broad involvement of residents, businesses and institutions, thus securing the support and legitimacy needed for a transition with a broad societal impact.
• Group Scalable Cities stresses the need systems thinking for achieving climate-neutral cities and better cooperation with citizens.
• IN Aarhus (Denmark) the UrbanTestbeds.JR project enabled children to have direct contact with local climate action plan using support artificial intelligence (AI).
• Project DigiCityClimate in Stockholm creates AI-driven energy advisor to support citizens in receiving climate action, especially in the area of smart energy investments.

The document clearly shows that climate change is a central challengewhich is the focus of smart city initiatives and that active citizen involvement is considered a key success factor in achieving climate goals and transitioning to a more sustainable urban environment. Spring

Glossary of key terms

• Citizens: A wider group of stakeholders who live, work, visit or move around the city.
• Citizen Engagement: Involving citizens in the city's decision-making processes to better respond to their needs and build public support.
• Co-creation: A process in which all relevant stakeholders in a city are involved in planning a service or solution.
• Co-design: The phase of defining the problem and developing measures, in which citizens, experts and public officials collaborate.
• Front loading: Starting with community engagement before work on the project even begins, even before goals are defined.
• Decision (Making) Process: The process of evaluating different options and making decisions about their implementation.
• Positionality: The social and political context that shapes someone's identity in terms of race, class, gender, sexuality, and health status and influences their view of the world.
• Solution: Measures that a city implements to achieve a certain goal.
• Quadruple Helix Approach: Intensive collaboration between stakeholders from research, industry, government and society. With the addition of environmental aspects, the model changes to a Quintuple Helix approach.