How should a medium-sized city talk about innovation?

That was the question that Mechelen’s municipality asked us, Trendhuis. We decided to formulate an answer in the form of a cookbook using the experiences from Bruges, Delft, Mechelen, and Saint-Quentin. After all, these four medium-sized cities formed, together with their professional partners, the European project SCIFI.

SCIFI, which stands here for Smart Cities Innovation Framework Implementation, had one goal: to facilitate innovation in medium-sized European cities. They wanted to do so by quickly testing out prototypes, gaining experience, learning, and trying new things. Jan Vanbockrijck, Project Manager for the city of Mechelen, goes more in-depth in this Dutch article.

Trendhuis created, in cooperation with mister Vanbockrijck and his international colleagues, a list of ingredients that you need if you want to “cook up” a smart city. This list includes, among other things, clearly articulated needs, stakeholder support, partnerships with other cities, etc. We did not stop there though. There are ten other chapters that include topics like open data, ecosystems, and innovative procurement. In other words, this cookbook is the place to be for all your smart city needs.

Do you want to read the cookbook? Click here!

Do you want to learn more about SCIFI? Read this article on Interreg Two Seas’ website.