Three cities among those to be shortlisted for €1m prize
Bristol is one of three UK cities among the 12 shortlisted for the title of European Capital of Innovation Credit: Anthony Devlin/PA
Three UK cities are among those shortlisted to be declared the 2019 European Capital of Innovation.
Bristol, Glasgow, and London are among the 12 cities being considered for the title – otherwise known as the iCapital. The winner will receive a €1m fund from the European Commission with which to support “local innovation activities”.
Five runner-up cities will each be handed a €100,000 endowment.
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The EC said that the competition is designed to benefit “the European city that is best able to demonstrate its ability to harness innovation to improve the lives of its citizens”.
Cities are suitable candidates for the prize if they “contribute to open and dynamic innovation ecosystems, involve citizens in governance and decision-making, [and] use innovation to improve the resiliency and sustainability of their cities”.
The EC said: “This prize enables European cities to showcase their contribution to developing local innovation ecosystems for the benefit of businesses and the wellbeing of their citizens.”
Alongside the three UK cities, Antwerp, Bilbao, Bologna, Dortmund , Espoo, Hamburg, Lyon, Nantes, and Rotterdam are all being considered for the prize.
Mayor of Bristol, Marvin Rees, said: “We know where we want to be in 2050, but our path to reaching those goals is evolving all the time. To be shortlisted for a European Capital of Innovation Award is an amazing achievement in itself, but should we be successful in gaining this prize, we’ll be able to make huge strides forward, testing ideas across the whole system which everyone in Bristol will benefit from.”
