UTA MICAD — the Metropolitan Inclusivity in Climate and Digital Transitions project — reached a key milestone last week. Partners gathered in Barcelona at Àrea Metropolitana de Barcelona (AMB) for the project’s General Assembly. The meeting marked the shift from analytical research to practical implementation. Roadmap development and concrete action now begin. For more on UTA’s Horizon Europe work, visit our news section.
The UTA MICAD consortium has spent the past year building the foundations for inclusive metropolitan transformation. This work combined governance analysis, stakeholder engagement, international benchmarking, and knowledge exchange across five pilot metropolitan areas.
The five pilot areas are: Àrea Metropolitana de Barcelona (Spain), Città Metropolitana di Milano (Italy), Górnośląsko-Zagłębiowska Metropolia — GZM (Poland), Municipality of Tirana (Albania), and Primăria municipiului Chișinău (Moldova). Together, they represent a diverse range of European metropolitan contexts and governance structures.
The Barcelona Assembly brought together metropolitan authorities, researchers, practitioners, and innovation experts. Participants reviewed progress, validated key findings, and launched the next phase of collaborative work. The programme included strategic planning sessions, roadmap development workshops, toolkit discussions, and capacity-building activities.
One of the most important moments of the Assembly was the launch of metropolitan roadmap development. The Roadmap Development Workshop was co-facilitated by Dr. Maryna Gorobei (Urban Technology Alliance) and Bertrand Copigneaux (Kentyou).
Representatives from all five pilot areas joined the workshop. Together, they identified transition priorities, defined roadmap scope, mapped stakeholders, and explored implementation pathways. The session introduced a common methodological framework while allowing flexibility for local priorities and governance realities.
By bringing together cities with different institutional contexts, the workshop demonstrated the value of peer learning. Collaborative planning is a core component of metropolitan transformation.
Partners also participated in a dedicated Toolkit Workshop. The goal was to refine the first prototype of the MICAD Toolkit for Inclusive Metropolitan Planning. This practical resource helps metropolitan authorities navigate complex climate and digital challenges while keeping transition processes inclusive and participatory.
Discussions focused on governance frameworks, stakeholder mapping, maturity assessment methodologies, and monitoring processes. Partners provided valuable feedback on how the toolkit can better respond to real governance challenges. This iterative approach ensures the toolkit remains grounded in metropolitan practice.
Urban Technology Alliance led the Open Session on digital transformation and metropolitan innovation. Dr. Maryna Gorobei presented a comparative overview of how cities across Europe approach digital transformation and climate action.
The session covered international examples including Estonia’s digital governance ecosystem, Helsinki’s digital twin and Energy & Climate Atlas, and Rotterdam–The Hague’s integrated energy transition ecosystem. It also highlighted practical pilots from the UTA network: urban heat island monitoring, mobility hypervision platforms, and metropolitan data ecosystems.
A key message emerged: successful metropolitan transformation depends not on the number of technologies deployed but on the ability to coordinate stakeholders, integrate data, and translate strategy into measurable outcomes. Climate and digital transitions are not separate agendas. They are interconnected transformations that must be strategically aligned.
The Assembly also included two site visits. Participants visited the Barcelona Supercomputing Centre, one of Europe’s leading high-performance computing facilities. The visit highlighted the importance of advanced computing for climate modelling, urban simulation, and evidence-based policymaking.
The second visit focused on Barcelona’s climate shelter initiative. Climate shelters provide accessible spaces for residents during extreme heat events. The visit offered a practical example of how climate policies translate into tangible community benefits. Together, the two visits reflected the dual nature of the UTA MICAD approach: combining technological innovation with people-centred climate action.
As UTA MICAD moves into its next phase, the focus shifts from research to implementation. Metropolitan authorities will begin co-designing climate and digital transition roadmaps. The MICAD Toolkit, international expertise, and peer-learning activities will support this process across the consortium.
Urban Technology Alliance is proud to contribute to this work. By supporting roadmap development, knowledge exchange, and practical digital innovation, UTA helps metropolitan communities across Europe turn shared knowledge into tangible results. Learn more about the MICAD project at the MICAD project website.