European Capital of Innovation Awards 2023: six cities selected as finalists

On 6 October 2023 the European Commission named the six finalists for the European Capital of Innovation Awards 2023, also called iCapital. The prize is supported by the European Innovation Council under Horizon Europe and rewards cities that promote inclusive innovation ecosystems, experiment with new governance and technologies, and place citizens at the centre of innovation efforts. The shortlist was created after a selection process that included remote hearings with twelve semi-finalist cities and evaluation by independent high level juries.

Finalists

Prizes, ceremony and follow up

The award ceremony will take place on 27 November 2023 in Marseille. In the European Capital of Innovation category one winner will receive €1 000 000 and two runners up will each be awarded €100 000. In the European Rising Innovative City category the winner will receive €500 000 and the two runners up €50 000 each. All finalists are invited to join the EIC Prizes Alumni Network which is part of the European Innovation Council Forum working groups.

Context: policy linkages and events

The awards sit within the New European Innovation Agenda which aims to strengthen deep tech, experimentation spaces, startup scale up finance and connected innovation ecosystems across the EU. The finalists and the role of cities were due to feature at the Next Generation Innovators Summit under the Spanish Presidency in Madrid on 10 October and at the EIC Forum Plenary on 11 October. The EIC Forum brings national and regional innovation authorities together to coordinate actions under the Agenda and to support mutual learning.

Timeline and practical information

Key dates in the 2023 process included remote hearings with twelve semi finalists earlier in the selection phase. The jury selected three finalists per category. The public award ceremony in Marseille on 27 November 2023 will reveal winners and two runners up per category. The prize is open to cities in EU member states and in countries associated to Horizon Europe, subject to eligibility rules including minimum population thresholds for the two categories.

Past winners

What to watch and outstanding questions

The awards offer visibility and a clear financial incentive to cities, but they raise familiar questions about how to turn recognition into sustained improvements. The headline prize money is useful but one off. The practical follow up and monitoring of impact is crucial if cities are to scale projects beyond pilot stage and to ensure funds reach disadvantaged communities. There is also a risk that awards feed PR cycles rather than hard outcomes. Independent tracking and stronger transparency on how prize money is spent would help to assess whether the award leads to measurable social, environmental or economic benefits. The inclusion of Lviv and other Ukrainian cities in recent competitions is notable and reflects political and humanitarian priorities, but it also raises questions about capacity to implement projects in conflict affected contexts and about the additional support those cities will need.

Finally the competition format rewards cities that are already relatively well resourced or media savvy. The New European Innovation Agenda aims to reduce the innovation divide across regions through ecosystem building and targeted investments. Whether such structural goals are advanced by prize competitions depends on the follow up mechanisms set up by the Commission and national authorities as much as on the laureates themselves.

Where to find official information

Details on the award rules, eligibility, deadlines and the EIC work programme are published by the European Innovation Council and the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency. Finalists and winners are listed on the EIC and Commission news pages and the EIC Forum provides coordination material for national innovation authorities.