HORIZON 2020-URBAN-SECURE: Sustainable Energy and Crisis Resilience for Smart Cities

AI Technologies Digital Arts and AI Tools Environmental Protection Smart Cities and Villages

projects exemplify Horizon 2020's commitment to fostering sustainable and smart urban development across Europe. If you're interested in specific aspects like energy efficiency, mobility, or citizen engagement

Project Description

URB-SECURE seeks to revolutionize urban energy systems and resilience planning by introducing an advanced, AI-powered ecosystem. This system is designed to maximize the use of renewable energy, strengthen energy autonomy, and equip cities with intelligent tools to anticipate and respond effectively to crises such as power outages, climate-related events, and cyber threats.

Objectives

Design and deploy an integrated Smart Energy Management System (SEMS) that enables real-time monitoring, predictive analysis, and automated regulation of urban energy flows.
Establish urban microgrids powered by renewable sources (solar, wind, and bioenergy), supported by AI-enhanced energy storage solutions.
Develop a Crisis Intelligence Dashboard (CID) based on digital twin technology to simulate and manage emergencies related to energy supply, natural hazards, and cybersecurity risks.
Strengthen community resilience through tools that encourage citizen participation, analyze energy consumption behaviors, and provide emergency communication platforms.
Pilot and evaluate the system in major cities: Neunkirchen, Rome,Malmö,Temperre,Rinkgsagger,Lyon,Prague,Malta,Grete,Plovdiv,Gdansk,Brugge

Work Packages (WPs)

WP1 – Project Coordination and Ethics

Lead: Gobey Academy

Focuses on overall project governance, stakeholder coordination, regulatory compliance, and data protection.

WP2 – Smart Sustainable Energy Infrastructure

Lead: University of Amsterdam

Covers the development of AI-based SEMS, integration of IoT and smart meters for real-time data, and the design of urban microgrid systems.

WP3 – Crisis Intelligence and Management

Lead: Czech Technical University

Includes digital twin modeling for crisis scenarios, predictive simulations for outages and disasters, and coordination strategies among response agencies.

WP4 – Citizen-Centric Resilience Tools

Lead: University of Barcelona

Develops mobile applications for real-time alerts and energy insights, promotes participatory energy-saving initiatives, and introduces gamified training for communities.

WP5 – Urban Pilots and Evaluation

Lead: Polytechnic University of Milan

Implements the system in pilot cities, collects and validates data, and evaluates environmental and economic impacts.

WP6 – Replication and Policy Roadmap

Lead: Horizon GreenTech Cluster

Prepares guidelines for scaling across Europe, including policy frameworks and public-private collaboration models.

Expected Outcomes

Achieve up to 20% reduction in urban energy consumption in pilot areas
Improve energy outage response times by 30%
Deliver a real-time crisis simulation platform adaptable across EU cities
Empower citizens with digital tools for energy awareness and resilience
Provide a scalable policy and technological framework for smart city development