Bristol could win 1million Euros if it’s named the European Capital of Innovation – Bristol Live
Bristol is one of just 12 European cities to be shortlisted for a prestigious award which could bring in one million Euros of funding to the city.
The winning city will be given the title of European Capital of Innovation, also known as the iCapital.
And while the top prize is 1m Euros, there is also the opportunity for five runners up to receive 100,000 Euros each.
According to the European Commission, the annual cash prize will be given to the city that is best able to demonstrate its ability to harness innovation to improve the lives of its citizens.
It said that cities are ideal 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.
Bristol is being considered for the prize along with two other UK cities – London and Glasgow.
Antwerp, Hamburg, Bilbao, Espoo, Bologna, Lyon, Rotterdam, Dortmund, and Nantes have also been shortlisted.
Bristol has been recognised for its ‘One City Approach’, which brings together a range of partners to meet targets decade by decade up to 2050.
One of the tools that contributes to that approach is the One City Plan, which was introduced by the mayor Marvin Rees’ administration in January this year.
Partners from across the city’s business, charitable, academic and public sectors all contributed to the first draft of the plan which aims to make Bristol fair, healthy and sustainable with reduced inequality.
As well as being broken down decade by decade there is also an overarching vision of how partners would like the city to look by 2050.
It falls under six priority themes – health and wellbeing, economy, homes and communities, environment, learning and skills and connectivity.
As part of the approach there are also three different key issues each year for partners to focus on.
Bringing an end to period poverty, tackling knife crime and street crime and addressing the lack of affordable child care are the top priorities for 2019.
Over the past eight months work has been taking place on tackling these three priorities and the City Office has said it is “really pleased with the progress so far”.
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In regards to ending period poverty work is taking place to destigmatize periods by putting together a standard education programme for all secondary schools in Bristol which could be introduced by September next year.
There are also plans to develop and app which will allow users to find distribution and donation points for free sanitary products across the city.
In terms of tackling knife and street crime the City Office said it has been working with the police force to put together a programme for “targeted intervention for young people at risk” as well as introducing “mentoring programmes”.
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And later this month a research project, in collaboration with the University of Bristol, will begin to look at the current childcare offer across the city including geographically, flexibility and affordability.
Following this the aim is to introduce three new affordable childcare schemes within the city.
Two people who are spearheading the One City Approach are the co-heads of the City Office Edward Rowberry, who remains chief executive of Bristol and Bath Regional Capital and Andrea Dell from Bristol City Council.
Speaking to Bristol Live, Mr Rowberry said “a lot of good work” had taken place already in just eight-and-a-half months, but that with the extra funding from the European Commission “a lot more could be done to get the One City Approach out there and really engage and empower our citizens”.
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He also said Bristol was seen as a “role model for other cities” as a result of the One City Approach and that the City Office had been inundated by queries from other local authorities, including some of the London Boroughs, and even had international interest from Seoul in South Korea and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Mayor of Bristol Marvin Rees said: “One City is an exciting and innovative approach to shaping and investing in the future of Bristol.
“The One City Plan is the result of city partners collaborating and co-producing. It’s already delivering cultural change across leadership, governance and citizen participation.
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“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.”
Bristol is due to present to the European Commission in Brussels today (Wednesday) with the winners expected to be announced by Thursday, September 26.
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