AYUNTAMIENTO DE MURCIA

Their core work

Ayuntamiento de Murcia is the municipal government of Murcia, Spain's seventh-largest city, actively using EU-funded projects to transform its urban services. The city focuses on circular economy practices — managing bio-waste, construction waste, and wastewater — while modernizing its energy infrastructure through smart energy performance contracts and public lighting upgrades. It also serves as a real-world testing ground for electric vehicle charging infrastructure and user-centric digital government services. As a public authority, its primary contribution is providing regulatory access, urban-scale pilot sites, and citizen engagement for demonstration projects.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Murcia's early H2020 work (2015–2019) centred on energy roadmaps and the foundations of circular economy — waste management, resource efficiency, bioeconomy, and citizen engagement. From 2020 onward, the city pivoted toward implementation-heavy topics: electromobility infrastructure, investment mobilisation for bio-waste valorisation, and smart energy performance contracting. The trajectory shows a clear shift from planning and awareness to deploying and financing real urban infrastructure.

Murcia is moving from circular economy planning into bankable urban green investments — expect future interest in climate-finance instruments, smart city integration, and scaled waste-to-value systems.

How they like to work

Murcia participates exclusively as a partner, never as coordinator — consistent with its role as a city government providing real-world deployment sites rather than leading research. With 127 unique partners across 19 countries, the city operates in large, diverse consortia (typical for Innovation Actions and CSAs). This makes them a reliable demonstration partner who can offer urban-scale pilot conditions, municipal regulatory access, and citizen populations for testing.

Murcia has built a broad European network of 127 partners across 19 countries, reflecting its participation in large Innovation Action consortia. The network spans municipalities, research centres, and technology providers focused on circular economy and urban sustainability.

What sets them apart

Murcia offers something many research partners cannot: a mid-sized Mediterranean city willing to open its municipal infrastructure — waste systems, public lighting, streets, and procurement processes — for EU-funded pilots. Their portfolio uniquely bridges circular economy, energy services, and urban mobility in a single municipal context. For consortium builders, Murcia provides a southern European demonstration site with proven experience managing citizen engagement and public procurement within EU project frameworks.

Highlights from their portfolio

• USER-CHI
  Largest single project by funding (EUR 351K), positioning Murcia as a test city for EV charging infrastructure along major European transport corridors.
• HOOP
  Combines circular bioeconomy with financial engineering — a rare project where a municipality works on investment mobilisation for urban biowaste and wastewater valorisation.
• CityLoops
  Tackles construction and demolition waste at city scale, with Murcia piloting circular procurement and participatory planning for material flow management.