COMUNE DI MERANO

Their core work

The Municipality of Merano (Meran) is a mid-sized Alpine town in South Tyrol, Italy, that participates in EU research projects as a real-world urban testbed and implementation partner. Their contribution is practical: they provide access to urban infrastructure, local governance structures, community engagement channels, and the ability to pilot and validate solutions in a real city environment. In H2020 projects, they have acted as the "living lab" — the place where academic and technical partners test ideas in actual neighbourhoods with actual residents. Their bilingual (Italian/German) and cross-border Alpine context gives them a distinctive positioning within European urban networks.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their first H2020 project (2017-2020), Merano's focus was tightly scoped to child-friendly urban design — rethinking how neighbourhoods are structured around children's needs, calming traffic, and reclaiming street space. By their second project (2021-2026), the framing shifted substantially toward climate resilience: nature-based solutions, air quality, ecological space, and the justice dimensions of the green transition entered the picture alongside ICT and big data tools. The thread connecting both phases is urban transformation at the neighbourhood scale, but the lens moved from social inclusion via mobility to environmental sustainability via green infrastructure.

Merano is moving toward becoming a reference city for just green transitions — combining climate adaptation infrastructure with social equity concerns — which aligns with major EU Green Deal and Mission Cities funding streams expected through 2030.

How they like to work

Merano has never led an H2020 project and consistently joins as a participant — the role of a practitioner city rather than a research driver. With 32 unique partners across 12 countries across just two projects, they participate in large, diverse international consortia rather than tight bilateral arrangements. This pattern is typical of cities used as demonstration sites: they bring local legitimacy and a real deployment context, while universities and research institutes handle the technical and analytical work.

Merano has built connections with 32 distinct consortium partners across 12 countries in just two projects — an unusually broad network for a municipality of its size. Their partnerships span Northern, Western, and Southern Europe, consistent with pan-European urban research consortia where cities from different climate zones and governance traditions are deliberately combined.

What sets them apart

Merano occupies a rare niche as a small Alpine city with a bilingual (Italian/German) administration and a cross-border cultural identity, which makes it attractive for projects needing a Southern Alpine or Northern Italian urban context that is distinct from large metro areas like Milan or Rome. Unlike larger Italian cities that also participate in EU urban projects, Merano offers a manageable scale for pilots — large enough to be meaningful, small enough to move quickly. Their track record across both mobility-focused and climate-focused research positions them as a versatile demonstration partner for any consortium working on sustainable urban futures.

Highlights from their portfolio

• JUSTNature
  The largest grant Merano has received (EUR 680,125) and the most thematically ambitious — combining nature-based solutions, big data, ICT, and environmental justice in a project running until 2026, making it their most current and forward-looking engagement.
• Metamorphosis
  Merano's first H2020 project, focused on the under-represented theme of child-friendly urban design and traffic calming — a practical, community-level intervention that established their credentials as an implementation city.