GRAD RIJEKA

Their core work

The City of Rijeka is a Croatian municipal government that uses EU-funded projects to drive urban transformation — from smart city infrastructure and circular economy initiatives to food system redesign and cultural heritage reuse. Their practical role in H2020 consortia is as a real-world testbed: they provide urban governance context, citizen engagement mechanisms, and municipal policy implementation capacity. Rijeka brings the perspective of a mid-sized European city actively experimenting with participatory governance, co-creation methods, and integrated urban planning across environmental, social, and cultural domains.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Rijeka's early H2020 work (2016-2018) centered on physical urban infrastructure — smart city demonstration, plastic packaging circularity, and cultural heritage reuse. From 2018 onward, the focus shifted decisively toward governance processes and social dimensions: co-production, co-creation, digital era governance, and measuring cultural and social impact. Their most recent project (FUSILLI, 2021) signals a new direction combining both threads — applying participatory methods (living labs) to a tangible urban challenge (food systems).

Rijeka is moving from being a passive smart city demonstration site toward becoming an active laboratory for citizen-driven urban food and governance innovation.

How they like to work

Rijeka participates exclusively as a consortium partner — they have never coordinated an H2020 project, which is typical for municipalities that contribute implementation sites rather than research leadership. With 139 unique partners across 23 countries, they operate in large consortia (averaging 23+ partners per project), meaning they are experienced working within complex multi-country collaborations. Their value to consortia is as a willing and experienced municipal pilot site, not as a research driver.

With 139 unique consortium partners spread across 23 countries, Rijeka has built a broad European network despite being a relatively small city. Their connections span Western and Southern Europe through diverse urban innovation and sustainability consortia.

What sets them apart

Rijeka is one of few mid-sized Croatian cities with deep H2020 experience across both technical (smart city, circular economy) and social innovation (co-governance, living labs) domains. This dual competence — understanding both infrastructure deployment and citizen engagement — makes them a valuable pilot city for projects that need real municipal buy-in, not just a token local authority. Their 2020 role as European Capital of Culture further distinguishes them as a city comfortable with international visibility and cross-sector experimentation.

Highlights from their portfolio

• FUSILLI
  Their largest-funded project (EUR 250,875) and most recent, signaling a strategic commitment to urban food system transformation through living labs.
• mySMARTLife
  A flagship smart city project (2016-2022) with lighthouse and follower city models, giving Rijeka long-term experience in urban demonstration and replication strategies.
• COGOV
  Directly addresses public value co-creation and digital-era governance — relevant to any consortium needing a municipal partner experienced in participatory methods.