SmartCity Expo World Congress | Empowering Cities: a new all-in-one tool for partnerships

CEMR is one of the supporting institutions of the SmartCity Expo World Congress. This world’s leading event for urban innovation brings together global leaders, companies, and organisations to showcase solutions for greener, more efficient, and inclusive cities. Join the drive to accelerate urban transformation and tackle the critical challenges of tomorrow.
Check our session below:

Session – Empowering Cities: A new all-in-one tool for partnerships

• Date: 4 November 2025
• Time: 12:02-12:50
• Stage: People-first
• Open to the public

Explore how local governments are scaling partnerships across Europe through a unique digital tool. This session will offer valuable insights, practical examples, and networking opportunities for municipalities and stakeholders looking to enhance cooperation, access funding, and build impactful, cross-border projects. 

Summary of the session:

In an increasingly fragmented and unpredictable global environment, cities and municipalities are becoming key players in upholding democratic values and delivering solutions to shared challenges. This session will spotlight the CEMR Matchmaking Platform as a strategic tool for fostering twinning and partnership building, enabling municipalities to connect, collaborate, and co-create projects across Europe. 

Through practical demonstrations, case studies, and testimonials, participants will gain insights into how the platform facilitates real partnerships between local and regional governments. From initiating cross-border exchanges to scaling up joint responses in areas such as climate action, digital transformation, social inclusion, and resilience, the session will show how this digital tool translates dialogue into partnership. 

The event will feature representatives from European municipalities who have benefited from the platform, as well as experts in multi-level governance and digital cooperation. It will also offer a sneak peek into upcoming platform features — such as a new financial opportunities section and knowledge-sharing hub — aimed at making collaboration more accessible and impactful. 

By showcasing success stories and lessons learned, the session will highlight how smart governance, citizen engagement, and inter-municipal collaboration can help create more resilient, democratic, and inclusive communities — starting at the local level. 

Key Objectives: 

• Encourage greater use of digital tools to support smart, collaborative governance. 

• Share practical experiences of twinning and partnership building across Europe and inspire replication. 

• Promote inclusive approaches to multi-level cooperation that reinforce democracy and citizen engagement. 

• Present the Matchmaking Platform as one of the enablers of international cooperation and project development. 

• Offer visibility into new functionalities designed to support municipalities in accessing funding and expertise. 

• Foster dialogue and peer exchange between local actors on the challenges and opportunities of intermunicipal collaboration.