SMARCO Project

SMARt COmmunities Skills Development in Europe

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.

SMARCO (project number: 101186291) is a 48-month Erasmus+ project (2025–2029) that promotes the development of greener, more digital, and resilient smart communities, with a strong focus on sustainability.

The project aims to strengthen the skills needed for the digital and sustainable transformation of smart communities, engaging both the industrial sector and public administrations.

SMARCO will bring together a European network of partners and stakeholders around a new Smart Communities Skills Partnership, within the framework of the Pact for Skills, offering practical tools and innovative training pathways to support the digital and green transition.

SMARCO is coordinated by the European Digital SME Alliance, with the contribution of 20 partners from 14 countries: CLUJ IT Cluster, BASSCOM, Cluster GAIA, National College of Ireland, Universidad de Alcalá, University of Thessaly, Edutus Egyetem, Hogeschool Utrecht, Hellenic Open University, Politeknika Txorierri, Cefriel, Fondazione Piemonte Innova, Österreichische Computer Gesellschaft, ENoLL, ATI Comunicación, NCSR Demokritos, Emphasys Centre, Nordic Edge, Nicosia Municipality, Forave, and the associated partner DIGITAL SME France.

SMARCO will become a unique one-stop-shop for smart community skills focusing on the three main aims:

  • to ensure the development of resilient and sustainable smart communities by addressing the skills gaps of smart city engineers and planners/procurers through the development of urgent upskilling courses and forward-looking training programmes;
  • to grant flexible and user-centric learning, trans-national dimension and learning mobility, as well as a wide recognition of trainings through the development of micro-credentials, training certificates and wider certification scheme;
  • to create a sustainable community of stakeholders to discuss, share and scale training, upskilling and reskilling linked to smart communities’ skills and relevant best practices via participation in the Pact for Skills (and its Digital Large-scale ecosystem).