The Amsterdam Smart City project is soon on its third year. During this time, Amsterdam Smart City has initiated a large number of innovative projects aiming to create a more sustainable and energy efficient city. Sustainable Cities wanted to take a closer look at the achievements, to analyze what has been produced and what other cities could learn from the project.

Germany is at the forefront when it comes to the concept of Smart Cities and many experiments are being conducted in cities throughout the country. The german interest in Smart Cities has led to the creation of an E-Energy financed program that connects technologies for energy saving with systems of communication. The first so called Smart City in Germany is Mannheim.

The Municipality of Lidköping was nominated as a finalist for the Nordic Energy Municipality 2011 with the project Lidköping Biogas – a joint venture. The city of Lidköping, having 38,000 inhabitants, is located in southwestern Sweden close to Lake Vänern.

The Regional Municipality of Bornholm was nominated as a finalist for the Nordic Energy Municipality 2011 with the project Transparent Energy Planning and Implementation (Transplan). It is an energy project coordinated by the municipality, as part of it’s vision for becoming a green and sustainable Bornholm, self-sufficient in renewable energy.

A cost-effective concept for energy renovation of homes made Albertslund Municipality win the Nordic Energy Municipality 2011 Award. As the greatest potential for energy savings and reduction in relation to climatic pressure stem from existing buildings, the Albertslund concept aims at developing, testing and demonstrating standardised energy saving solutions.

The Municipality of Porvoo was nominated as a finalist for the Nordic Energy Municipality 2011 with the project Skaftkärr – an energy-efficient residential area. The Skaftkärr cooperation and experimentation project was launched in 2008–2012 to promote energy-efficient construction and to integrate it in the planning of the area.

The KYVO2-project is realised in the city of Lahti, located 100 km north-east of Helsinki and having a population of 102 000 inhabitants. In Lahti a new generation power plant is under construction in 2011, destined for starting full-scale co-production of electricity and district heat (CHP) in 2012.

The Municipality of Drammen was nominated as a finalist for the Nordic Energy Municipality 2011 in recognition of a project which connects a school building with an eco-friendly local heating network. The Marienlyst School is built in accordance with passive building principles and is Norway’s most energy efficient building.

The Municipality of Jomala was nominated as a finalist for the Nordic Energy Municipality 2011 with the project Jomala Energy Ab. In Åland the district heating system of the Jomala municipality, which has 4100 inhabitants, caters for the heat delivery to 11 public and private sector buildings, among them the local co-operative dairy.

The City of Tampere was nominated as a finalist for the Nordic Energy Municipality 2011 with the project ECO2 – Eco-efficient Tampere 2020. In this project climate and energy objectives of Tampere are implemented, the city development practices are changed to support a low-carbon and carbon-neutral urban structure and sustainable business.

The City of Växjö was nominated as a finalist for the Nordic Energy Municipality 2011 with the project Sustainable Energy Systems in Advanced Cities (SESAC). SESAC is a project within EU’s FP6 Initiative Concerto and demonstrates the building of sustainable energy systems through increased use of renewable energy and more effi cient use of energy.

The sustainable development of Vestmannaeyjar in Iceland is an energy project aiming at improving energy efficiency, decreasing energy demand and reducing the use of fossil fuels in industry and household district heating. Special emphasis in the project is on human behavior.