At the European Digital Sustainability Skills Conference, held in Brussels on 30 September 2026, Filippo Romano represented SMARCO in the “Voices from the Alliance” session. The conference brought together policymakers, educators, researchers and industry representatives to discuss the skills needed to support Europe’s digital and green transitions. Filippo presented SMARCO’s work on the Skills Strategy and Blueprint, with a focus on how these transitions increasingly come together in cities and communities.
Bringing digital and sustainability skills together
The discussion highlighted that digital and sustainability transitions cannot be reduced to technical skills alone. When municipalities introduce technologies such as AI, they also need to consider data governance, cybersecurity, organisational change, procurement and technological sovereignty. At the same time, climate resilience increasingly depends on digital technologies, data and smart infrastructure.
This means that the people planning and implementing change in cities and communities need to work across different areas. SMARCO’s approach therefore focuses on combining digital and green competences with governance and transversal skills, helping professionals connect technological developments with wider sustainability objectives.
From digital sustainability to smarter communities
This perspective also informed the discussion of the relationship between SMARCO and Digital4Sustainability. While Digital4Sustainability looks at the digital sustainability competences needed across sectors, SMARCO focuses on how these competences are applied in cities and communities, where professionals need to connect technology with planning, procurement, governance, resilience and local sustainability objectives.
The two perspectives are complementary: digital sustainability skills provide a broader foundation, while the Smart Community perspective brings these competences into a specific territorial context and its practical challenges.
Continuing the c
onversation
The conference also provided an opportunity to discuss the next phase of SMARCO’s work, including nine national and one European roundtable workshops. These will bring stakeholders together to discuss the project’s recommendations and explore their application in different national and European contexts.
The event placed SMARCO’s work within the wider European discussion on skills for the digital and green transitions, while also creating opportunities to exchange with other initiatives working towards a more coherent European skills ecosystem.
Photo credits: Tiago Lopes
