With the "Smart Cities Model Projects", the German Federal Ministry of the Interior, for Building and Home Affairs (BMI) promotes the conception and testing of integrated smart city approaches and supports the empowerment of municipal stakeholders in the sense of sustainable, integrated and public welfare-oriented urban development. Digitization is to be used as tools for the strategic and practical design of our urban and rural living environments and to promote participation, transparency, and resilience.

Un:box Cologne stands out with a special focus on the participatory involvement of local communities and citizens in the planning and implementation of the digital transformation process. Three core objectives are being pursued:

1. Increase digital acceptance and competence of the city community

2. Expand the digitization of the city of Cologne

3. Create spaces for the implementation of innovative ideas

Creative Climate Cities (CCC) is taking part in the development of an implementation-oriented strategy. In it, a collective vision will first be developed, which will act as a target for the entire duration of the project. In addition, funding and selection criteria will be further developed and transferred into a user-oriented un:boxing process, with the help of which a project database can be structured. Finally, this process will be integrated into the working structures and decision-making levels of the city administration in order to support the actors as a dynamic instrument during the implementation phase.