The Greek city of Karditsa has been selected as a pilot location for a European Union-funded project that will combine satellite technology, artificial intelligence and urban data to help municipalities anticipate traffic congestion, environmental threats and risks to cultural heritage.
The initiative, known as SPACE4CULT, is part of the EU’s Horizon Europe research and innovation program and brings together organizations from Greece, Italy and Belgium. According to the European Commission’s CORDIS database, the project has secured approximately €1.73 million in EU funding and will run from November 1, 2026, through October 31, 2029. Karditsa will participate alongside Rome in testing technologies designed to improve urban management and strengthen cities’ resilience to climate-related pressures.
The project is coordinated by Italian technology company Fifth Ingenium, with participants including Italy’s Ministry of Culture, telecommunications company Fastweb, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium’s Central Space Agency, Greece’s Institute of Communication and Computer Systems and the Municipality of Karditsa. The Greek municipality has been allocated €102,500 in European funding.
Combining satellite data with artificial intelligence
SPACE4CULT aims to develop an advanced decision-support platform that integrates Earth observation information from the European Copernicus program, positioning services from Galileo and EGNOS, anonymized mobility data and information collected by municipal authorities. Artificial intelligence and predictive analytics will process these different sources to identify emerging problems and evaluate possible responses before local authorities implement new policies.
In Karditsa, the technology will be tested in areas including traffic management, urban heat exposure and environmental planning. Municipal officials expect the platform to support the city’s Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan and Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan, potentially allowing administrators to compare different infrastructure interventions and assess their likely consequences. Rather than replacing elected officials or municipal departments, the system is intended to provide additional evidence for public policy decisions.
The project’s scope extends beyond conventional smart-city applications. According to the European Commission, SPACE4CULT will also examine how satellite observations and AI can help protect historic buildings and cultural sites from pollution, ground subsidence, climate-related damage and excessive tourism. Its technological framework includes extended reality applications and digital twins, which create interactive virtual representations of physical urban environments.
European project targets climate resilience and cultural heritage
The European Commission identifies SPACE4CULT as an innovation action under its Space Data Economy initiative, which seeks to expand the commercial and public-sector use of European space technologies. The project will aim to advance its technological systems from Technology Readiness Level 6, representing technology demonstrated in a relevant environment, to Level 8, indicating a completed and qualified system approaching commercial deployment.
Karditsa Mayor Vassilis Tsiakos said the initiative offers municipalities an opportunity to move from responding to problems after they occur toward identifying risks and preparing preventive measures. Speaking about the project following his participation in an international local-government conference in Vienna, Tsiakos emphasized that smaller European cities could play an important role in testing digital innovations because of their direct knowledge of local conditions and residents’ needs.
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