On December 10, 2019 the Urban Europe Research Alliance (UERA) in collaboration with JPI Urban Europe, PED Programme of the SET-Plan Action 3.2 on Positive Energy Districts, the Action Cluster Integrated Planning, Policies and Regulation of the European Innovation Partnership on Smart Cities and Communities, SCC-01 project Smarter Together and STARDUST, European energy award, and Tuscan Organisation of Universities and Research for Europe host a special session at the Smart and Sustainable Planning for Cities and Regions Conference 2019. The session goes under the theme Societal, Research and Innovation Challenges in Integrated Planning and Implementation of Smart and Energy-efficient Urban Solutions and has the focus How to Support Local Governments in Italy and across Europe?