Author: Edwin

Learning workshop and PED workshop in Vienna | April 2019

Posted on April 26, 2019 by - News

+CityxChange learning workshop and PED City workshop

After the first kick-off meeting at the project launch in Trondheim in November 2018, +CityxChange partners from LHCs, FCs and supporting organizations got together again on April 2-4 for the PED Cities Workshop.

The three-day workshop – one day organised by +CityxChange project coordinators and the second two by JPI Urban Europe – was hosted in Vienna and took place in the once forgotten warehouse which has now turned into an inspiring creativity factory, the Nordbahnhalle.

The first day of the workshop was designed as a Learning Workshop for +CityxChange partners to engage in discussions, share experiences, gain more knowledge on technical issues related to the project and understand where do we all stand in the overall project development. After the word of welcome from NTNU, a series of workshops led by work package leaders took place. The first workshop was lead by Future Analytics Consulting and issues related to city Key Performance Indicators, standardized ways to share KPI data, data governance and challenges of FCs in terms of indicators, were discussed.

Interesting results were drawn from the LHC/FC activities & demo projects workshop, were divided into thematic discussion groups, cities and partners exchanged their knowledge on PEB definitions and boundary conditions, regulatory and planning challenges, data sharing, etc. The whole discussion was led by Han Vandevyvere, included some examples of fuck-up nights and policy recommendations by similar projects to ours.

Within the last workshop, ISOCARP’s objective was to develop strong narratives about +CityxChange in each city through storytelling. After a short introduction on why storytelling is important, what are important constituents of stories and how to tell them, each group had to come up with their own storytelling version. We had an interesting presentation and later on discussion with representatives from The Energy Centre of Vienna, Nikolaus Summer and Petra Schöfmann, who presented their experiences with Positive Energy Blocks and Districts, as well as the Smart City Vienna strategy and city-industry-research cooperation in Vienna.

The second day of our stay in Vienna was led by JPI Urban Europe and was part of their workshop programme on Positive Energy Districts and Neighbourhoods (PED). Cities, R&I institutions, industry and citizens in the programme implementation came together to interact and have a solid understanding of cities’ experiences and strategies on how to manage energy transition to contribute to a more sustainable urban development.

The last day gave participants the occasion to go on a study visit to the brownfield urban development of former Vienna northwest railway station and discuss the urban development process with representatives of the City of Vienna.

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General project leaflet

Posted on April 16, 2019 by -

Attached is the general project leaflet which was developed as part of Deliverable 10.4 in month 6 of the project (April 2019). It will be updated on a regular basis. If you would like to use the flyer or need a different format, please contact us via info@cityxchange.eu.

City-specific project leaflet (English)

Posted on April 16, 2019 by -

Attached are the city-specific project leaflets in English which were developed as part of Deliverable 10.4 in month 6 of the project (April 2019). They will be updated on a regular basis. If you would like to use the flyers or need a different format, please contact us via info@cityxchange.eu.

D10.1 Plan for dissemination and exploitation of +CityxChange project results

Posted on April 16, 2019 by -

The deliverable 10.1 was submitted by ISOCARP and provides the framework for dissemination and exploitation activities of the +CityxChange project. It is revised annually.

It is composed of the outline of the communication goals, the context in which the goals have to be implemented, the formulation of a strategy and a detailed plan, the organisation, tasks and roles, and the means or delivery channels. The target audiences of the communication have been divided into two clusters: 1) Local audiences and stakeholders in the +CityxChange cities, and 2) the broader community of practice, research, and governance.

Based on the goals and the context a strategy is formulated which includes three elements: 1) A gearbox for embedment into a wider community of practice, 2) local involvement, and 3) the KPI dashboard. The goal of the communication activities change over the course of the project: first to inform, then to engage to collect and validate, then knowledge transfer and finally dissemination of result. A wide scope of means will be used as the delivery method. The means are integrated across multiple work packages to support and reinforce the project and maximize the impact of its outcomes.

D10.2 Consortium identity and templates

Posted on April 16, 2019 by -

The deliverable 10.2, Consortium Identity and Templates, was submitted by ISOCARP in February 2019 and contains the visual styling guidelines of the project and a range of templates.

The communication and dissemination of the process and results of +CityxChange are a crucial element of successful execution and realisation of the project’s objectives. In order to establish and maintain a strong identity of all partners’ communication and materials, a common approach to communicating and visualising is developed and expanded over time by ISOCARP. This consists initially of the communication plan (D10.1) and the consortium identity and templates (D10.2), detailing the general approach as well as providing identity standards for visual materials and templates for documents and presentations. The document provides a brief overview of the created documents of D10.2, its recommended use and development over time.

Kick-off: The cities we want to live in | November 2018

Posted on November 15, 2018 by - News

On Wednesday 7th November 2018, the kick-off and first consortium meeting was held for the +CityxChange initiative.

Today we kicked off our +CityxChange project in Trondheim, with nearly 90 participants from 32 partners. One of the main targets for the kick-off was to determine how to create open, collaborative and engaging partnerships.

After welcome words by Annemie Wyckmans (+CxC Project Coordinator), Gunnar Bovim (Rector of NTNU), and Morten Wolden (CEO of Trondheim municipality), EU project officer Francesco Liberati and +CxC Project Manager Dirk Ahlers (NTNU) discussed the expectations and ambitions towards the partners, on behalf of the EU Commission and the +CityxChange project.

Lighthouse Cities Trondheim and Limerick, led by coordinators Silja Rønningsen and Mihai Bilauca (pictured above), shared their vision for 2050 and discussed with the partners how to make these a reality using the +CxC project – and, how to actually deliver viable Positive Energy Blocks in the next years. Follower Cities Alba Iulia, Písek, Sestao, Smolyan and Võru (add names), together with WP6 Lead representative Liyana Adjarova of EAP, presented their plans for how to engage with the lighthouse cities and learn as much and as fast as possible, while setting up their own demonstrations. All seven cities and 32 partners are ready to experiment, share, and learn, and co-create the future together.

Follower Cities coordinators Christiana Fica (Alba Iulia), Miloš Prokýšek (Písek), Luiskar Delgado Ortiz (Sestao), Eftima Petkova (Smolyan), and Diana Vene (Voru), together with Work Package Lead EAP, presented how the Follower Cities are ready to engage with the lighthouse cities to learn as much and as fast as possible, while setting up their own demonstrations.

All seven cities and 32 partners are ready to experiment, share, and learn, and co-create the future together.

An excellent first day of the kick-off meeting!

Co-creating the future we want to live in | July 2018

Posted on July 12, 2018 by - News

On 6 July, the +CityxChange proposal was formally invited by the European Commission to become a new smart city lighthouse project, under the “Smart Cities and Communities” call of the EU research and innovation programme Horizon 2020.

The proposal was given excellent comments and scores by the experts and rated among the best among the eleven competing proposals.

“This is amazing news. We have great expectations for what we can achieve in this collaboration”, says Annemie Wyckmans, project coordinator for +CityxChange and Professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).

For the next five years, the cities of Trondheim, Limerick, Alba Iulia, Písek, Sestao, Smolyan and Võru will experiment on how to become smart positive energy cities, that use digital services to improve quality of life for and together with all of their citizens, generate more energy than they consume, and exchange experiences with cities across Europe to learn faster, together.

Under the leadership of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, these seven cities will develop and test new solutions together with an impressive list of 11 large enterprises, 9 SMEs, 3 non-for-profit organisations and 2 universities, covering the entire value chain: IES R&D, Powel AS, University of Limerick, Energy Agency of Plovdiv, Future Analytics Consulting, Research2Market Solutions, ISOCARP, TrønderEnergi AS, ABB Norway, AtB, AVIS Budget Group, Statkraft Varme AS, ESB Innovation RoI Ltd, ESB Networks, Ove Arup & Partners SAU, FourC AS, R.Kjeldsberg, Smart MPower, Space Engagers, Colaborativa, Officinae Verdi, IOTA Foundation, NHP Eiendom, and GKinetic Energy Ltd.

The independent experts evaluating the proposal commend +CityxChange for demonstrating and substantiating actions that will contribute to the wide-scale roll-out of Positive Energy Districts across Europe, with a convincing approach to make local governments an active and integral part of the energy solution, engaging citizens in the city transformation, and involving the entire district energy value chain, extending to high level policy makers and cities, universities, large enterprises, distributed network operators, SMEs, and non-profit organisations.

The project will receive 20 million Euros in funding by the European Research and Innovation Programme Horizon 2020. In addition, the project partners add 10 million Euros of in-kind efforts to ensure the local implementation of the demonstration projects in Trondheim and Limerick. Expected project start is 1 January 2019.

Throughout the process, the consortium has received valuable insight and support from the national contact points (NCPs), notably the NCPs in the two lighthouse city countries Ireland and Norway, as well as our Brussels offices.

For more information, please check our website or contact project coordinator Annemie Wyckmans, Trondheim’s lighthouse city coordinator Silja Rønningsen, and Limerick’s lighthouse city coordinator Rosie Webb.