Welcome to our press corner, where we have put together informative materials for journalists and other media outlets on the +CityxChange project. A brief introduction to the project has been provided, including images, publicity material, and news coverage. For additional information or if you have specific questions, please get in touch with us using the contact details given below.
FAQs
Click on the questions below to find out more about the +CityxChange project:
The +CityxChange vision is to co-create the future we want to live in. To achieve this, the following framework will be adopted:
(i) Prototype the Future – Integrated Planning and Design
(ii) Enable the Future – Creation of a Common Energy Market
(iii) Accelerate the Future – CommunityxChange
This framework will incorporate 11 Demonstration Projects, which will be carried out in the Lighthouse Cities and replicated in the Follower Cities. These projects encompass the environmental, spatial, social, technical, economic, regulatory and legal aspects, required to deliver Positive Energy Blocks/Districts (PEB/D). They will lead to recommendations for new policy intervention, community engagement, market regulation and business models that will enable scale-up and replication of PEB/Ds across the city and across the EU.
(i) informing citizens of the potential and opportunities that could result from a DPEB (MODEL, ENGAGE);
(ii) enabling citizens to take ownership of their buildings and their communities, through:
behaviour change, which improves the efficiency of their buildings (ENGAGE)
enabling investment to create prosumers instead of consumers of energy (INVEST)
(iii) enabling innovation and new disruptive technologies to emerge at a local level, through
new regulatory mechanisms to test disruptive technologies (REGULATORY ZONE)
innovation playgrounds fostering new and emerging technologies and services, enabling local stakeholders to accelerate their solutions to the wider market (PLAYGROUND)
testing of new solutions for seamless e-mobility integrated with the energy system (eMaaS)
(iv) enabling a fair price for energy for all consumers in a community, through
a more flexible energy system (MICROGRIDS)
peer-to-peer trading across the microgrid, within the DPEB (LOCAL TRADING)
trading between all consumers, not just large industrial consumers (FLEXIBILITY MARKET)
(v) co-creating the future of the city with its citizens through a Bold City Vision for 2050 (VISION)
The proposed +CityxChange solution has led to the creation of 11 Demonstration Projects (DPs), which will be implemented in the two Lighthouse Cities (Limerick, Ireland and Trondheim, Norway). A replication profile and framework for each DP will then be created so that the Follower Cities (FCs: Alba Iulia, Romania; Písek, Czech Republic; Sestao, Spain; Smolyan, Bulgaria and Võru, Estonia) and other EU cities can exploit the solutions of the +CityxChange project.
+CityxChange will create solutions for Positive Energy Blocks leading to Positive Energy Districts and Cities through:
(1) decision support tools which enable informed decisions to be made by all stakeholders in the community;
(2) an approach to creating a Positive Energy Block through energy reduction and efficiency measures, local renewables, local storage, flexibility and peer-to-peer energy trading;
(3) top down community engagement driven by the local authority and bottom up citizen engagement to inform, educate and drive behavioural change.
Press kit
The download buttons below include informative and design-oriented material on +CityxChange.
Twitter @PlusCities
News coverage
News where +CityxChange has been featured in:
- IOTA-Powered Smart Grid Infrastructure (IOTA, December 11, 2020)
- Hva kan andre lære av Trondheim og Trøndelag? (ADRESSEAVISEN AS, November 18, 2020)
- Telling stories about places – Storytelling Workshop, +CityxChange (ISOCARP Institute, November 16, 2020)
- Trondheim leder an for å endre EUs energiregelverk (Europower-energi.no, October 10, 2020)
- IOTA News: Cost-efficient energy trading platform for Europe is now operational (Born2Invest.com, September 14, 2020)
- Positive energy solutions for smart cities of the future (CORDIS, September 8, 2020)
- Community Led Open Innovation (Limerick.ie, July 16, 2020)
- EUSEW 2020 – WEBINAR: Creating a Joint Vision for PEDs – Recap (SCIS, July 3, 2020)
- Innovation Atelier Bilbao celebra su primer workshop con ciudades Lighthouse y Fellow (Cluster Energy, June 26, 2020)
- From nearly-Zero to Plus Energy Buildings (Buildup.eu, June 10,2020)
- FAC Co-Authors New Placemaking Publication (Future Analytics, June 8, 2020)
- Limerick - Positive Energy Block (IES, May 21, 2020)
- La ciudad noruega de Trondheim usará la tecnología IOTA para abordar los retos de los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible La ciudad noruega de Trondheim usará la tecnología IOTA para abordar los retos de los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible(eSmartcities.es, February 13, 2020)
- Sestao Berri, presente en el stand de AVS Euskadi en la VIII Feria Berdeago Energy (sestaoberri.eus, February 11, 2020)
- Open Call: Innovative Citizen Solutions for Positive Energy Transition and Limerick's Georgian laneways (Limerick City Council, January 22, 2020)
- Limerick Council’s Georgian Living City scheme gets award nod (Limerick Leader, January 14, 2020)
- ABB demonstrerer banebrytende plussbyløsninger i Trondheim (ABB, December 5, 2019)
- The First Limerick Climathon (Medium.com, November 12, 2019)
- IOTA Becoming Part Of Self-Sustaining Smart Cities (IOTA, October 24, 2019)
- Developers community update: IOTA & +CityxChange (IOTA, October 22, 2019)
- Limerick and Trondheim lighting the way for Europe’s mid-sized cities (Limerick City Council, October 15, 2019)
- Slik skal Trondheim spare store mengder energi (TU.NO, October 13, 2019)
- EU HORIZON 2020 +CityxChange project has officially launched (IES, October 9, 2019)
- CityxChange programme gets perfect start (Limerick City Council, September 25, 2019)
- "FAC Facilitates +CityxChange Public Engagement Workshops in Limerick" (Future Analytics, September 20, 2019)
- CityxChange Project Launched in Limerick (Future Analytics, September 9, 2019)
- Limerick city to take part in European energy scheme (Raidió Teilifís Éireann, September 6, 2019)
- Limerick to take part in EU pilot project on reducing carbon footprint of cities (The Irish Times, September 6, 2019)
- IOTA showcases sustainable energy traceability at Powerhouse Energy Positive Building (IOTA, August 30, 2019)
- Powerhouse Energy-Positive Building Hosts Next-generation IoT Innovation With IOTA Distributed Ledger Technology (BusinessWire, August 30, 2019)
- Creating a Positive Energy City Centre in Limerick (University of Limerick, July 3, 2019)
- Trondheim satser grønt – dette bygget skal gi minst 3000 mennesker strøm (Dagens Næringsliv, June 30, 2019)
- Europa kommer til Trøndelag (ADRESSEAVISEN AS, May 7, 2019)
- The smart cities family keeps growing! Welcome to +CityxChange & MAKING-CITY! (mySmartLife, April 11, 2019)
- Brattørkaia in Trondheim will soon be Norway's most high-tech urban area (Entra, February 12, 2019)
- CityxChange – towards smart positive energy Cities (Energerati Network, September 22, 2018)
- NTNU to lead smart energy Horizon 2020 project (Science|Business, July 9, 2018)
- Green light from the EU Commission for IOTA and the European smart city consortium +CityxChange (IOTA, July 7, 2018)

Press Contact
Limerick
Laura Ryan
laura.ryan@limerick.ie
Communication and Dissemination Management
Limerick, Republic of Ireland
Trondheim
Silja Rønningsen
silja.ronningsen@trondheim.kommune.no
Communication and Dissemination Management
Trondheim, Norway
Alba Iulia
Písek
Sestao
Luis Carlos Delgado Ortiz
luiskar@sestaoberri.eus
Communication and Dissemination Management
Sestao, Spain
Smolyan
Nazhdeva Foteva-Mileva
n.mileva@smolyan.bg
Communication and Dissemination Management
Smolyan, Bulgaria
Võru