Tag: education

Sestao was the official Climathon organizer for the 2020 event in Sestao.

It also invited to participate in two neighbouring municipalities: Portugalete and Santurtzi. It, therefore, branded the event towards the public as Climathon SPS (SPS standing for Sestao, Portugalete, Santurtzi). An agreement was reached that every year, one of the cities, in a rotatory fashion, would take care of the actual organization, starting with Sestao in 2020.

The work sessions (Ideathones) were held on the 27^th of November, 4^th of December, and 11^th of December 2020, between 10 am and 2 pm. These were all virtual sessions. The teams presented in a virtual session their projects to the jurors, and the jurors selected the winners on December 18^th, 2020, between 10 am and 2 pm. This was the final session for the event.

The theme was to come up with innovative ideas/projects that could contribute in a meaningful way towards reducing the CO2 emissions in the 3 municipalities by 50% by the year 2030. Sub-challenges that were presented where: Sustainable mobility, Energy, Construction and Housing, Industry. 

22 people registered, however, 12 ended up participating and completing the whole event. At the very end, 4 groups were formed. 

The winning team proposed a mobile app that allows citizens to introduce their energy consumption, list sustainable practices that they undertake, measure their carbon footprint and see how they are contributing towards helping the city meet its goals of reducing CO2 emissions. A basic, yet functional, version of the app was presented. The runner-up team made a study whereby they identified 15 locations in Santurtzi where PVs could potentially be installed. A two to three-page technical analysis was elaborated for each one and a general presentation was made presenting the opportunity to bring PVs on a grand scale to the city. A third group promoted the use of cycling lanes and safer and more sustainable transportation for school children. The fourth group presented an app that helped organizations coordinate the transportation needs of each worker and find synergies to create, for example, carpooling, etc.

This shared Climathon event was deemed of special importance because it opened up the dialogue for future collaboration between the three cities. 

A new project has joined the Smart Cities and Communities Lighthouse projects. We want to welcome RESPONSE which aims to establish a strategic vision for Smart Cities Energy Transition: Climate-neutral cities by 2050. Funded by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme, RESPONSE is a 60-month project.

RESPONSE aims to turn energy sustainability into a do-able vision by solving the energy trilemma (security, equity/affordability, environmental sustainability) at building, block and district levels in smart cities. The project builds upon intelligent integrated and interconnected energy systems coupled with demand-oriented city infrastructures, governance models and services that foster energy sustainability.

RESPONSE supports the lighthouse cities of Dijon (FR) and Turku (FI) and their Fellow cities Brussels (BE), Zaragoza (ES), Botosani (RO), Ptolemaida (GR), Gabrovo (BU) and Severodonetsk (UA) to facilitate them deliver positive energy blocks and districts. It attracts the interest of various stakeholders by generating innovative business models enabling the upscale and replication of the solutions forming a validated roadmap for sustainable cities across Europe and beyond. The overall focus of the project is to create resilient and safe cities whilst increasing the quality of life and lowering the impacts of climate change. 

The consortium of RESPONSE is led by European Institute for Energy Research (EIFER) Germany, being technically supported by Centre for Research and Technology Hellas, CERTH, Greece, and comprises a total of 53 partners.

Like many other cities in Europe, Písek has had to rethink how to organize meetings and spaces for collaboration during the times of COVID-19. One of the affected events is the Bold City Vision programme organised by our +CityxChange partner Smart Písek. The programme intended to kick off in the municipal schools in early 2021, piloting The UN Sustainable Development Goals  -related activities for high-schools. Thanks to the resourcefulness of Písek, the programme will now go online as a part of the Urbania exhibition. 

Running from December 2020 to late March 2021, eight original multimedia installations offer visitors the opportunity to become the administrator of an imaginary, and yet familiar, Living City. Through the interactive installations, visitors can explore and utilize eight different principles on which organic and sustainable urban governance is based. Originally exhibited in Prague in the beginning of 2020, Sladovna Písek, in cooperation with Smart Písek, has now tailored the exhibition for the specific context of the city of Písek.

More information (in Czech) of the exhibition can be found here.