Tag: Families

Creative play: Imagining future Limerick

Posted on August 1, 2023 by - DBEP Learning and Education Portfolio

Organised by the University of Limerick researchers as part of City Engage Week in September 2019, this event targeted families with children between 5 and 10 years old, and aimed to introduce +CityxChange to this young age group. The event took place in Fablab Limerick and brought together a group of children accompanied by their parents/grandparents.

The participants were invited to reimagine the city and co-design potential future smart energy and smart mobility solutions, using different types of materials – from Lego, cardboard and Styrofoam to conductive paint, textiles and electronics. The young participants worked in groups to collaboratively create a model for a green, efficient and people-friendly Limerick. 

The event was advertised widely via printed flyers and social media.

While evaluating the outcomes, we came to the conclusion that the children participating were very young and their attention span was very limited. Play and the natural group dynamic took prevalence in this case. For future events, working with older children (over 10 y.o.) could lead to better results. 

 

Positive Cities and Distribution Grids (PCDG)

Posted on August 31, 2021 by - DBEP Learning and Education Portfolio

The deployment of distributed energy generation technologies, especially solar photovoltaic energy production, has turned regular consumers into active contributors to the local supply of electricity. This development, along with the digitalisation of power distribution grids (smart grids) are setting the scene for a new paradigm: peer-to-peer electricity trading and the emergence of local flexibility markets. Microgrids, small communities or individual buildings can become net positive producers. This has led to the creation of multiple mathematical models and simulation environments to represent the interactions of positive buildings and distribution grids. In this regard, the Positive Cities and Distribution Grids (PCDG) model provides a user-friendly window to analyse the end-user benefits on engaging in peer-to-peer trade, the role of battery storage, allowing to showcase and quantify P2P trade benefits among buildings, and to analyse the overall benefit for the community. NTNU has developed an app that allows the user to analyse one’s district energy trade, as well as investigate the economic benefits of investing in renewable power generation for their own home. To use the app, the users will need some data about the district they live in, specifically the energy demand of each building over a particular time period and the energy price over the respective period. Additionally, the user can specify if any buildings have solar panels or wind turbines installed, as well as the amount of power generated over the particular period. Batteries may also be included in the configuration. The app was launched in November 2020.

+Energy Day

Posted on August 31, 2021 by - DBEP Learning and Education Portfolio

+Energy day was an open air event organised by Võru municipality in the town centre on 22 August 2020. The event revolved around three main themes: what is energy?; how is energy produced and how to save energy. The event included several tents, where the public was able to listen to talks, watch and participate in science and technology demonstrations on energy production and saving, get engaged in pop-up energy playgrounds for families, and participate in public consultations. The event brought together four different project: “+Energy week”, “SaveSmart”, “BioAware” and “CityxChange”, building on the synergies among these. The event lasted for 4 hours and there were about 200 participants.

Citizen Energy Monitoring Lab

Posted on August 31, 2021 by - DBEP Learning and Education Portfolio

Our Spanish partner Colaborativa organised an online workshop during the September 2020 CityEngage Week in Limerick for those interested to learn how to make and use open hardware home energy monitoring devices. The workshop focused on preparing the participants to start measuring energy usage in their own homes, sharing data within their community and experimenting with these devices. The event was also aimed at bringing together members of the public with an interest in potential shared uses of the data generated. The event brought together 25 participants.