Tag: Limerick

Launch of a new Smart Cities Marketplace Initiative on Regulatory Frameworks in the Integrated Planning, Policy and Regulation Action Cluster of the Smart Cities Marketplace

Online meeting – 21 October 2020 – 14:00-16:00

Cities need an adequate set of framework conditions in the field of regulations to fulfil their climate and energy ambitions. We, therefore, launch a new initiative on regulatory frameworks, which will be jointly led by NTNU, City of Trondheim and Powel. The Initiative will identify and support concrete changes for the regulatory framework to become an enabler towards climate-neutral cities, rather than a barrier. The enclosed plan sets out our ambitions for the coming years. The Initiative will be based on the experiences of +CityxChange and other SCC01 Lighthouse projects, and further developed together with Smart Cities Marketplace experts and practitioners.

This Smart Cities Marketplace Initiative will support the transition towards climate-neutral cities laid out in the European Green Deal, by helping to develop the regulatory framework conditions required for cities to fulfil their climate and energy ambitions. It aims at providing an overview of the most persistent problems with regulations and proposes changes focused on best practices in cities, industry, research and societal stakeholders that engage in transdisciplinary demonstration and innovation activities. This will be executed in order to deliver results that support the transition towards climate-neutral cities. The Initiative is based on the experiences of +CityxChange and other SCC01 Lighthouse projects.

It will be launched online on 21 October 2020 between 14h-16h. To this launch, we kindly invite experts from European, national and local authorities, industry and social entrepreneurs, financial sector, NGOs, research organisations, academia, and civic organisations. 

During the launch, the Initiative will be briefly presented, followed by a workshop to map priorities, needs and capacities. You are kindly requested to share your reflections on the following questions with us:

• Q1: What are, in your opinion, the most relevant elements in the Initiative?
• Q2: Are any elements missing in the Initiative that should be included?
• Q3: What is your personal capacity and interest to contribute to this Initiative?

Please send your answers at your earliest convenience to Annemie.Wyckmans@ntnu.no, klaus.livik@powel.no, marit.myrstad@trondheim.kommune.no. This information will be used for preparing the event.

Download the Invitation Letter. 

Check out the workshop agenda. 

Limerick City and County Council in collaboration with +CityxChange partners hosted a full engagement week of nine online webinars and workshops from the 14 to the 19 September on the theme of renewable energy. The target for this engagement week was owners and occupiers of buildings in the Georgian neighbourhood of Limerick but also professionals and those with an interest in sustainable development.  One hundred and ninety-five citizens attended and participated in events throughout the week, taking the opportunity to learn about the +CityxChange project and share their vision for a low carbon future for Limerick. Attendees got the opportunity to explore the potential and the challenges of installing renewables and creating positive energy districts in Limerick’s Georgian Quarter.

Feedback from the project partners and attendees overall was very positive. The week raised awareness of the project and generated much interest on social media.  Particular highlights included mapping and auditing events that demonstrated the IES digital model of buildings in Limerick’s Georgian District.  Property owners and occupiers in the demonstration area were able to interact with the digital visualisation of the district and model their own energy usage as well as the potential to install solar renewables on their properties. 

An event, hosted by Gkinetic and the ESB on the proposed tidal river turbine for the river Shannon, generated huge interest.  This event has already led to further engagement at the proposed turbine location with local representatives.

#WeMoveSmart is the new social media campaign launched on occasion of the European Mobility Week (16 – 22 September 2020) by the cities involved in EU-funded smart cities projects. The goal? Inviting citizens to share pictures, videos or short stories on their sustainable way to move around.

City Engage Week will take place from 14-18 September 2020 and is focused on the theme of local renewable energy, culminating on Culture Night where the highlights of the week will be on display. 

Limerick City and County Council wants to hear your opinions and ideas about co-creating a sustainable low carbon future for Limerick City Centre. The outcome of the City Engage week of activities will enable communities to share their vision of Limerick with the Council and project partners so that people can play an active role in determining how their community will develop into the future. 

City Engage – Local Renewable Energy follows on from the hugely successful City Engage – Georgian Limerick Laneways which is working with local businesses and community groups to revitalise some of Limerick Georgian Neighbourhood Laneways. The results of these collaborations are due to be unveiled shortly. The City Engage series is part of +CityxChange.

There is a full calendar of events for City Engage – Local Renewable Energy, where participants can:

• map solar energy potential in the Georgian core 
• build their own energy monitor 
• learn about local energy communities 
• explore the potential of river turbine for a sustainable energy future 

Also included in the programme are events with a broader focus, which ask citizens what kind of city they want to live in over the next 30 years and how to meet the challenges posed by climate change.

All events will take place online or fully Covid compliant, for full details check limerick.ie/CityxChange.

Calendar of Events – City Engage – Local Renewal Energy 

Monday, 14 September:

• Mapping Solar Potential in the Georgian Neighbourhood | 5.30pm to 6.45pm | Register here
• Local Renewable Energy Workshop in the Georgian Neighbourhood | 7pm to 7.45pm | Register here

Tuesday, 15 September:

• Community Auditing of Buildings and Local Renewables in the Georgian Neighbourhood | 5.30pm to 6.45pm | Register here
• Limerick City ‘the local Energy Hub’: local Energy Sharing |7pm to 7.45pm | Register here

Wednesday, 16 September:

• The Limerick We Want to Live in | 6pm to 7.30pm | Register here
• River Energy Potential for Limerick | 7.30pm to 8.30pm | Register here

Thursday, 17 September

• Developing a Bold City Vision | 4.30pm – 6pm | Register here
• Storytelling Event – Energy Communities in Limerick’s Georgian Neighbourhood | 6pm to 7.30pm | Register here

Friday, 18 September:

• Citizen Energy Monitoring Lab | 7pm – 8.30pm | Register here

The Innovation Radar is the European Commission’s data-driven method focused on the identification of high potential innovations and the key innovators behind them in EU-funded Research and Innovation projects. It is based on a methodology developed by the Joint Research Centre. The data gathered by this method is used to categorise EU-funded innovations in terms of market maturity and disruptive potential, based on indicator systems developed by the Joint Research Centre. It supports innovators by suggesting a range of targeted actions to assist them in fulfilling their potential in the market. Based on their maturity level there are four different classifications of Innovation Radar:

(1) Exploring – Innovations actively exploring value creation opportunities;

(2) Tech Ready – Progressing on technology development process (e.g. pilots, prototypes, demonstration)

(3) Business Ready – Putting concrete market-oriented ideas together (e.g. market studies, business plans, end-user engagement)

(4) Market Ready – Outperforming in innovation management and innovation readiness. Considered “Ready for market”

IOTA has been recognised as key innovator in the +CityxChange project to bring Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) innovation in the Energy Trading Marketplace. This innovative solution is being developed within the project’s framework by our consortium partners, IOTA, Powel AS and ABB AS. It has been assessed by the JRC’s Market Creation Potential indicator framework as having a “Noteworthy” level of Market Creation Potential. Only innovations that are showing multiple signals of market creation potential are assigned a value under this indicator system.

Furthermore, our Bold City Vision Framework, developed by Trondheim Commune, has also been recognised as an important innovation across EU programmes in 2019.

Both solutions are in a Business Ready stage. 

As part of +CityxChange project, Limerick city is hoping to create a new community to drive innovation and fight climate change by working towards a positive energy city!

Limerick Mental Health Association is one of five community groups selected for this pilot programme and have partnered with the Hunt Museum and GBM to work on the ‘’Green Museum II’’ collaborative project to re-design and upgrade Jesuit Lane in Limerick City. Limerick’s Community Led Open Innovation Project will focus on the Georgian Neighbourhood and develop solutions for Laneways and Citizen Sensing supports. The Green Museum II project aims at bringing the Museum to the laneway, with CO2 absorbing plants -as a service to the environment.

Using images from the Hunt Museum Collection and the Limerick City Museum, makers from LMHA Women’s and Community Groups will hold workshops with a professional designer to create a recycled metal repoussé trellises to hang in Jesuit Lane. These trellises, interwoven with plants that diminish C02, are aesthetically pleasing and of benefit to the environment. The lane will be maintained by the community, which should reduce anti-social behaviour while encouraging locals and tourists to make use of  the lane.

The Mural Competition Design Brief

‘To create a destination mural as part of the Green Urban Museum (GUM II) laneways project on Jesuit Lane in the heart of Georgian Limerick in the heart of Limerick City.

The mural which will be chosen through an open submission competition process. Artists will be asked to reflect on the significance of Georgian Architecture when designing a mural for a building on Jesuit Lane. Jesuit Lane lies within the heart of Georgian Limerick once a thriving part of the city this mural will be an important element of the overall design for greening & reimagining this urban laneway.

Taking the theme of Evolving Limerick as inspiration, the mural should illustrate the Georgian heritage of the building and complement the overall laneway design. The final mural will be integral to the overall design and act as a welcoming and intriguing focal point to encourage the public to use the laneway and reconnect the people of Limerick to these shared spaces by creating an enjoyable and safe shortcut through the city.

The winning artist will receive a bursary of €500, (to include a contract for mural and one maintenance visit of the mural for a period within 6 months). The chosen artist must be available to complete the mural before Culture Night 18th September 2020.’

Key dates for mural competition:

Submissions open: July 17th, 2020

Deadline for submissions: August 18th

Wall preparations & installation to begin: September 1st, 2020

Launch of mural & GUM II project: Culture Night: Friday, September 18th, 2020

Read the original press release on www.limerick.ie.

Five projects led by community leaders have been selected by Limerick City and County Council as part of a programme to re-imagine Limerick’s Georgian Laneways. As part of Limerick City and County Council’s EU project +CityxChange (Positive City Exchange) we are hoping to create a new community to drive innovation and fight climate change by working towards a positive energy city!