Over five years ago, we came together to embark on a journey to develop and build Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) in smart sustainable cities and communities.
Coordinated by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), the smart city project involved two Lighthouse Cities, Trondheim (Norway) and Limerick (Ireland), and 5 Follower Cities, Alba Iulia (Romania), Písek (Czech Republic), Sestao (Spain), Smolyan (Bulgaria), and Võru (Estonia), as well as technical partners from around Europe. The long-term goal of +CityxChange was to create sustainable urban ecosystems with zero emissions and achieve 100% renewable energy city-regions by 2050.
During the last years we celebrated countless achievements, the results of a radical, shared commitment to the just energy transition. We engaged with citizens through innovation labs and creative outreach programmes, embedded Bold City Visions in local urban agendas, introduced eMobility as a Service schemes, completed feasibility studies and action plans, spurred regulatory changes, installed a river turbine, launched operational PEDs, developed local flexibility markets—the list goes on. Along the way we also shared meals across the continent, exchanging experiences and lessons learned, and forming lasting friendships.
To celebrate our achievements and share our experiences, we recently held a Final Conference in Trondheim. The enthusiasm and expertise shared during the event were truly remarkable and we are very thankful to be part of such an inspiring community!
Today marks the end of this journey, but of course, our efforts don’t stop here. Our cities continue in their pursuits of climate neutrality and we will each carry forward the knowledge and experiences gained throughout this project.
Before we go, we’d like to leave you with some final resources:
- +CityxChange ‘How to PED’ cookbook, chronicling our experiences and packaging key learnings into a digestible set of ‘recipes’ for creating Positive Energy Districts
- Project website, where you’ll find all our public deliverables and other relevant resources
- YouTube Channel, especially the +CityxChange Chronicles produced for our Final Conference
- Presentation slides from the Final Conference
- And of course, give our ongoing fellow Smart Cities and Communities (SCC1) projects a follow as they continue their own journeys toward climate neutrality, and check out the results of those that have also concluded
Thank you to everyone who made this project happen.
Here’s to a positive future!
