Explore, Shape & Deal: Joint SCIS & EIP-SCC Newsletter

Explore, Shape & Deal

Joint SCIS & EIP-SCC Newsletter

September 2019

Here it is! The second SCIS & EIP-SCC Explore, Shape & Deal newsletter. With this newsletter, we  give you an excellent overview of what is happening in the Smart City scene and some real life stories about living in Smart City Kerava in Finland (MAtchUP), an interview with Julia Egenolf from GrowSmarter’s Lighthouse City Cologne and tell you the tale of R2Cities. Interested in finding out more? Well, just scroll down.

It’s September, so we say good-bye to the summer leisures and are now concentrating full force on final preparations for Nordic Edge (24-26 September) in Stavanger. There are also ongoing preparations for the Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona (19-21 November) including our joint stand, workshops and agora sessions. In addition,  there is the SCC1 projects meeting in October in Lyon. So there are plenty of possibilities for you to engage with us – and for us to engage with you. We are looking forward!

The SCIS & EIP-SCC Team

Travel, Share & Learn: MAtchup on the Red Carpet

Summer time is over and although this usually means that travel time is also over, we look forward to present to you the latest addition to our SCIS video series "Travel, Share & Learn"! Our video this month is featuring MAtchUP project, one of the "younger" Smart Cities and Communities Lighthouse projects. Our Storyteller Arthur Lankester went to Kerava in Finland to interview the local MAtchUP partners there.

Explore: Nordic Edge – The European Commission Puts Climate Neutral and Smart Cities on the Agenda at the Nordic Edge

The European Commission puts the Horizon Europe mission on climate neutral and smart cities at the heart of the agenda at the Nordic Edge Expo, the largest smart city event in the Nordics (Stavanger, Norway, 24-26 September).

On 24 September, the European Commission brings together key players like the European Innovation Partnership on Smart Cities and Communities (EIP-SCC), the Smart Cities Information System (SCIS) and European networks like EUROCITIES and Open & Agile Smart Cities (OASC) as well as actors from across the continent, in the workshop “On a Mission for the European Cities of the Future - Achievements, Challenges, Opportunities” to discuss the Horizon Europe mission on carbon neutral and smart cities. From 13.30 – 17.30,  the two new H2020 funded smart city projects will be introduced to the public (Part 1: Meet the New Lighthouse Cities), the Triangulum Journey – Six cities and their ripple effects (Part 2) will be presented and a stakeholder debate discussing Horizon Europe - A Mission to Deliver the Cities of the Future (Part 3) will be in the focus. Further information.

In addition, European Commission officials will attend the international conference "Energising Cities" of the Horizon 2020 Lighthouse project Triangulum (23 September, on-site registrations possible) and intervene in the opening plenary of the Nordic Edge Expo (24 September). Further information

“Two thirds of Europe’s population live in urban areas and would immediately benefit from a more coherent and integrated approach to the grand challenges such as climate change. And while progress in cutting CO2 emissions and the delivery of core solutions is encouraging, far more needs to be done! This is why the European Commission launches the mission on “Climate-Neutral & Smart Cities.” says Haitze Siemers, Head of Unit in DG Energy who is due to hold a keynote speech at Nordic Edge Expos main stage. Further information

Action Cluster Initiatives Workshop 25 September

On the following day (25 September 08:30 – 14.45), the six EIP-SCC Action Cluster Initiatives will hold a workshop. This workshop continues the process of strengthening each initiative; tightening the connections between these interdependent initiatives; mobilising cities, industry, investors, and scientific organisations to commit to make things real in the market.

The workshop will be very hands on. After a brief orientation, each Action Cluster & Initiative will focus on action – to refresh their 100-day / 6-9 months plans towards agreed long-term targets; consider routes to funding; and identify key inter-connections and challenges. Then, interdependencies and synergies between initiatives will be explored. All to support broader and faster deployment of a coherent set of initiatives that can help European Cities deliver better societal outcomes.

We look forward to welcoming you to the Action Cluster Initiatives workshop being held in Stavanger on Wednesday 25th September, and the subsequent digital dissemination round table.

For those that plan to participate in the workshop:

Please register here: http://www.eiseverywhere.com/eip-nordicedge  (Please note that there is a limited number of free tickets to attend all 3 days of Nordic Edge, which will be distributed based on availability to only the Action Cluster and Initiative Leads – the SCIS team will contact those eligible after you have completed your registration.)

Please familiarise yourself with the briefing slides here, for which an A3 copy will be available for each AC discussion. And you may wish to remind yourself of the various documents that are referenced in the slides (e.g. 2018 Towards Paper; May 2019 GA report; EIP Initiative State-of-Play) – all of which have been made available to you.

REGISTER HERE FOR THE ACTION CLUSTER INITIATIVES WORKSHOP – TO ACTION!

SCIS Stories: GrowSmarter - Combatting CO2 in Cologne, Interview with Julia Egenolf

As the effects of climate change are being felt around the globe, the European Horizon 2020 programme seeks to mitigate the damage we have done to our environment. Through innovative ways that reduce CO2 emissions and end the relationship with fossil fuels, projects that meet the criteria of the programme are on the rise all across Europe. German city Cologne has also taken up the challenge as one of the three Lighthouse Cities of the GrowSmarter initiative. In common with other Horizon 2020 projects, Cologne has committed itself to 12 solutions in GrowSmarter’s three areas of impact.

More Stories: A Tale of R2Cities

“When the R2Cities project was close to finalisation, we were making a video of the retrofitted districts and an elderly woman approached me,” remembers Cecilia Sanz Montalvillo, R2Cities project coordinator and energy researcher at CARTIF, “and told me how much more comfortable her home was now than it had been in the previous years. Her comfort can’t be put into numbers, but it’s the most important thing for her.”

Cecilia Sanz Montalvillo is a Senior Researcher in the Energy Division at CARTIF Technological Centre, Spain. She was the Project Coordinator of R2CITIES (FP7) and is currently coordinating the Horizon2020 Smart Cities and Communites project MAKING-CITY – she was interviewed by Anthony Colclough, EUROCITIES.

Explore: Kozani Conference and SCIS Roadshow

Do you remember our SCIS Smart City Roadshow Competition? We are now holding our first Roadshow in Kozani as part of their 1st international Balkan Clean Energy Transition Conference and Fair. There will be a presentation by Nikolaos Kontinakis, Senior Projects Coordinator at EUROCITIES and part of the Smart Cities Information System (SCIS), talking about good practices regarding the clean energy transition.

The Balkan Clean Energy Transition is expected to be a bi-annual event, during which new international Clean Energy initiatives, challenges and solutions will be presented. For this time, the 2019 Balkan Clean Energy Transition Event will be under the auspices of the Technical Chamber of Greece (TEE), the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), with the support of the EU Smart Cities Information System (SCIS) and the European Chemical Industry Council (CEFIC). Inspired by best practices around the world, Balkan Clean Energy Transition will attempt to create unique experiences and valuable spaces for interaction, whilst maintaining the opportunity to maximise floor space and visibility for exhibitors – both large and small in the whole Balkan area.

Balkan Clean Energy Transition Conference is a three-day event (19 - 21 September) covering Clean Energy topics such as renewables, energy efficiency, smart cities, circular economy, mobility, governance and citizen engagement, all of them leading the Balkan area throughout the coal transition.

Applying the OECD Principles on Water Governance to Floods

Flooding is the most common of all natural disasters, and there is growing consensus that the frequency and number of people at risk from floods will increase. Global megatrends, including climate change, population growth and urbanisation profoundly exacerbate the frequency, intensity and impact of flooding. In 2016, 23.5 million people were displaced because of weather-related disasters, of which the majority were associated with floods or storms. In between 1998 and 2017, floods accounted for close to one-quarter of global economic losses due to natural disasters.

Air Pollution Mitigated and Reduced with Context Broker

Air pollution is a major problem for public health in urban environments. Many European cities are confronted with increasing air pollution and associated health problems. Barcelona, the second most populous city of Spain, is one of them.

Despite negative effects on human health, the economy, and the environment, traditional Air Quality Monitoring (AQM) stations in cities are limited to space due to high capital and operative expenditures. This allows cities to install a small number of them. This is also the case of the city of Barcelona, in which, only 12 monitoring AQM stations are installed. These monitoring stations provide very accurate data but only for specific points and these few points do not provide the real and complete picture of pollution behaviour.

Foresight Workshop: A Research & Innovation Agenda fo EU-China Cooperation on Sustainable Urbanisation 2019-2029

The URBAN-EU-CHINA Innovation Platform on Sustainable Urbanisation invites you to join the EU-China Foresight Workshop on Sustainable Urbanisation. This workshop is the fifth in a series of Foresight Workshops organized by UEC, for urban stakeholders to discuss urban trends, challenges and visions and identify what EU and China could achieve by cooperating on sustainable urbanization. For the fifth Foresight Workshop, we are particularly aiming to discuss EU-China cooperation with staff of the various DGs and cabinets of the European Commission, as well as members of our cooperation networks, the European Innovation Partnership on Smart Cities and Communities (EIP-SCC) and Joint Programming Initiative Urban Europe (JPI UE). During the 16 September Foresight Workshop, the URBAN-EUCHINA report on EU-China R&I Agenda for 2019-2027 will serve to frame the discussion and will include the workshop’s relevant results. Building upon the results of the BOHEMIA study, the workshop participants will discuss time of realization of expected urban social, economic, technological, environmental changes and identify those more relevant for future EU-China R&I cooperation. The workshop will engage the participants in creative and inspirational conversation leading to wiser and more collectively informed proposals. The participants will work in small, interactive groups where each of them will be asked to speak out and share their knowledge with the others.

Smart Services to Make a Smart City

In 2010,  Tinus Kanters, responsible for code enforcement at public events in the Municipality of Eindhoven, attended an interactive event called the ‘STRP Art & Technology Festival’. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and Near-Field Communication (NFC) technologies allowed visitors to get involved and do things such as provide feedback on artwork via touch screens. Inspired by the festival and talks of the new wave of technology we now call the Internet of Things (IoT), Tinus Kanters came up with the idea that such devices could also be applied in the context of managing a city. He developed this thought further, and so the Municipality of Eindhoven and the Dutch Institute for Technology, Safety and Security (DITSS) launched the Living Lab Stratumseind 2.0’ project in 2012. Living lab is an innovation and research concept where ideas are sourced and co-developed in an open community and tested in real life. This gives everyone, including citizens, a unique opportunity to get involved and have a say.

Smart City Training Course in Germany

In cooperation with BABLE Smart Cities, TÜV SÜD Academy will be offering Germany's first Smart City training course starting in autumn 2019. Successful participants will receive compact training to become "Smart City Specialists" in two days.

During the two-day training, participants will gain an overview of the possibilities and current developments in the planning and implementation of innovative, sustainable and digital city models based on examples and experiences from pilot cities and projects worldwide. Using various instruments and models, the participants receive suggestions for the development of integrated solutions and the creation of Smart City Roadmaps and strategies. In addition, the training offers space for exchange of experience and discussion with experts who accompany, advise and support the topic of Smart City globally.

On 17-18 September 2019, the pilot event "Smart City - Basic Knowledge for Digital and Sustainable Urban Development" will take place as part of the Smart City Solutions trade fair at the Stuttgart Exhibition Centre.

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