open menu

Keep you up to date!
Register now or Login

EN | ES | SE | TR

Towards a systemic approach for smart cities: major works ahead as CITyFiED changes gear

A lively and productive working environment was the signature for the second CITyFiED project meeting held in Izmir and Soma, Turkey, 24-26 March

The project consortium went straight to business, with a first day dedicated to key project issues and progress – but not before some words of welcome from our generous hosts.

Muzaffer Tunçağ of İzmir Metropolitan Municipality and Yılmaz Gençoğlu from Manisa Metropolitan Municipality outlined how the project mirrors and enhances their respective strong drive towards smarter, healthier cities for all – from traffic management to energy efficiency. They also underlined the historical and topical significance of the venue – a gas works that brought light to the homes and streets of Izmir and an innovation hub of its time, when built in the 1860s. Today, it was our turn to reinvent the energy of our homes and cities.

Definitely of our time was the consortium discussion on smart monitoring and management systems, lead by Felix Larrinaga of Mondragon. The team was able to draw on fresh insight generated by tests on early prototypes or mock-ups that recently served as testing elements at Laguna de Duero (Spain) in late February – essential to the deployment of a methodology in the rest of the demonstration sites in Sweden and Turkey. Several residents and CITyFiED consortium members participated in the test to measure user acceptance of the technological and non-technological solutions devised as tools to reduce energy consumption. The Work Package 4 team also took the opportunity to discuss in detail the broader monitoring of environmental, technological, economical and social indicators that makes CITyFiED a truly holistic endeavor as well as finding the right cloud-based solutions to aggregate real-time data sets from multiple locations.

Further break out session topics gave some precious face-to-face time to exchange on the replication model and methodology at the very heart of the project.

Jeanette Green and the team at IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute had been working hard along with Work Package 1 partners in advance of the meeting to define the replication model. This represents a framework for assessing and putting into motion the process of district renovation. The model examines technical and non-technical barriers and an energy analysis before examining a range of appropriate business models in order to define the most effective path to replicating CITyFiED energy impacts and results.

If the replication model represents the starting point for feasible success, Elena Mendéz Bértolo of Acciona and the consortium team are working on a strategic and integrated methodology on how to arrive at the final goal. Development of innovative and cost effective methodology and procedures for planning, deploying and replicating energy efficient district retrofitting actions are being structured around key themes and steps. These include the environment and resources; governance; social well-being; economy and innovation; and the built environment.

The development of the replication model and methodology are pillars of the project and the initial work was shared with a group of 19 city representatives at a special workshop held the next day for members of the City Cluster and the Community of Interest.

13th April 2015