education

A new book for children co-written by a former city Chief Information Officer (CIO) (Jonathan Reichental) aims to inspire the next generation of active citizens and civic leaders. Reichental, who was formerly the CIO for the City of Palo Alto before going on to teach and write the Smart Cities for Dummies book, said he hadn’t previously considered writing for children but when Brett Hoffstadt, the co-author of the book got in touch, “it immediately made sense.”

The programme started in April 2009, in a tower block in the industrial area of Veszprém, a segregated area, considered by many to be a ghetto, without any help. The number of inhabitants was 127 at the time, but now exceeds 200. The aim of the programme is to rehabilitate the building and the community, to manage the debt and to normalise the life of the house. 

The development of The Graphisoft Park took place on the site of the former Óbuda Gas Factory. In the development area, the abandoned brown zone has been completely recultivated. By the new function, the area has been reintegrated into the bloodstream of the capital.

The most important goal of the ScoreWithMe Smart Program is to educate and raise awareness of sustainability among the younger generation. The focus of the program is on the selective collection of waste, with a special emphasis on the collection of used batteries, small accumulators and used mobile phones. The points earned through the collection can be managed by the students in the PontBank in the Financial Compass-BankWithMe program, and they learn about basic banking and financial concepts.

The National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA, India), has undertaken an initiative in partnership with the Bernard van Leer Foundation (BvLF) to build Child Friendly Smart Cities (CFSC) in India within the urban agenda of building smart cities. The goal of this initiative is to mainstream the needs of children in the urban policy and planning framework of Indian cities under key theme areas - public health, safety and security, transport and mobility and living conditions through programme of activities focused on advocacy and interventions in urban areas.

In the spring of 2016, the 48-seat Mesevonat crèche was built in Zugló, at the busy junction of Queen Elisabeth Avenue and Öv Street, with several innovative solutions. The crèche also offers temporary childcare for parents seeking work, as well as many other special services.

Under the BeePathNet project, 5 European cities will learn from the Slovenian capital the holistic approach to urban beekeeping developed and successfully implemented by Llubjana. The project aims to establish and develop sustainable urban beekeeping. 

The Bee Friendly Network was created to serve a more sustainable, liveable urban environment and local development while preserving natural resources and biodiversity. 

Creation of the garden on the roof in the Bremen Volkshochschule developed with the help of local NGO, Gemüsewerft Bremen and local citizens. The initiative involves vegetables and herbs growing, educational workshops on nutrition and urban gardening as well as various social activities. It aims at increasing access to the urban gardening space and increase in ecological awareness of the residents of Bremen.(

The idea of beekeeping originated from AUDI AG, Audi Hungaria's parent company. In 2015, Audi Hungaria was in the midst of implementing its flora and fauna protection plan thus the beekeeping idea was in line with ongoing developments, and quickly taken up by management. 6 bee colonies with 270,000 bees were installed in September 2015. The bees produce 200-240 kilograms of honey each year, which is branded as Audi Hungaria Premium Honey, and gifted to visitors, as well as purchasable in the gift shop.

Community mapping allows citizens to highlight the parts of their environment of interest or concern them.Community maps are built from local knowledge, experience and expertise but they are more than data gathering. The process of discovering the obvious, hidden and potential assets in a community opens possibilities. Mapping is a valuable digital development and empowerment tool.