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.
The Intelligent Street Lighting project aimed to look at how to develop a lighting network to produce data for collection and use. It also explored how to share data and make information accessible.
The main objectives for the project were to:
Scotland's first ever Low Emission Zone (LEZ) came into effect in Glasgow city centre on 31 December 2018.
A Low Emission Zone is an area where a person may not drive a vehicle which does not meet a specified emission standard. LEZs are intended to reduce pollution levels and improve air quality in areas where standards are not being met.
Circular Glasgow is an initiative of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce. It is a movement to inspire businesses of all sizes to innovate and become future-proof by adopting circular strategies.
Connecting companies across the city, they help them to open up new revenue streams, increase competitive advantage and realise financial savings using a range of practical initiatives.
Two key initiatives include the Circular Hub and Circle Lab:
Sunderland has won Digital Leaders UK's Smart City of the Year 2020 award.
Gaining recognition on a national scale as the UK’s fastest growing smart city with this eagerly awaited appearance in the DL100’s top spot, illustrates the advanced smart agenda and digital achievements from across Sunderland over the past year.
Outcomes and successes of the Smart City’s implementation to date, include:
Established in 1992 and recognised across Europe and worldwide, the EU Ecolabel is a label of environmental excellence that is awarded to products and services meeting high environmental standards throughout their life-cycle: from raw material extraction, to production, distribution and disposal. The EU Ecolabel promotes the circular economy by encouraging producers to generate less waste and CO2 during the manufacturing process. The EU Ecolabel criteria also encourages companies to develop products that are durable, easy to repair and recycle.
The aim of the Food Smart Cities Program is to build bridges for sustainable and fair food in cities.
A new campaign backed by tourism businesses and local municipalities is aiming to eradicate single-use plastic from coastal areas – starting with the Ayia Napa, Protaras and the wider Famagusta region of Cyprus.
The campaign, “Keep Our Sand and Sea Plastic Free”, highlights the link between single-use plastics – especially from hotels, bars, restaurants and cafes – and beach and marine litter.
Finnish street maintenance technology developer Trombia Technologies has launched what it claims is the world’s first full-power autonomous, electric street sweeper in Helsinki.
The Trombia Free cleaning devices claim to use less than 15 per cent of the power required by currently available heavy suction sweeping technologies. The company is seeking to cut three million CO2 metric tons annually.
This unlocks the potential for mass-electrification and carbon-neutralisation of one of the heaviest vehicle technologies in use in cities globally.
A new type of ticket vending machine was built at one of the bus stops in Cluj-Napoca. Anyone who does 20 squats in one minute can get a valid bus ticket for free.
The squats are monitored by a built-in camera system, and the countdown can be followed on the screen.
The action is part of the “Ticket of Health” campaign, which is backed by a sports festival.