scholarly journals Sustainable Urban Areas for 2030 in a Post-COVID-19 Scenario: Focus on Innovative Research and Funding Frameworks to Boost Transition towards 100 Positive Energy Districts and 100 Climate-Neutral Cities

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 216
Author(s):  
Paola Clerici Maestosi ◽  
Maria Beatrice Andreucci ◽  
Paolo Civiero
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Community Resilience ◽  
Positive Energy ◽  
Innovative Research ◽  
Urban Transition ◽  
Social Innovations ◽  
Key Players ◽  
Funding Opportunities ◽  
Climate Neutrality

Cities generate about 85% of the EU’s GDP. As such, they are key players in shaping and providing technological and social innovations but also environmental impact. Thus, they must urgently engage in unprecedented systemic transformational and bold transitions towards sustainability and climate neutrality. The contribution—taking into account that the concepts of community resilience and urban transition have changed as a consequence of COVID-19—critically discusses innovative frameworks and funding opportunities that Horizon Europe will put in place to boost sustainable urban areas in Europe, driving a transition to 100 Positive Energy Districts and 100 climate-neutral cities by 2030.

scholarly journals A Comprehensive PED-Database for Mapping and Comparing Positive Energy Districts Experiences at European Level

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 427
Author(s):  
Giulia Turci ◽  
Beril Alpagut ◽  
Paolo Civiero ◽  
Michal Kuzmic ◽  
Serena Pagliula ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Planning Process ◽  
Energy System ◽  
Energy Planning ◽  
Positive Energy ◽  
Web Based ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
User Friendly ◽  
Climate Neutrality ◽  
Research Cost

Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) are considered as one of the pioneer strategies to guide cities in their energy planning process towards climate neutrality in an attractive, innovative and human-centered way. The concept of PED is the result of a long co-creation process and integrates several multidimensional features, aiming to promote the sustainable development of urban areas and the transition of cities towards a climate neutral energy system. The paper provides an overview of the first outcomes of WG1 “PED Mapping, Characterization and Learning”, in the research COST Action CA19126 “Positive Energy Districts European Network” (PED-EU-NET). This study describes activities that focus on creating a comprehensive PED-Database by mapping existing concepts, strategies, projects, technological and non-technological solutions related to PEDs in Europe. The main objective of the Database is to support municipalities through the decision-making process by providing strategies for building and running a successful PED that can provide alternatives to consider, and is powered by an interactive web-based map. The design of the Database framework is supported by a step-by-step methodology adopted in the framework of the CA19126 in order to develop the PED-Database as an interactive, updatable and user-friendly tool.

scholarly journals Challenges and Barriers for Net‐Zero/Positive Energy Buildings and Districts—Empirical Evidence from the Smart City Project SPARCS

Buildings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 78
Author(s):  
Daria Uspenskaia ◽  
Karl Specht ◽  
Hendrik Kondziella ◽  
Thomas Bruckner
Keyword(s):  
Smart City ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Smart Cities ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Practical Experience ◽  
Positive Energy ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Net Zero ◽  
Multidimensional Representation

Without decarbonizing cities energy and climate objectives cannot be achieved as cities account for approximately two thirds of energy consumption and emissions. This goal of decarbonizing cities has to be facilitated by promoting net-zero/positive energy buildings and districts and replicating them, driving cities towards sustainability goals. Many projects in smart cities demonstrate novel and groundbreaking low-carbon solutions in demonstration and lighthouse projects. However, as the historical, geographic, political, social and economic context of urban areas vary greatly, it is not always easy to repeat the solution in another city or even district. It is therefore important to look for the opportunities to scale up or repeat successful pilots. The purpose of this paper is to explore common trends in technologies and replication strategies for positive energy buildings or districts in smart city projects, based on the practical experience from a case study in Leipzig—one of the lighthouse cities in the project SPARCS. One of the key findings the paper has proven is the necessity of a profound replication modelling to deepen the understanding of upscaling processes. Three models analyzed in this article are able to provide a multidimensional representation of the solution to be replicated.

The Urban Transition in Sub-Saharan Africa: Challenges and Opportunities

10.1068/c3p ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 466-485 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Kessides
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
National Development ◽  
Favourable Outcome ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Urban Transition ◽  
Energy Needs ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Sub Saharan

In this paper I ask how the ongoing processes of urban and local government development in Sub-Saharan Africa can and should benefit the countries, and what conditions must be met to achieve this favourable outcome. The region faces close to a doubling of the urban population in fifteen years. This urban transition poses an opportunity as well as a management challenge. Urban areas represent underutilised resources that concentrate much of the countries' physical, financial, and intellectual capital. Therefore it is critical to understand how they can better serve the national growth and poverty reduction agendas. The paper challenges several common ‘myths’ that cloud discourse about urban development in Africa. I also take a hard look at what the urban transition can offer national development, and what support cities and local governments require to achieve these results. I argue that, rather than devoting more attention to debating the urban contribution to development in Africa, real energy needs to be spent unblocking it.

scholarly journals Consumption Rates and Use Patterns of Firewood and Charcoal in Urban and Rural Communities in Yedashe Township, Myanmar

Forests ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 429 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zar Win ◽  
Nobuya Mizoue ◽  
Tetsuji Ota ◽  
Tsuyoshi Kajisa ◽  
Shigejiro Yoshida
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
South Asia ◽  
Urban Area ◽  
Rural Area ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Fuel Use ◽  
Urban Households ◽  
Use Patterns ◽  
Consumption Rates

There is concern over the environmental impact of charcoal use for cooking in urban areas; however, studies have mainly been limited to Africa and South Asia. This investigation aimed to evaluate woodfuel consumption rates and patterns in an urban area in Yedashe Township, Myanmar and compared them with results from a rural area in the same township. From interviews with 66 urban households, it was evident that firewood and charcoal consumption rates in the urban area were about one-third and one-fourth, respectively, of those in the rural area. These low consumption rates were because of multiple-fuel use (mainly woodfuel and electricity) in the urban area in contrast to single-fuel use in the rural area. We estimated the forest area required to meet woodfuel demand of the whole township to be 3738 ha; that could decrease by almost 40% (1592 ha) if the single-fuel use in the rural area switched to the multiple-fuel methods used in the urban area. This study confirms that urbanization with an “energy stack” in multiple-fuel use, rather than an “energy ladder” from firewood to charcoal, could largely reduce the environmental impact on forests.

Transdisciplinary Design of Adaptation Pathways in Peri-urban India: Planning for Water Needs in a Sustainable Urban Transition 

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharlene L. Gomes ◽  
Sarah Luft ◽  
Shreya Chakraborty ◽  
Leon M. Hermans ◽  
Carsten Butsch
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
Urban Communities ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Urban Water ◽  
Urban Context ◽  
Urban Transition ◽  
Local Actors ◽  
Context Specific ◽  
Key Steps ◽  
Urban Institutions

<p>This research, conducted within the H2O-T2S project, is located in peri-urban areas of three cities in India: Pune, Hyderabad, Kolkata. Peri-urban areas are where the rural to urban transition is most visible. A key challenge for peri-urban areas is sustainable management of water resources. Peri-urban water resources in India are under threat from growing water demand and ineffective institutions. Interdisciplinary research of existing water-based livelihoods, household water use, and peri-urban institutions in these three regions shows that current urban transformations are unsustainable. Given the dynamic nature of peri-urban contexts, short and long-term vulnerabilities must be considered. An adaptation policy pathways approach can help peri-urban actors develop longer-term transformative plans. This study describes the design and execution of a participatory process to design context-specific pathways with peri-urban communities and governments in India.</p><p>This presentation outlines the key steps in our customized pathways approach for the peri-urban context. Due to the covid-19 pandemic, initial plans to implement these steps through a series of stakeholder workshops were replaced by remote pathways design using the Delphi method. We present a step-by-step methodology to engage peri-urban actors in the design of longer-term adaptive plans for water resources in the future. Results are presented for Hadia village (Kolkata), one of the three peri-urban case studies. It reveals the range of future normative scenarios developed for this village and a pathways schematic towards these scenarios.</p><p>Our results demonstrate the value of engaging local actors in the design of adaptive plans for peri-urban water resources. This study offers insights for ways to conduct transdisciplinary research even when face to face interactions are not feasible.</p>

Environmental Impact of Different Types of Intersections in Urban Areas

2021 ◽  
pp. 374-386
Author(s):  
Ammar Šarić ◽  
Sanjin Albinović ◽  
Anisa Krnjić ◽  
Mirza Pozder ◽  
Suada Sulejmanović ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Different Types

scholarly journals Energy Urbanity and Active Citizen Participation

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (20) ◽  
pp. 6515
Author(s):  
Alan Mee ◽  
Madeleine Lyes ◽  
Philip Crowe
Keyword(s):  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Energy Transition ◽  
Comparative Case Study ◽  
Positive Energy ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
Research And Innovation ◽  
New Energy ◽  
Energy Innovation ◽  
Active Citizen

This paper poses the question: ‘can energy innovation initiatives in Innovation Playgrounds foster a new ‘energy urbanity’ through active citizen participation in the energy transition?’ The concept of ‘Innovation Playgrounds’ and an accompanying Framework are described and linked to implementation evidence of the EU H2020 positive energy research and innovation project +CityxChange, related to emergent active citizen participation in two cities: Limerick, Ireland and Trondheim, Norway. The purpose of the study is to demonstrate that spatially clustered energy innovation initiatives in urban areas involving active citizen participation contribute to a new ‘energy urbanity’ for the energy transition. The research methods are based on a comparative case study approach and close observation of two case sites, with a focus on the ‘Innovation Playground’ area of each city. The article’s three main conclusions are: that a Framework approach to active citizen participation in energy innovation initiatives in urban areas facilitates new models of active citizen and community participation around energy innovation; emergent active citizen participation in energy innovation initiatives in urban areas suggests a new type of engagement that is information-rich, blended, action-led, citizen-focused, and spatial; and that a new paradigm of ‘energy urbanity’ for the energy transition can be proposed.

scholarly journals Community resilience in post-socialist rural areas

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 59-75
Author(s):  
Sándor Papp
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Path Dependence ◽  
Community Resilience ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Resilience Thinking ◽  
Path Dependent ◽  
Wine Region

Resilience thinking has become an increasingly popular topic in both academic and policy-making circles due to its normative interpretation, which assumes that resilience is the opposite of vulnerability. Vulnerable groups, communities, settlements, regions and nations have a greater likelihood of facing more serious consequences in the event of unpredictable, negative shocks. Based on this view, in general, rural communities and regions can be considered more vulnerable and hence less resilient to unknown, negative events, as the subsistence of these communities is more closely linked to their environments rather than to people living in urban areas. This is further exacerbated by the path dependence of having a post-socialist past: the ‘legacy’ of socialism that, in many cases, includes a relatively disadvantageous position, backwardness and intensification of peripheralisation processes. While there is no consensus on the concept of resilience itself, there are several approaches and perspectives related to possibly detecting signs of its existence in rural communities. Our aim to present how the notion of resilience can be operationalised at the farm level in post-socialist contexts based on three different perspectives in order to contribute resilience thinking related to post-socialist discourses. We illustrate how rural community resilience may be conceptualised based on the example of the grape- and wine-producing communities of Soltvadkert, Hungary and the Minis-Maderat wine region, Romania. Based on our qualitative methodological results, it can be stated that the resilience of a community or group, its properties reflecting resilience can be interpreted in several ways, which is partly location-dependent, partly path-dependent, however, it is highly dependent not only on embedded structures but also on activities that are constantly reproduced by community members.

scholarly journals Governance of Social Innovation in Forestry

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 1065 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alice Ludvig ◽  
Todora Rogelja ◽  
Marelli Asamer-Handler ◽  
Gerhard Weiss ◽  
Maria Wilding ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Comparative Research ◽  
Social Innovation ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Forest Sector ◽  
Research Topics ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Social Innovations ◽  
Insight Into

Over the last decade, the term social innovation has received increased attention as a potential solution to address complex global social problems and to add collective values to society. The forest sector has great potential for fostering employment, community development and reducing increased emigration from rural to urban areas. This potential is not always realised, especially in economically weak and remote rural areas. Hence, this paper tackles the question of how social innovations in forestry are able to succeed under adverse circumstances and contribute to respond to some of the before mentioned challenges? To answer this question, we first identified four very different cases across Europe that are compatible with the criteria of social innovation. Proceeding from this starting point, comparative research was undertaken with the aim to identify the cases´ specific features and key criteria for success. In the cases considered, it is evident that the sheer determination and voluntary investment of time and effort by key individuals, who were convinced of the value of the idea for the community, provided indispensable impetus to all four social innovations. In drawing its conclusions, this paper highlights the principal areas that need consideration and that hence have implications when developing supportive policies. Furthermore, we provide some insight into future research topics that would allow us to better understand the positive impacts of social innovation in the forest-based sector.

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