UIA Knowledge Lab

Final journal of the UIA project “E-Co-Housing”

Moving into E-Co-housing! The first experiences in community living and housing

On 25.10.2023, the newly refurbished house in Mexikói út 11/B in Budapest's district Zugló was handed over to its 40 new residents within the framewor...

Improving social housing in Zugló: Not just the hardware, also the software!

The mentoring programme for social housing tenants E-Co-Housing is about refurbishing an old building into an environmental-friendly, smart and inn...

Not a worm this time: a virus and the wood sector

How can a global sanitary crisis affect a single construction project in Budapest? A taste of the housing crisis in 2021 in Budapest: “The renta...

E-Co-Housing Journal 1: More than a house

UIA Expert Annette Kuhk “elaborates on the ambitions of the E-Co-Housing project, with a zoom-in on the specific location (Gizella út), the programme ...

Last UIA Antwerp Circular South Journal: Circularity as a new framework for cities

This last journal of the UIA Antwerp Circular South project accounts for the evolution of the project after UIA funding was stopped. It details the di...

Making the most of solar energy in the new residential area of Antwerp Circular South (3rd Zoom-In)

This Zoom-In presents the different features of the solar energy system in Antwerp Circular South as well as the challenges it has faced due to the cu...

Antwerp Circular South Journal 5: Last Mile and Wrapping Up

“The Antwerp Circular South project is entering its final stage in strange times. As the rest of society, it has been affected by the current Covid-19...

Antwerp Circular South Journal 4: Well into the project, but far enough?

UIA Expert Marcelline Bonneau reveals that “some specific aspects are becoming more prominent now: showing the added value to both residents and owner...

Antwerp Circular South Zoom-In 2: “What if you could see how much energy you consume at home and that you could change it?”

UIA Expert Marcelline Bonneau reveals how “the Circular South Project started with their “nudging experiments” to test innovative ways of supporting c...

Antwerp Circular South Journal 3: Half-Way Through State Of The Art

In her latest Journal, UIA Expert Marcelline Bonneau reports that “almost everything is ready, and the experimentation can start. It is finally becomi...

Antwerp Circular South UIA Expert Journal – changing consumption behaviours for a more circular economy

UIA Expert, Marcelline Bonneau, gives a first look on how the project is being implemented ...

Antwerp Circular South Journal 2: Moving towards direct implementation

Antwerp Circular South has begun unfolding. ...

The difficult transition for consumers towards more sustainable practices

Read the opinion of Marcelline Bonneau, UIA expert for the Antwerp Circular South project, on supporting sustainable consumption practices....

Antwerp Circular South Zoom-In: CIRCUIT in the focus

UIA Expert Marcelline Bonneau presents the first steps of CIRCUIT – the Circular South Community Centre. As she explains, “the Antwerp Circular South ...

CoRDEES Journal 1: Hear from the project’s UIA Expert how it is implementing its bold solution

Get to know better what Paris is doing on energy transition in this UIA Expert journal. ...

Implementing the CoRDEES project in Paris: Get an update on the activities carried out in the second UIA Expert journal

UIA Expert Juan de las Cuevas has been collecting the knowledge stemming from the implementation of the innovative solution proposed by the City of Pa...

CORDEES Journal 3: Update on the project progress

Get the latest news about Paris’ innovative action...

CoRDEES Zoom-In: Video sheds light on the project

UIA Expert Juan Ramon de las Cuevas and the CoRDEES team have produced a video to explain the main elements of this Energy transition project. ...

FED Journal 6: A view on the functioning FED system

UIA Expert Zeno Winkels provides insights on the legacy of the FED project one year after its successful end. As he mentions: “The main legacy of the ...

FED Journal 5: End of the project

UIA Expert Zeno Winkels describes how “at the Chalmers campus in Gothenburg, the 6500 kW steam boiler was installed, as well as the more novel PCM (Ph...

Market design for local energy systems of the future

On the last day of October 2019, the Fossil-free Energy Districts (FED) project will be completed. The collaboration has, during three years, designed...

FED Journal 1: Hear from the project’s UIA Expert how it is implementing its bold solution

Get to know better what Gothenburg is doing on the topic energy transition in this UIA Expert journal....

Implementing the FED project in Gothenburg: Get an update on the activities carried out in the second UIA Expert journal

UIA Expert Zeno Winkels has been collecting the knowledge stemming from the implementation of the innovative solution proposed by the City of Gothenbu...

FED Journal 3: Tackling silo-thinking

Check out how Gothenburg is implementing effective cross departmental working....

FED Zoom-In: Video sheds light on the project

The UIA Expert Zeno Winkels has produced a video to discuss what UIA is and explain the main elements of this Energy transition project....

FED Journal 4: The FED system becomes operational

Gothenburg is heading towards a successful closure. ...

INNOAIR Final Journal

INNOAIR Journal 3: Launching and scaling-up the green mobility services

This report provides an overview of the 2023 activities for the INNOAIR project, spearheaded by Sofia, Bulgaria, and supported by the Urban Innovative...

INNOAIR Journal 2: Putting the green mobility options on the road

This journal summarizes the progress of activities of the project INNOAIR implemented by the city of Sofia, Bulgaria, with the support of the Urban In...

INNOAIR Journal 1: Towards on-demand green mobility

This journal summarizes the progress of activities of the project INNOAIR implemented by the city of Sofia, Bulgaria, with the support of the Urban In...

The quays are prepared for nature to take over - Journal 4

Breda's GreenQuays project served as a pioneering initiative to infuse more nature into the densely built medieval city centre by revitalising the riv...

Green Quays from a citizen perspective

Green Quays offers valuable lessons for harmonising urban developments with the desires and needs of their citizens. It has been a radically innovativ...

"You have to take risks to advance - also as a politician."

It is done! September 2023 – the GreenQuays have been built. In the middle of Breda, a new stretch of the river Mark has been uncovered and a new type...

The GreenQuays project on its last mile - Journal 3

The third Journal of GreenQuays explores how the project continues to deal with seven general implementation challenges of innovative project as well ...

Volunteers play an important role in GreenQuays’ biodiversity monitoring

The main innovative feature of the GreenQuays in Breda is to build them nature-inclusive. For achieving this, the construction will lay the foundation...

Bringing to life Breda’s nature-inclusive quays

This Zoom in 2 looks into the experience, challenges and lessons learned with developing the multifunctional design and the implementation. Can it be ...

Ideas from the GreenQuays project start stretching beyond the initial plans

While most of the innovative tasks of planning the quays and testing different technical solutions have finished, GreenQuays is still running with the...

Finally digging of the GreenQuays starts

After 2,5 years of preparation the construction of the GreenQuays has started end of June 2022. A first stretch of the covered river Mark in Breda‘s c...

City safari and Map of opportunities – testing new co-creation forms in Breda

Breda is on the way to re-open its first pilot section of the broader river Mark projects, in which the city will bring back the old river Mark in the...

Making Breda’s nature-inclusive quays also climate-responsive

GreenQuays will be a first stretch of the reopened River Mark project in the city centre. The project will enable nature to take the space despite t...

GreenQuays Journal 2: Progress on tackling the major implementation challenges

The second Journal of GreenQuays explores how the project continues to deal with the seven major implementation challenges of innovative projects....

Making trees and wall plants thrive at steep quay walls

Building nature-inclusive quays is the task of the GreenQuays project and, at the same time, its challenge. How can nature be offered space in a dense...

Finding the right design for nature-inclusive quays

The mindset on designing and using public urban space has changed in Breda in the 1990’s. Earlier, the city had decided to cover completely the origin...

The brickwork story behind GreenQuays

Nature-Inclusive Quays (NIQ) are the core of innovative solutions of the GreenQuays project in Breda. The vertical quay walls of the reopened river Ma...

GreenQuays Journal 1: the seven major implementation challenges

The first Journal of GreenQuays explores how the project deals with seven major implementation challenges of innovative projects....

An innovative partnership for innovative GreenQuays in Breda

Coming to the GreenQuays project team in Breda for the first time in June 2020, I have been hooked by the creative design of the planned nature-inclus...

Enabling nature to take over – green quay walls in Breda

Breda is a lovely city. The dense middle-age centre has many small streets and places to stroll around. This density does, however, leave only little ...

PUJ Prato Urban Jungle Journal N°4

The Prato Urban Jungle project has come to an end! It has been a very long journey, the project has overcome a series of challenges (from a pandemic...

Citizens’ participation and co-creation experiences in environmental issues 

Over the past years an increasing attention towards environmental justice is gaining more public attention through media, activism and civic participa...

Prato Urban Jungle - Journal #3

The PUJ project has continued experimenting and testing nature-based solution to create urban jungles and forests in Prato! ...

Prato Urban Jungle a case study for Integrated Territorial Development

The PUJ project in Prato has been selected as one of the twelve good practice cities within the study on Integrated Territorial Development (ITD) as p...

Upscaling the PUJ project through the Cities Mission 

Recently the City of Prato was recognised under the EU Mission for Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities, which offers a great potential towards the upscal...

The Via Turchia social housing Jungle! 

The Prato Urban Jungle project tested nature based solutions (NBS) in different pilot sites of the city in order to carry out innovative strategies to...

The Estra headquarter building Urban Jungle! 

The Prato Urban Jungle project tested nature based solutions (NBS) in different pilot sites of the city in order to carry out innovative strategies to...

The Macrolotto Zero Urban Jungle!

The Prato Urban Jungle project tested nature based solutions (NBS) in different pilot sites of the city in order to carry out innovative strategies to...

Create your own Jungle! 

Within the Prato Urbact Jungle project, Legambiente developed the "Create Your Own Jungle" course, where during the classes, participants learnt how t...

Green is health

The green interventions at “Nuovo Ospedale Santo Stefano'' of Prato will create a new urban park within the city bridging the gap between health and b...

Urban Jungle: Prato truly means it

Legambiente is a non-profit association, made up of citizens who care about the protection of the environment in all its forms, the quality of life an...

Prato Forest City: a tree for every citizen

Prato Forest City is the new strategic approach to urban planning, developed by the Municipality of Prato....

Prato rewards sustainable behaviours

greenApes is a digital platform that engages and rewards actions and sustainable lifestyles: users accumulate reward points through their sustainable ...

PUJ - Journal 2: Prato Urban Jungle implementations

Impacts of urban forestry: innovative, socio-ecological and economic added values - ZOOM-IN

PUJ - Journal 1: Project activities development

UIA Expert Daniela Patti focuses her first journal on presenting the main objectives of the Prato Urban Jungle project, the pilot sites, the consortiu...

Prato Turns Green - From the master plan approval to the creation of urban jungles

Prato Urban Jungle – PUJ – project will renew its city districts with greater social, productive and environmental dimensions turning itself into an u...

How urbanism can contribute tackling summer energy poverty in cities

Europe is the fastest-warming continent in the world, and climate risks threaten people’s health and several aspects of their well-being. According to...

The complexity of energy renovation at the domestic level in Spain.

The European Renovation Wave initiative is a crucial response to the pressing issue of energy poverty. The initiative is built upon the national long-...

Journal 3: Energy Poverty Intelligence Unit (EPIU)

This is the third journal of the Energy Poverty Intelligence Unit (EPIU) project since its start in September 2019. EPIU, led by Municipality of Getaf...

The use of AI and data protection in innovation projects at local level: the case of EPIU intelligence unit

Domestic energy consumption data is considered personal data, at least as per the Spanish Supreme court declared in 2019 (STS 2484/2019). In the proje...

Innovation on public procurement at local level

Public procurement refers to the process by which public sector organizations acquire goods, services, or construction projects from external supplier...

Tailor-made solutions to tackle energy poverty through household renovation: the case of EPIU

Building capacity through multiplier agents to maximize impact

Consolidating the demand of a new public service is one of the challenges that urban authorities face when they innovate and design new services. One ...

Making the Transition Affordable for all UIA report: EPIU as a case study

There is a pressing need to identify effective policy solutions to inspire locally driven low-carbon transitions in EU cities. UIA has led a two-year ...

How project synergies bring new opportunities: the example of EPIU

Synergies between projects can generate a wide range of opportunities for municipalities. For example, the ability to share knowledge and best practic...

The relevance of the ecosystems around an UIA project: the case of EPIU in Getafe

In scientific terms, an ecosystem is a geographic area where plants, animals, and other organisms, as well as weather or landscape, work together to f...

The Healthy Households’ Office service (OHS) in Getafe, ready to face the high energy prices

Energy prices are at record highs and remain volatile in Europe. Situations of energy poverty are exacerbating and families in Europe are struggling t...

Journal 2: Energy Poverty Intelligence Unit (EPIU)

This is the second journal of the Energy Poverty Intelligence Unit (EPIU) project since its start in September 2019. EPIU led by Municipality of Getaf...

Start-ups’ business models as inspiration for local innovations: the case of EPIU

At corporate level, a business model is a strategy for operating a business. It describes how a company will generate value for its customers. Althoug...

Interview with Sara Hernández, mayor of Getafe

In this article, UIA Expert Marta Garcia interviews the mayor of Getafe, Sara Hernández, to explore how the municipality is integrating EPIU, the UIA ...

Strategic Committee as a governance tool to ensure a committed leadership: the case of EPIU project

Implementing an Urban Innovation Action implies a degree of risk for local authorities and a committed leadership is a requisite for municipal led inn...

The challenge of identifying hidden energy poverty

Energy poverty is a situation in which households are unable to access essential energy services. With nearly 34 million Europeans unable to afford to...

Journal 1: Energy Poverty Intelligence Unit (EPIU)

This is the first journal of the Energy Poverty Intelligence Unit (EPIU) project since its start on September 2019. EPIU led by Municipaility of Getaf...

Adapting Barcelona to Climate Change: A multi-criteria approach for the selection of schools to be converted to Climate Shelters - Zoom In

This zoom in focuses on a challenging feature of the Barcelona “Climate Shelters” UIA project, namely the methodology and criteria for the selection o...

Electric minibuses offering on-demand and zero-emission public transport options to citizens in Sofia

The INNOAIR Podcast episode #4 is covering the on-demand green public transport service that he Bulgarian capital of Sofia has started to test with a ...

Sofia Coin: Rewarding healthier travel behavior for cleaner air

INNOAIR Podcast Episode #3 presents the concept of Sofia Coin, a smart phone app that rewards its users for walking and cycling instead of driving whi...

Artificial Intelligence: Can smarter transit prevent Sofia from car overkill?

INNOAIR Podcast Episode #2 is covering the opportunities and challenges of using artificial intelligence in managing sustainable on-demand mobility so...

INNOAIR hackathon: How to make urban mobility in Sofia smart and green?

INNOAIR Podcast Episode #1 is reporting on a hackathon aimed at ideas and solutions making Sofia's urban mobility smart and green....

GreenQuays Zoom-in 1: Making Breda’s nature-inclusive quays health-inclusive

The GreenQuays project in Breda aims to develop and establish nature-inclusive quays. Although it was not in focus when developing the project, this Z...

A Junglathon to imagine your urban forest

The City of Prato is experimenting urban forestation strategies through the Prato Urban Jungle (PUJ) project . The project foresees three pilot areas ...