Periodic Reporting for period 2 - DivAirCity (The power of diversity and social inclusion as a mean for reducing air pollution and achieving green urban nexus in climate neutral cities)
Berichtszeitraum: 2023-03-01 bis 2024-08-31
The aim of DivAirCity is to address the equation of social inequality, health conditions and air pollution in cities within the scope of the Sustainable Development Goals, valuing diversity and social inclusion to achieve innovative, creative, culture- driven, green and carbon neutral urban society. It involves 24 EU organisations and 68 external stakeholders from all five continents and creates replicable pilots starting from 5 EU cities: Aarhus (DK), Bucharest (RO), Castellon (ES), Orvieto (IT), Potsdam (D).
The main objectives that DivAirCity intends to accomplish are:
• To shift the urban paradigm by valuing human diversity as a resource to define new services/models towards cultural-driven green cities.
• To strengthen the nexus between people, places, peace, economic growth, and its impact on air quality and decarbonisation.
• To empower 6+1 protected categories when it comes to NBS, air pollution and climate challenges.
• To renaturalise cities by making them more sustainable and citizen friendly.
These objectives are to be met by:
• Inclusive participatory activities and co-design interventions in each city.
• An equal representation of data.
• Business models and smart city climate contracts.
• Wide media dissemination campaigns
• Twinning mechanisms to replicate the activities carried out by DivAirCity.
The main objectives that DivAirCity intends to accomplish are:
• To shift the urban paradigm by valuing human diversity as a resource to define new services/models towards cultural-driven green cities.
• To strengthen the nexus between people, places, peace, economic growth, and its impact on air quality and decarbonisation.
• To empower 6+1 protected categories when it comes to NBS, air pollution and climate challenges.
• To renaturalise cities by making them more sustainable and citizen friendly.
These objectives are to be met by:
• Inclusive participatory activities and co-design interventions in each city.
• An equal representation of data.
• Business models and smart city climate contracts.
• Wide media dissemination campaigns
• Twinning mechanisms to replicate the activities carried out by DivAirCity.
During the second reporting period of the project, several activities have been carried out, which can be grouped into five groups:
DivAirCity Pan-European Contest. The Pan-European contest launched in 2023, where 248 youngsters from 13 to 19 years of age participated in the design of the different interventions areas. A National, International, and Audience award was awarded.
• National awards took place in each city, with the winners being: Happy Green Bucharest (RO), My Sustainable City in Minecraft (ES), Green Community (IT) and Community Garden (DE).
• The Audience award category took place in Instagram, were on June 19th, 2023, the project Green Community (IT) won with the majority of likes.
• The International award category took place in Brussels on October 9th, 2023, with the winners from the National Awards participating. With an ex-quo, there were two winners: My Sustainable City in Minecraft (ES) and Green Community (IT)
Temporary and Permanent Living Labs. The temporary intervention has been carried out and the permanent interventions are in process of being finished for the 5 DivAirCity Cities. Activities have been carried out in the temporary interventions to promote and attract citizens to the intervention areas, with the objective of obtaining and understanding their ideas, opinions and needs.
Impact assessment and monitoring of the pilot interventions. Sensors have done the measurements previous to and during the duration of the temporary interventions, and the data has been analysed for this period of time. Health questionnaires have been carried out in the vicinity of the intervention areas and are planned to be done also after the permanent interventions have been finished to understand their effect on the populations health. Heat indicators have been taken into account to understand the effects of heatwaves and heat islands on the population and how the interventions affect the temperatures in the area and its surroundings.
DivAirCity dApp. The beta of the DivAirCity dApp has been launched and can be found in Google Play Store and in the beta testing stage in the iOS Store. The final specifications for the Main Smart City Contract Platform (MSCCP) and Smart Cities Climate Contracts Platforms (SCCCP) were defined. These have been tested using accounts of three actor types: admin, vendor, and citizen.
In parallel, the development of the federated data system will provide information for citizens and stakeholders regarding measurements of air quality in interactive maps, to encourage citizens to select less polluted routes and areas and to increase awareness on decarbonisation.
DivAirCity Twinning Programme. The twinning programme is divided into three sections: People-to-People, City-to-City and Project-to-Project.
-People-to-People programme has been active since the beginning of the project, aiming to empower organisations advocating for social inclusion, in particular within the 6+1 diversity categories, to be part of the urban co-design processes. The activities carried out range from local activities like the creation of the community of practices and local events in each city, to international events such as the pan-European contest.
-City-to-City programme officially launched on May 17th, 2024, in Orvieto (Italy). The programme aims to transfer the project’s innovations to other regions and communities by creating a DivAirCity network. A total of 20 cities from Europe and beyond Europe have been twinned with the five DivAirCity cities. Key activities with the twin cities include: in-person visits with their matched DivAirCity city; monthly online open house events with the objective of exchanging good practices, common issues, and innovative solutions; and our partner EQN meetings, chaired by led by each one of the primary DivAirCity cities who will work alongside their twinned cities about a topic that inspired them and is important and impactful on DivAirCity.
-Project-to-Project programme will launch late September, early October 2024. This programme is designed to foster cooperation among research and innovation projects working in fields closely aligned with DivAirCity’s focus, such as NBS, social inclusion, and co-creation.
DivAirCity Pan-European Contest. The Pan-European contest launched in 2023, where 248 youngsters from 13 to 19 years of age participated in the design of the different interventions areas. A National, International, and Audience award was awarded.
• National awards took place in each city, with the winners being: Happy Green Bucharest (RO), My Sustainable City in Minecraft (ES), Green Community (IT) and Community Garden (DE).
• The Audience award category took place in Instagram, were on June 19th, 2023, the project Green Community (IT) won with the majority of likes.
• The International award category took place in Brussels on October 9th, 2023, with the winners from the National Awards participating. With an ex-quo, there were two winners: My Sustainable City in Minecraft (ES) and Green Community (IT)
Temporary and Permanent Living Labs. The temporary intervention has been carried out and the permanent interventions are in process of being finished for the 5 DivAirCity Cities. Activities have been carried out in the temporary interventions to promote and attract citizens to the intervention areas, with the objective of obtaining and understanding their ideas, opinions and needs.
Impact assessment and monitoring of the pilot interventions. Sensors have done the measurements previous to and during the duration of the temporary interventions, and the data has been analysed for this period of time. Health questionnaires have been carried out in the vicinity of the intervention areas and are planned to be done also after the permanent interventions have been finished to understand their effect on the populations health. Heat indicators have been taken into account to understand the effects of heatwaves and heat islands on the population and how the interventions affect the temperatures in the area and its surroundings.
DivAirCity dApp. The beta of the DivAirCity dApp has been launched and can be found in Google Play Store and in the beta testing stage in the iOS Store. The final specifications for the Main Smart City Contract Platform (MSCCP) and Smart Cities Climate Contracts Platforms (SCCCP) were defined. These have been tested using accounts of three actor types: admin, vendor, and citizen.
In parallel, the development of the federated data system will provide information for citizens and stakeholders regarding measurements of air quality in interactive maps, to encourage citizens to select less polluted routes and areas and to increase awareness on decarbonisation.
DivAirCity Twinning Programme. The twinning programme is divided into three sections: People-to-People, City-to-City and Project-to-Project.
-People-to-People programme has been active since the beginning of the project, aiming to empower organisations advocating for social inclusion, in particular within the 6+1 diversity categories, to be part of the urban co-design processes. The activities carried out range from local activities like the creation of the community of practices and local events in each city, to international events such as the pan-European contest.
-City-to-City programme officially launched on May 17th, 2024, in Orvieto (Italy). The programme aims to transfer the project’s innovations to other regions and communities by creating a DivAirCity network. A total of 20 cities from Europe and beyond Europe have been twinned with the five DivAirCity cities. Key activities with the twin cities include: in-person visits with their matched DivAirCity city; monthly online open house events with the objective of exchanging good practices, common issues, and innovative solutions; and our partner EQN meetings, chaired by led by each one of the primary DivAirCity cities who will work alongside their twinned cities about a topic that inspired them and is important and impactful on DivAirCity.
-Project-to-Project programme will launch late September, early October 2024. This programme is designed to foster cooperation among research and innovation projects working in fields closely aligned with DivAirCity’s focus, such as NBS, social inclusion, and co-creation.
The activities carried out in the previous months and to be carried out in the upcoming months are:
• DivAirCity data and metrics. The methodology for the monitoring data processing services and the baseline analyses has been developed and is the base for the development of the federated data system.
• Co-creation and Urban Living Labs. Temporary interventions of the Living Labs have been carried out and citizen science activities have been conducted previous to the permanent Living Labs. Permanent interventions are in progress.
• Business Models and Smart Contracts. The DivAirCity dApp is on its final stages and its final version will be launched soon. The federated data system will be created where all project information and tools will be shared.
• Monitoring and assessing the impact. Environmental, Social/Health and Economic assessment for the Temporal Living Labs has been documented. A document with an in-depth analysis of the transferability and replicability of urban interventions from the DivAirCity project has been created, serving as a baseline and foundation for the replication strategy, ensuring that the insights and methodologies developed can be effectively adapted and applied in new settings. Data from DivAirCity’s installed sensors can be found in our partners’ Airly website.
• Communication, Dissemination and Twinning. The pan-European contest culminated in a final event in Brussels which all local contest winners participated. The city-to-city twinning programme officially launched in May with the 20 twin cities participating in an hybrid event, and DivAirCity cities together with their twin cities are working together. The project-to-project call will start soon. Recordings of the different intervention areas have been and are being made for the documentary.
• DivAirCity data and metrics. The methodology for the monitoring data processing services and the baseline analyses has been developed and is the base for the development of the federated data system.
• Co-creation and Urban Living Labs. Temporary interventions of the Living Labs have been carried out and citizen science activities have been conducted previous to the permanent Living Labs. Permanent interventions are in progress.
• Business Models and Smart Contracts. The DivAirCity dApp is on its final stages and its final version will be launched soon. The federated data system will be created where all project information and tools will be shared.
• Monitoring and assessing the impact. Environmental, Social/Health and Economic assessment for the Temporal Living Labs has been documented. A document with an in-depth analysis of the transferability and replicability of urban interventions from the DivAirCity project has been created, serving as a baseline and foundation for the replication strategy, ensuring that the insights and methodologies developed can be effectively adapted and applied in new settings. Data from DivAirCity’s installed sensors can be found in our partners’ Airly website.
• Communication, Dissemination and Twinning. The pan-European contest culminated in a final event in Brussels which all local contest winners participated. The city-to-city twinning programme officially launched in May with the 20 twin cities participating in an hybrid event, and DivAirCity cities together with their twin cities are working together. The project-to-project call will start soon. Recordings of the different intervention areas have been and are being made for the documentary.