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 ...

Final Journal UIA VILAWATT project

The VILAWATT project was implemented to secure a stable energy transition process through the setting of an innovative governance structure (local pub...

Implementing the VILAWATT project in Viladecans: the use of gamification to communicate on complex energy projects

UIA Expert Lucia Fuselli has been collecting the knowledge stemming from the implementation of the innovative solution proposed by the City of Viladec...

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

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

Vilawatt Zoom-In: Exploring the project’s communication and stakeholders engagement strategies

UIA Expert Lucia Fuselli has developed a PPT slide show to discuss how the Vilawatt project in Viladecans has approached communication, stakeholder pa...

Vilawatt Journal 3: New insights on the progress of the project

Stay up-to-date with the latest achievements of Viladecans...

An update on the implementation of the Public Private Citizen Partnership and on the virtual currency

Vilawatt is currently considered to be a Spanish example in social innovation and community energy, at a time when energy poverty and energy access ar...

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. ...

RE/SOURCED - Journal 3

Our third RE/SOURCED Journal, covering Q1 2023 to Q1 2024...

A viable Energy Community at Transfo

Does circularity help to reduce carbon emissions?

This articles considers whether there is a link between circularity and carbon emissions. It also uses the RE/SOURCED project as an exemplar to show ...

Challenges adopting Circularity in Energy projects

RE/SOURCED aimed to construct a DC Smart Grid using circular principles at Transfo, a former coal fired power station site in Belgium. The original pr...

RE/SOURCED: Zoom-In 2

This video presents the second ZOOM-IN article for RE/SOURCED. It summarises the progress made by the project consortium in delivering the RE/Sourced...

RE/SOURCED - The Educational Perspective

RE/SOURCED is defined by a number of innovative but highly technical aspects of the project. This article presents a different perspective - the proj...

RE/SOURCED Journal 2

This article presents the second UIA Journal for Renewable Energy SOlutions for URban communities based on Circular Economy policies and DC backbones...

What are Energy Communities?

Energy Communities have had considerable press coverage recently and RE/SOURCED always had an Energy Community as one of the integral elements of its ...

Tenacity pays dividends for RE/SOURCED - ZOOM IN

This article sets out the regulatory challenges faced by the RE/SOURCED project team and the steps taken to overcome them. It highlights how regulatio...

What is the RE/SOURCED Smart Grid

This article describes the key elements of the RE/SOURCED Smart Grid...

RE/SOURCED Journal 1

UIA RE/SOURCED Journal - 1...

SPIRE Final Journal

Reducing the burden of pollution-related diseases in cities

SPIRE Journal 3: Overcoming the challenges

Following the triple bottom line (TBL), the SPIRE project initially tackles the challenges urban ecosystems suffer at the nexus of the economy-society...

SPIRE Start-Ups Mentoring Programme: building a culture of innovation

How do culture and creativity influence innovation in our cities? What is the role of technical and economic knowledge? Building a culture of innovati...

Transforming Geospatial Information (GIS) into urban knowledge in Baia Mare

Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) are infrastructures to capture, store, manage, analyse, chart, and visualize information, data, and indicators of...

SPIRE Journal 2: The project moves forward

This is the second journal of the Smart Post-Industrial Regenerative Ecosystem (SPIRE) project since its creation on 1st September 2019. The impact of...

What do E-WALLETS have to do with environmental protection?

If we consider money as a social technology, we could agree that it should never be "neutral". Now as the world is immersed in this global pandemic an...

Baia Mare community in action

The ecological transformation and recovery of five contaminated areas in Baia Mare, along with the significant environmental behavioural shift from ci...

Resilient cities after COVID-19: the need for green infrastructure

The impact of the current COVID-19 pandemic and the severe climate trends has shown how visionary the SPIRE project is, reclaiming and enhancing Baia ...

Re-naturing cities through phytoremediation: How Nature Based Solutions can make a difference.

One of the essentials of the SPIRE project that appealed all the parties involved from the beginning, as well as the newcomers, is “the magical” abili...

SPIRE Journal 1: get to know the latest project achievements

This is the first journal of the Smart Post-Industrial Regenerative Ecosystem (SPIRE) since its start on 01/09/2019. SPIRE, led by the Municipality of...

Creating new social and economic value: Restoring the urban ecosystem

This article is the first to review Baia Mare and the SPIRE project (Smart Post-Industrial Regenerative Ecosystem), financed under the 4th call of the...

Urban soil decontamination for citizens’ health

Pollution is one of the most significant environmental challenges worldwide; according to the European Environmental Agency, the management of pollute...

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...

CartujaQanat - Journal 3: A 10°C reduction with ZeroNet energy consumption in open spaces is possible. Sevilla made it.

The Sevilla CartujaQanat program is by design, an ambitious and particularly relevant program for regions facing extreme heat phenomena and for urban ...

Co-management and activation of large urban spaces in the era of climate transformation

This zoom-in article focuses on the New Governance and Social Innovation component of the project Cartuja-Qanat in Sevilla, which aims to propose an i...

CartujaQanat – Recovering the Street Life in a Climate Changing World Journal 2: How is Sevilla moving the needle in the fight to urban climate transformation

Sevilla in Spain, will be the battleground of Europe for extreme urban heat. A pilot space containing an amphitheatre, an underground gallery and open...

The Urban Commons in the era of public health emergencies: How Sevilla and the UIA community is problem-solving for safeguarding public space and public life in the face of increased risk

While images of empty cities made the world-tour and provoked understandable owe, empty and limited public space is in fact an imminent if not ever-pr...

More than sewage and water pipes. How a water company in Spain becomes a driver of urban transformation

The Metropolitan Water Supply and Sanitation Company of Sevilla (EMASESA) is the coordinating Partner in the Urban Innovative Actions Program ‘Cartuja...

Bringing together the key areas of Climate change, Social Innovation and Public Space revitalisation

In this Journal, UIA Expert Kostantina Karydi explores the achievements of the first year of the Sevilla CartujaQanat project across eight selected go...

RESILIO smart Blue-Green roofs: looking into the future

RESILIO was completed in April 2022 and the developed roofs are flourishing. A year and a half later, we explore the legacy the project left behind fo...

Zoom-In article: Are smart blue-green roofs climate-proof themselves?

While RESILIO roofs contribute to climate adaptation (heat, flooding, biodiversity), we need to be sure that the green infrastructure is drought proof...

Journal 3 – Completing and delivering the RESILIO smart blue-green roofs

Finalised roof of the Premselahuis Innovation Lab, used to test alternative design options and evaluate their efficiency. ...

Are Amsterdam’s blue-green roofs good value-for-money for the city? Applying a Total Economic Value framework to urban Nature-based Solutions

Assessing the hydraulic performance of Blue-Green Infrastructure: the case study of Amsterdam's adaptive smart network blue-green roofs

A stepped process to evaluate the true potential of adaptive-blue green roofs for reducing flood risk ...

Engaging citizens in the development of multi-purpose Nature Based Solutions: how the RESILIO blue-green roofs project connects with communities

Why, how and when to engage citizens in the development of NBS? what are the challenges of engagement to be aware off?...

RESILIO's Journal #2: From planning to development

This is the 2nd Journal article describing progress of the RESILIO activities and associated implementation challenges. The purpose is to provide a nu...

Blue-Green roofs as accessible space in a 1.5-meter distance world?

Photo of the De Boel smart blue-green roof at Amsterdam Zuid (photo credits: De Dakdokters)...

RESILIO Journal: developing a network of innovative and smart rooftops in the city of Amsterdam

Through an analysis and contextualization of the 7 implementation challenges, UIA expert Leon Kapetas presents the RESILIO project, which aims to deve...

Smart Blue-Green Roofs of Amsterdam: Why you should be interested and how to get involved in the RESILIO project

RESILIO is the new Climate Adaptation project that takes place in Amsterdam and will install 10,000 m2 of Blue-Green Roofs on social housing complexes...

Creating Healthy Air Quality in Schools

In this zoom-in, the issue of outdoor and indoor air quality in schools is discussed on the occasion of the project GBG_A2CC of the City of Barcelona....

A blueprint of actions at the city scale for a successful adaptation plan to climate change - Recommendations from the Barcelona GBG_AS2C project

This Web article presents a blueprint of actions for cities to draft their own adaptation plan to climate change, also exploiting their local knowledg...

Evaluation - An indispensable component of innovation projects

Evaluation is an indispensable component of any project, especially innovation ones. It provides an understanding of the reliability of the applied me...

Upscaling with a vision - The school yard as a school

In this Web Article, the upscaling plan of the Climate Shelters project of the City of Barcelona is presented. The plan reflects a vision, namely to c...

Journal No. 3 The “final mile” of the Climate Shelters project: communication, evaluation and replication

The Journal (the 3rd for the Climate Shelters project) aims to provide an overview of the progress of the Climate Shelters project, with emphasis give...

Cultivating a School Culture for Climate Action - The Barcelona example

In a world that’s becoming increasingly complex, there is a need to prepare especially young people for a future that will require good knowledge, an ...

Indicators as tools for Adaptation to Climate Change at the city scale - The Climate Shelters project of the City of Barcelona

In this Web Article, the approach of the City of Barcelona towards the development of Performance Indicators as tools for Adaptation to Climate Change...

Changing the lens in urban design to cope with the impacts of climate change to health - The Barcelona approach

Protecting citizens at the neighbourhood scale in the event of heat waves is at the core of the Climate Shelters project of the City of Barcelona. Rea...

Barcelona’s pilot project to beat the heat

It is only 10 am but air temperature in Barcelona is already high; another heat wave has hit the city, causing the further enhancement of the heat isl...

Barcelona: a city in climate action

Image of the Can Fabras school yard following the conversion of the school to Climate Shelter ...

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...

Barcelona’s Climate Shelters project The challenge of communicating unwelcome messages on climate change

To connect with people and communicate climate change effectively, one should convey more than climate facts to people. Instead, there is a need to un...

Science in the City

Image of Barcelona by Kaspars Upmanis on Unsplash...

GBG_AS2C journal: Climate shelters in Barcelona

In this journal, UIA Expert Constantinos Cartalis provides a contextualization of the Climate Shelters project within the policy context of the Europe...

OASIS takes off! - Final Journal

In spring 2023, the OASIS Schoolyard project concluded with its UIA pilot phase of transforming and evaluating the performance of 10 schoolyards. Toda...

How does it feel to be the Director of an OASIS School?

Four School Directors share their experiences of being in charge of a not-so-mainstream schoolyard that introduces a new role of this outdoor space in...

Tips n’ Tricks for a Green and Playful Schoolyard! Join us at the upcoming webinar and learn about the OASIS recommendations.

The City of Paris, in collaboration with the CAUE75 - the consortium partner responsible for the design of the schoolyards’ transformation, has compil...

From co-design to co-implementation of the OASIS Schoolyards

Leveraging on the experience gained by transforming other OASIS Schoolyards this past year, the OASIS partnership decided to explore a different parti...

OASIS Schoolyards Journal 2: Welcoming the newly transformed schoolyards

The OASIS journey: From the co-design process to the final transformation of schoolyards

In her first Zoom-in, Maria Sitzoglou, UIA Expert for the OASIS Schoolyards project, presents the project journey from the co-design phase until the a...

Aiming for Healthier Neighborhoods in your city? The OASIS approach is probably what you have been looking for!

The vision for healthy and cohesive neighborhoods lies at the heart of the OASIS Schoolyards project. As 9 out of 10 schoolyards are now transformed, ...

Back-to-School(yard)! How the OASIS Schoolyards offer a solution to the global dilemma for re-opening schools.

As the end of summer is approaching, governments around the world are seeking ways to safely re-open their schools and welcome their pupils in class. ...

OASIS Expert Journal 1: Get to know the project and what happened in the first 6 months!

In her 1st Journal, Maria Sitzoglou, UIA expert of the OASIS project, discusses all key activities that you need to know about it, what the project is...

Paris is creating an OASIS in the heart of its neighborhoods and why more cities should follow.

Final journal of the UIA project 'Yes, we rent!'

Consolidation of the public-citizens cooperation for the provision of affordable housing

One of the most innovative aspects of the ‘Yes, We Rent!’ project is to coproduce affordable rental housing through a collaboration between the munici...

4 key activities to mobilise empty flats for affordable rental housing - zoom-in °3

Mataro's city council has developed an incentive scheme and untertaken four key activitites to mobilise private empty flats for the affordable rental ...

Mataró concludes its project ‘Yes, we rent!’ – the final event

Yes, we rent! Journal 3: the seven major implementation challenges

Mataró’s Tenants Housing Cooperative for affordable rental housing - zoom-in °2

Mataro's tenants housing cooperative, Bloc Cooperatiu, provides affordable rental housing reactivating private vacant flats. This article describes ho...

Recommendations for the establishment of a new housing cooperative to provide affordable housing in Mataró

The challenge of evaluating an innovative housing project

The city of Mataró has developed an innovative housing project to provide affordable housing in the private rental market. In order to learn from the ...

A day to remember: 18.2.21, Mataro has a new offspring – the tenant housing cooperative BlocCooperatiu!

On 18th of February 2021, the notary LOPEZ & ALBIOL formally approved Mataro’s new tenants housing cooperative ‘BlocCooperatiu’. Dedicated residents o...

‘Yes, We Rent!’ Journal 2: Reactivating the private empty flats has started!

UIA Expert Nils Scheffler updates us how “the acquisition of empty flats as well as the training of troubled adolescents for the renovation of the emp...

A look ahead - What does 2021 bring for the 'Yes, we rent!’ project

COVID-19 and its effects continue to be a reality in Mataró, but also for the project 'Yes, we rent!'. ...

Do not bury your head in the sand - especially despite COVID 19!

Interview with Laura Font Mela, director of Salesians Sant Jordi-PES Mataró, how they have successfully shifted their physical training program for tr...

Mataro Zoom-in 1: Vacant flats for a better future of vulnerable young adults - The ‘Yes, We Rent!’ training programme

Yes, We Rent! – Training vulnerable young adults...

First owner signed contract to bring his flat to the ‘Yes, we rent!’ housing scheme

On 28th of September the time had come. The first owner, Antonio Martínez, signed the contract to make his empty flat available to the 'Yes, we rent!'...

Journal 1 for ‘Yes, We Rent!’: Mataro’s first steps

UIA Expert Nils Scheffler explains that “so far, no serious challenges for the project have arisen. There is a quite strong political and administrati...

Owners, make your empty apartments available!

In order to acquire apartments for the 'Yes, we Rent!' housing scheme, the first information campaign measures were started and first apartments visit...

Mataró has kicked off its project for a larger audience: The Learning event!

Mataró faces the problem of “people without flats and flats without people”....

What is RE/SOURCED?

The RE/SOURCED Project & TRANSFO...

SPIRE ZOOM IN 2 - WHAT - WHY - WHO - HOW

Do you want to know the specifics of a successful project like SPIRE in Baia Mare? Have a look at the What, Why, Who and How of SPIRE....

SPIRE Zoom In: Plantathlon and Phytoremediation in Baia Mare

The Plantathlons activities carried out in baia Mare during spring 2021 created a collaborative ecosystem supporting citizens-led actions and enhancin...

The Climate Shelters project - Climate innovation to beat the heat

In his 2nd Zoom-in, Constantinos Cartalis, UIA Expert for the Climate Shelters (Adapting Schools to Climate Change through green, blue and grey Soluti...