Periodic Reporting for period 2 - VARCITIES (VISIONARY NATURE BASED ACTIONS FOR HEALTH, WELLBEING & RESILIENCE IN CITIES (VARCITIES))
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2022-03-01 al 2023-08-31
VARCITIES has the following specific objectives:
To contribute to the shaping of future cities by developing nature-based (NBS) solutions integrating DSC innovation with high replication potential in eight European cities.
To design visionary NBS solutions to address the H&WB of citizens by co-creating forward-planning solutions with the public, local authorities and industry.
To assess the sustainability and impact of interventions through developing new and advancing existing H&WB KPIs based on inputs received from the municipalities, satellite data, citizens, etc.
To achieve knowledge exchange, maximisation of EU investments, advancements beyond the state of the art, through clustering with other European, regional, local initiatives, and platforms.
To improve the sustainable transition to smart and future cities by creating a framework of GBF models of the NBS that considers the unique characteristics of the interventions with the support of the Municipalities.
To measure KPIs and assess the improvements achieved by the interventions on H&WB, DSC contexts through a set of monitoring systems.
To include, in the co-design process, a number of STKs and inspire sustainable and resilient future smart cities which embody principles established according to the New Urban Agenda for the EU, MAES, Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations by developing a robust dissemination, communication, and capacity building plan.
To transfer, upscale and sustain best practices from VARCITIES through the development of the Healthy Cities Helix – a network of industrial actors, exploiters and investors that will outlast the project to ensure high replication potential and exploitation of the solutions proposed in VARCITIES.
The approach for the pilots to identify local stakeholders was outlined (D4.1) from different groups, affiliations, expertise and backgrounds (D4.3). The activities needed per co-creation stage were described in the co-creation strategy (D4.2). Based on this, 61 co-creation activities (workshops, townhalls, surveys etc) have been designed and implemented so far.
The VS Implementation Framework (D6.1) was developed which was developed through an integrated approach including technology, regulatory, financial, environmental and social perspectives. Implementation and execution plan for all pilots (D6.2) were also developed providing the individual implementation plans that adapted to the specific pilots’ needs. In total,3 NBS, 12 digital and 3 sociocultural VS components are currently in operation stage.
A review of the proposed H&WB KPIs was conducted to understand if they were still relevant to each site and whether they were common across sites. The alignment of a few KPIs with the TFII Handbook has also been ensured. A KPI-based monitoring system enables pilot cities to measure KPIs and analyze the outcomes of their interventions was also developed (D7.1). Thus far, 48 KPIs are already monitored from all pilots.
The IoT sensors requirements report (D5.1) provides an extensive review of the available sensors on the market for monitoring different aspects connected to H&WB and urban green spaces. Based on the existing market offerings, the development and production of three custom sensors were necessitated (D5.3). The VARCITIES H&WB platform (D5.8) serves as a conduit between the real world and its digital representation (digital twin) on a user-friendly manner. This platform built on WP5’s intermediate results (D5.2 D5.4 D5.5 D5.6 D5.7).
WP8 and WP9 worked together to create, promote and populate an online community of stakeholder called the Healthy Cities Helix. This community is aimed to bring together specialist in NBS and smart cities for knowledge exchange. A Communication and Dissemination strategy (D9.1) was also established.
VARCITIES pilots are informed by the unique and respective needs of the local societies with the implementation of all pilots informed by societal input and specific contextual evolution of each pilot, and the strategic policy from local municipality and city state actors. Of key significance in VARCITIES is appreciating that NBS interventions cannot merely be more efficient ways of managing ecosystems to address particular problems, but these interventions must be symbiotic and compatible with the local cultural and jurisdictional norms and practices. VARCITIES will evidence a credible and positive economic and societal impact to citizens who will benefit from the results of the project, including our NBS approaches and interventions that aim to be an underlying customisable fabric of an entire ecosystem of fully connected intelligent sensors, capable of delivering benefits at every rung of the NBS ecosystem ladder, and transforming the daily lives of European citizens.