In this episode, we talked once more about our H2020 EU-Funded project – SPARCS – speaking with one of the fellow cities of the project – Kladno in the Czech Republic, live at the Smart City Expo in Barcelona.

We welcomed David Škorňa – Head of Project SPARCS for the City of Kladno, as well as Gretel Schaj – Regional Manager of BABLE Iberia and the Project Lead from BABLE for the SPARCS project, and discussed replication, sustainable energy transition, intercultural project management, and more!

You can learn more about what was implemented in the SPARCS lighthouse and fellow cities on the BABLE platform.

Are you a city representative looking to accelerate the uptake of innovative solutions in your city? Have a look at our Market Consultation Tool.

Overview of the episode:

02:27 - Teaser: What are our guests' favourite memories from the SPARCS project?

03:50 - David's professional background

05:03 - What is the SPARCS project?

07:00 - What does replication mean at its core?

09:58 - What are the challenges when working with cities from different countries?

11:40 - Which cities are the most similar, and which one are the most different?

12:50 - How can cities with a strong coal industry background like Kladno transition to a more sustainable energy system?

15:10 - How can we convince people that the energy transition makes sense?

20:13 - How can we bring more innovation to cities?

25:24 - How does a tool like the Market Consultation accelerate the uptake of innovative solutions in cities?

32:31 - Flip the Script: our guests ask each other questions

36:13 - Ending Question: To you, what is a Smart City?

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Want to join us for an episode? Contact our host Tamlyn Shimizu.

And for more insights, join our Smart City Community!

En nuestro primer episodio en español, grabado en el inmejorable escenario de la Smart City Expo World Congress 2022 de Barcelona, conversamos sobre empresas y ciudades, proyectos, éxitos y retos con dos personas que saben mucho de ciudades inteligentes, de creación de comunidades y de relaciones público-privadas en España: Verónica Ramírez, directora de operaciones del Smart City Cluster y Javier Ridruejo, secretario general de la Red Española de Ciudades Inteligentes.

Resumen del episodio:

01:33 - Pregunta previa: Datos curiosos sobre las respectivas ciudades de nuestros invitados, Málaga y Logroño

03:08 - Trayectoria profesional

06:04 - ¿Por qué se fundó la RECI?, ¿Cuáles han sido los mayores éxitos y retos en el camino? ¿Qué valor puede aportar a las ciudades españolas?

8:00 - ¿Qué es lo que hace el Smart City Clúster único? ¿Cuál es el impacto del Clúster de Ciudades Inteligentes y cuáles son los principales retos?

10:18 - ¿Cómo puede colaborar las entidades públicas y las privadas?

16:14 - ¿Cómo puede el sector privado satisfacer las demandas del sector público y cómo puede el sector público hacer llegar los conocimientos y la innovación que necesitan los municipios para hacer de nuestras ciudades un lugar mejor para vivir?

19:51 - ¿Hay algo más que queréis compartir con nuestros oyentes hoy? ¿Un tema que no hayamos podido tocar o algo más que os gustaría mencionar?

22:26 - Segmento divertido: ¡intercambiamos los papeles!

26:38 - Pregunta recurrente: ¿qué es una ciudad inteligente? 

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Want to join us for an episode? Contact our host Tamlyn Shimizu.

And for more insights, join our Smart City Community!

This episode takes us back to Finland, and more precisely to the city of Lahti, to discuss public-private partnerships, knowledge-driven community engagement and participatory planning with our guests: Johanna Palomäki, City Architect at the city of Lahti and Maarit Kahila, CEO of Maptionnaire, a community engagement platform for managing public participation processes in a central place.

Have a look at Lahti and Maptionnaire's Use Case on the BABLE Platform: Running a Participatory Budgeting Process in Lahti, Finland.

Overview of the episode:

02:10 - Teaser: Johanna and Maarit reminisce about the first time they met

05:40 - Knowledge-driven community engagement: what does it mean?

09:20 - Whose knowledge counts?

10:40 - Can we make sure that everybody's voice is heard?

13:58 - How should cities use tools such as the Maptionnaire Community Engagement Platform?

20:17 - The democratic process of participatory planning

21:50 - The fear of negative feedback

24:50  - Examples of how the city of Lahti has used the Maptionnaire tool

27:30 - What are the limitations to using such tools?

36:30 - Freaky Friday: our guests switch places and answer questions in each other shoes

39:15 -  Ending Question: To you, what is a Smart City?

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Want to join us for an episode? Contact our host Tamlyn Shimizu.

And for more insights, join our Smart City Community!

In this episode, we dive into the topic of circular economy and especially how the city of Prague, Czech Republic is tackling waste recycling and other challenges. Our guest Vojtech Vosecky is himself trying to create a world with a circular economy, as he is the chairman of the Steering Group for Circular Economy in Prague, as well as an associate within Circle Economy.

The Solutions Guide for Cities by the Solar Impulse Foundation will be released on November 14th 2022 at the COP27!

Download it on the BABLE Platform and register now for the 'Prosperity and protection of the environment: how cities can unlock the opportunities of the ecological transition' launch webinar.

Overview of the episode:

02:30 - Teaser: Three words that Prague is not

04:11 - What led Vojtech to circular economy?

07:24 - Do cities ever stray away from the collaborative mindset?

09:35 - What is circular economy?

11:25 - Should everything be circular?

13:05 - Will the world ever be completely circular?

15:30 - Can we have circular economy in capitalism?

21:00  - Could we have "circularity as a service"?

22:10 - The Reuse Sundays project in Prague

24:36 - What stops other cities from implementing something similar?

26:11 - Other projects Vojtech worked on

27:30 - How can municipalities get political support for circular initiatives?

30:00 - Tips on how to make public procurement a tool

34:10 - Roll With The Punches: our guest answer this or that questions quickly, and with their first instincts

39:05 -  Ending Question: To you, what is a Smart City?

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And for more insights, join our Smart City Community!

In this episode, we had the pleasure to speak with Merja Honkanen, Project Manager at KONE and Elina Wanne, the Project Manager for the SPARCS project at the city of Espoo, Finland.

Not only are they our partners within the H202 project – SPARCS, but they also were the perfect guests to talk about co-creation, stakeholders engagement and inclusion.

Register now for our new online training course: SMARTER CONNECTED PLACES - experiential learning for tomorrow's urban leaders, which will take place from 15.11.2022 to 06.12.2022.

Overview of the episode:

04:33 - Teaser: If Espoo and KONE were animals, what would they be?

08:20 - What does co-creation mean?

12:19 - How can we actually apply co-creation in practice? How can we frame it?

15:38 - What tools and resources can cities use to support these processes?

17:56 - Pieces of advice for cities focusing on developing co-creation methodologies

19:20 - Success and challenge stories from Elina and Merja

26:20 - Building relationship: the difference between engaging with citizens and with companies

29:23  - The challenge of inclusion in a fast-growing city such as Espoo

31:52 - What's next for the partnership between Espoo and KONE?

34:22 - Shoutout: our guests mention a person, an organisation or a city they think deserve more recognition in the field

37:33 -  Ending Question: To you, what is a Smart City?

Liked our show? Remember to rate it! Want to join us for an episode? Contact our host Tamlyn Shimizu.

And for more insights, join our Smart City Community!

In this episode, we welcomed Katerina Nikolopoulou back to the podcast, this time as the Network Manager of CIVINET Greece-Cyprus, the Greek-speaking local network of the CIVITAS Initiative, which focuses on the promotion of Sustainable Mobility in Greece and Cyprus.

We also were delighted to have with us the Founder & Coordinator of CIVINET Greece-Cyprus: Kosmas Anagnostopoulos. This interview happened live at the Urban Mobility Days 2022 in Brno.

We discussed urban mobility, sustainability, circular tourism and all the specific challenges that Greek cities are facing.

Register now for our new online training course: SMARTER CONNECTED PLACES - experiential learning for tomorrow's urban leaders, which will take place from 15.11.2022 to 06.12.2022.

Overview of the episode:

03:00 - Teaser: One thing most people don't know about Greece

04:10 - How did CIVINET Greece-Cyrpus start?

05:40 - Why do organisations like this need to exist?

08:38 - Sustainable mobility, sustainable energy and urban regeneration

09:40 - About the CIVINET forum in Athens in December 2021

11:50 - Awards won by the city of Rethymno: the CIVITAS Transformation Award during the Urban Mobility Days 2022 and the EU Urban Road Safety Award during the European Mobility Week 2021

13:50 - What is the determinant factor for the Greek cities' success?

15:43  - Some lessons learned along the way by Katerina and Kosmas when working with cities

18:37 - What is unique about Greek challenges for cities? 

21:25 - Katerina's fun fact about CIVINET Greece-Cyprus

22:26 - Kosmas' fun facts about CIVINET Greece-Cyprus

24:00 - What are CIVINET Greece-Cyprus' goals for the years to come?

26:55 - Dual BABLE Trival: our guests have prepared questions for each other!

31:14 -  Ending Question: To you, what is a Smart City?

Liked our show? Remember to rate it! Want to join us for an episode? Contact our host Tamlyn Shimizu.

And for more insights, join our Smart City Community!