Doors wide open at R2CITIES demo sites during the European Sustainable Energy Week

The European Sustainable Energy Week (EUSEW) took place from 15-19 June and provided the backdrop for the MySmartCityDistrict initiative to hold a series of events dubbed OpenHouse from across four member projects - R2CITIES, ZenN, EU-GUGLE and CITyFiED.  

These OpenHouse events were among nearly 700 other “energy days” and side events that took place in June as part the EUSEW2015. The four MSCD projects opened up nine of their districts through guided tours to refurbished districts, visits inside buildings, exhibitions on concepts and practice, forums, roundtables and online video messages. R2CITIES demo sites Kartal and Genoa hosted in-situ events and Valladolid produced a video highlighting its endeavours with our project.

Today My Smart City District brings together 7 projects involving some 22 districts from 12 different countries. As such, its OpenHouse initiative was an ideal opportunity for participating districts to gain the attention they deserve as they venture into the challenging process of moving towards smarter and greener urban environments. The advantage was double; projects can communicate to relevant stakeholders more effectively, and are better positioned to learn from one another.

OpenHouse in Yakacik, Kartal

Kartal Municipality organised a seminar entitled “BIM (Building Information Modelling) for Energy and Sustainability” that took place on 17 June. Some 150 people attended from a wide range of fields including: public institutions, universities, Turkey’s R2CITIES project partners, local businesses, NGOs, citizens, and local and national press. On the agenda were a series of presentations about using BIM-Building Information Modelling in design, implementation and operational processes and its input-outputs in the scope of energy and sustainability. The event was able to raise awareness for local policy makers and building professionals about specific planning and implementation issues that are key to energy efficiency and sustainability. 

Open House in Lavatrici district, Genoa

The OpenHouse event in the Lavatrici district was organised by the Municipality of Genoa on 19 June. It brought together around 50 participants, many of whom were local residents, Faculty of Architecture students, freelance professionals and municipal representatives. A presentation of R2CITIES was delivered highlighting the state-of-the-art of the project’s interventions and methodology. The showcase centred on the installation of window fixtures, the new central heating system and home automation tools (domotics) in some of the flats. The project will involve the replacement of fixtures in 162 flats within the buildings located in Via Pavese and Via Vittorini, known locally as "High Bars." Following the presentations, attendees were invited to a guided tour to two flats where the new fixtures have already been assembled. In this way, they were able to better understand the extent of the works and to visit the “on-site laboratories” where passive testing is carried out. The event concluded with an aperitif offered by Municipality of Genoa and organised alongside the neighbourhood committee which collaborated at all the stages of the event offering their valuable support.

OpenHouse in Valladolid

As coordinator, Fundación CARTIF in Valladolid participated in the EUSEW2015 with a short video introducing both the MySmartCityDistrict and OpenHouse initiatives as well as the R2CITIES project. The video also provides some background information about the interventions, present and future, for Valladolid’s demo site, the Cuatro de Marzo district. 

Click here for videos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJv5SnA2rslDJlqTTDIy_15LzP6tBcgsK