This was the exact topic of the hybrid meeting of Eurada’s working group on Smart Heritage Cities formed within the framework of the H2020 POCITYF project during Agorada+ 2021 on the 28th of October in Valencia, Spain. Tom Huizer and Jan Willem Veeningen from De Groene Grachten in Amsterdam were invited to join as online speakers and to answer the question: What have been the most difficult technical aspects of integrating solutions in cultural heritage buildings? Their solution to this challenge was introduced as the Green Menu Platform: a digital twin with information regarding historic buildings and how to rehabilitate them. The platform has a lot of visual information (helpful towards citizens engagement), is user friendly, presents several solutions for comfort and energy efficiency, and has the available/existing regulations.
Tom and Jan’s presentation was followed by an open table discussion for participants to share their opinion and experience. Representatives from Evora in Portugal, one of POCITYF’s lighthouse cities, shared that the biggest challenge in their municipality is to find solutions and materials that meet very strict regulations while improving the energy sustainability of the (heritage) buildings. As an example, traditional tiles made of clay in Evora will be replaced with solar shingles and it was a prerequisite to installing shingles that these have the same appearance in terms of color and shape/design as the existing traditional ones.
On the other hand, representatives from the city of Granada shared that the city is protected by UNESCO. Therefore, it is not possible to change the design of buildings’ facades. They are working instead with citizens regarding sustainable solutions: mobility (bikes), install innovative solutions on buildings outside the regulatory questions. Meanwhile POCITYF’s other lighthouse city, Alkmaar in the Netherlands, is envisioned to be energy positive by next year. In a first stage, an investment was made in renewable energy production outside the historic center and then, on a second stage, an intervention is planned for the buildings that are located in the historical centre.
After discussing Energy Innovation, a question regarding Citizen Involvement was introduced. Specifically, How can we engage “non driving” citizens to participate in the transition, and ensure no one is left behind? The concept that a gap between knowledge and behaviour exists was introduced. Practical examples were given during the meeting to reduce this gap: promote sustainable shops, stimulus through information, having a better understanding of sustainability in mobility (e.g. motto "leave your street"), sharing through digitalization, mobility websites, application (app) to encourage students to count km and show the saved CO2 emissions). Mobility is one of the most approachable topics to engage with citizens and make them more aware of sustainability problems. It results in a high chance for behaviour change towards more sustainable choices.
One of the main conclusions through the shared experiences is that there is a cultural difference between citizen’s engagement from city to city and how to effectively communicate with them. What works in one city may not work in a different one.
Finally, as the meeting took place in the historic city of Valencia, in-person participants were treated to a walking tour of Valencia’s historical sites such as La lonja de la seda and torres de Serranos among others.
