Roadmaps for Energy (R4E) presentation at ENERTIC – MADRID

Delegates of the Murcia City Council and the Local Energy Agency (ALEM) attended the V Edition of the National Smart Energy Congress & Exposition 2016 in representation of the Roadmaps for Energy Project (R4E). The Congress & Expo took place in Madrid on April 13^th and 14^th and approaches Energy Efficiency based on innovative ICT solutions from four perspectives; People, ICT infrastructure, (Smart)Spaces & (Smart)Buildings and Key Sectors.

The primary goal of this conference is the exchange of knowledge and experiences acquired in Spanish Smart Cities, with the use of technology and innovation based development tools. To do so, for two days the main issues related to Smart Cities are addressed in a transversal, multidisciplinary and multi-sectoral forum, showing initiatives that are currently being developed and relevant trends, with particular attention to the role European Cities play.

In a conference titled “Designing the city we need”, a summary of Roadmaps for Energy Project (R4E) as an initiative under the European “Horizon 2020”, the attendees were introduced to the key aspects and actionable areas. And a few aspects were highlighted, like the definition and design of services cities should offer their citizens in the long run, in the areas of buildings, mobility and urban spaces. The presentation focused on the definition and design of services offered to citizens under the Smart City approach.

Murcia Councilman Jose Guillen explained that “one of the fundamental aspects of the R4E project, which has attracted a lot of attention during the congress, is the innovativeness in approaching and encouraging citizen participation. This way, the project based on participatory workshops and integrators, collects input from technical experts in municipal policy areas like energy, combining them with input from and municipal policy makers, private companies, universities and local associations, among others. ” and added “The development of a Municipal Energy Map is the example of a true democratization of society, where all individual contributions have been taken into account. This wide and transversal participatory process of this project is to serve as a paradigm in all our processes of decision making”.

This Roadmaps created by the project-partners will allow precise actions in the three main areas of the R4E, Smart Buildings, Smart Mobility and Smart Urban Spaces as the projects and specific actions which need to be materialised to achieve the desired transformation into the previously mentioned concept of “Designing the city we need”. Whilst the dissemination activity undertaken by participating in the Congress enables the R4E Project to establish ties to other cities, national and international companies, other projects, and to exchange experiences and knowledge.