Networks and cities' news

Advancing Green and Smart Urban Development in Villena

From November 18th -21st, 2024, Villena, Spain, hosted a pivotal meeting of the EcoCore Network, which included the mid-term review of the project and a masterclass on Smart and Green Industrial Zones. The event, enriched by expert contributions, site visits, and workshops, provided a comprehensive platform for exploring strategies that align industrial development with sustainability and innovation.

Hackathon - The Balbriggan Innovation Challenge

Hackathon - The Balbriggan Innovation Challenge

The EcoCore Project lead partner Balbriggan, Ireland successfully ran a hackathon challenge, The Balbriggan Innovation Challenge, last Friday in the Lark Theatre, Balbriggan.

The Balbriggan Innovation Challenge allowed like-minded individuals passionate about sustainability, the green economy with a passion for the Circular Economy to contribute to the EcoCore Project and develop a greener future for the citizens of Balbriggan. The Challenge afforded a unique opportunity for individuals/teams to innovate, co-create and network, using their unique skills to develop ideas around the green and circular economy, with a prize fund available to further develop and implement the successful ideas. 

EcoCore City Visits to Tuusula and Ķekava: Showcasing Green Urban Innovation

Last week, practitioners from across Europe visited the Finnish municipality of Tuusula and the Latvian town of Ķekava as part of the EcoCore project, a transnational action planning network exploring ways that cities can harness economic development opportunities of the green transition. Both visits underscored how cities can reshape themselves to foster sustainability, attract investments, and serve as testbeds for greener urban development.

EcoCore Core Network Meeting in Pärnu: Leveraging Innovation Ecosystem to Drive Regional Development and Harness Green Transition Opportunities

The picturesque city of Pärnu recently played host to the EcoCore network's transnational meeting and city learning visit which tool place on 21^st and 22^nd May 2024.  The event brought together key stakeholders from across EcoCore partner regions to discuss sustainable development, regional cooperation, and digital innovation. The agenda was packed with insightful presentations, workshops, and site visits, providing a comprehensive overview of Pärnu’s strategies and challenges in becoming a model of regional sustainability and digital excellence. Here's a summary of the highlights and key takeaways from the two-day event.

EcoCore - Santo Tirso Core Network Meeting Report

For the first time since meeting in Balbriggan, Co.Dublin in November 2023, network partners gathered in Santo Tirso for their first core network meeting of the action planning phase on 12th and 13th March. 
Taking advantage of the warm spring sunshine, partners were treated to a fun and energising icebreaker of social bingo by Aliados consulting. The icebreaker session took place outdoors in the riverside courtyard of the recently renovated Fábrica Santo Tirso, a former spinning mill and textile factory. 
 

EcoCore - Small Cities with Big Ambitions for their Green Transition

The climate time bomb is ticking. This is the most important global systemic threat to the worldwide economy today. In response, government policies from the local to international level are seeking to reshape industrial development towards more environmentally sound practices right across the value chain. This is commonly referred to as the green industrial transition.  

This transition or process of change is resulting in a worldwide movement towards more sustainable and eco-friendly industrial practices. The aim is to move away from traditional resource-heavy and polluting industrial processes to cleaner and more sustainable, efficient and smart alternatives. This will also involve a shift in consumer behaviour towards more sustainable products and services.

Green transition policies aim to reshape productive sectors, from energy to agriculture, mobility, manufacturing and construction. According to a recent paper entitled ‘The green transition and its potential territorial discontents’, there will however be winners and losers.  In short, the green transition may well redirect capital investments towards regions and cities where pre-conditions in terms of infrastructure, skills and governance are more favourable. Those who want to capitalise on the opportunities provided by the green transition – those who want to emerge as ‘winners’ -  need to ensure that these preconditions are firmly in place. 

Cognisant of this, the EcoCore network of nine small European cities have opted to unite in proactively shaping their future fate and seizing the opportunities provided by the green transition for their local economies.