Easy citizen participation in climate strategy making at the local level

AI Quick Summary

This project intends to include citizens into the process of climate and energy planning. Citizens provide their views on possible projects and placements of infrastructure to ensure higher public acceptance.The project intends to develop and test an application based on an already developed platform by Proxity. We will develop the tool and test it. This funding will help us to test the tool in ideal case scenarios such as real cities in Switzerland that are grappling with smart city choices. IoT4CitizensWhat problem are we trying to solve?We are trying to solve the need to have tools for easy citizen participation in decision-making related to energy planning and climate strategy-making on the local level. Today decisions are made primarily by local planners and consulted among a smaller group of citizens who are available to attend in-person community meetings which are held around 2-4 times a year. Only very pro-active communities hold alternative meetings for citizens to provide their inputs or to co-create projects and this is done today on a very ad-hoc basis. Who are the customers of our solution and how do they benefit? The final customers are residents of communities (or employees of green corporate villages). They benefit by having the chance to be heard and involved in climate strategy decisions made on the local level. However, the clients of our concept will initially be the smart city managers, or the municipalities' civil servants who promote digital transformation and tools for citizen involvement in planning. Other potential clients are large universities or other large professional campuses. How does the project idea affect energy savings or CO2 emissions?If people co-create the local projects, and feel they have been asked for their opinion in a fair and transparent manner, we believe they are more likely to be involved in being part of the solution, taking part in efforts themselves, and they will be more likely to use the installations that are finally developed and invested in on the community-level. There is a potential to reduce CO2 emissions in the local areas that use this application, but it also depends on the way that the application is implemented. There is a risk that some smaller communities do not grasp the concept, however it can always be used to educate citizens about existing programs and projects to reduce emissions in the community (where are electric bicycle installations, and where else to place them, if possible, etc.).Current status and previous activitiesWe have a prototype of a concept involving an IoT platform already developed by Proxity, a start-up in Switzerland. We would use the 20k of seed funding to go one step further and develop a business model and plan of action, as well as host a co-creation workshop with key stakeholders to push forward the next steps (hopefully a test in a real community in Switzerland and one example could be within CERN’s Green Village). We already have contacts in Lucerne who are willing to test any application of this type, in a neighborhood bordering the university (HSLU), in the context of their living lab focused on energy community innovations. See: https://www.hslu.ch/en/lucerne-school-of-engineering-architecture/about-us/organization/competence-centres-and-research-groups/engineering-and-technology/digital-energy-and-electric-power/collabarative-energy-living-lab/ Our idea is to use the lessons from the application of our proof-of-concept application (a real functioning tool) in such real-life cases to improve the tool, and replicate the work in other areas of Switzerland (eventually communes and then larger cities). We also have good contacts at the city of Yverdon-les-Bains because the school of engineering has a very good contact with their existing programs. They are very willing and open to test the savoir faire of the school, when we are ready with a proof-of-concept for this particular citizen-driven "smart city" application. We will proceed with an Innosuisse project after the NTN Innovation Booster has funded the business model and “blueprint for action” with the partners included in the process this coming year, if awarded. What has been tried before? What was not successful? What have you learned?We have already worked with a group of EPFL students to develop a prototype of a concept involving an IoT platform already developed by Proxity, a start-up in Switzerland.Resources neededWe need time of our team members, to be partially funded by the 20k seed funding, and we need resources to pay for the hosting of a workshop which we will hold in the first 6 months of receiving the grant, to develop and co-create the concept and business model, so that it is ready for the next steps which would include two main steps: 1) development of a proof-of-concept (programming an application) and 2) testing the application in one or two city contexts, hopefully in Lucerne and Yverdon-les-Bains (or Geneva in a specific commune such as Meyrin, or within CERN’s Green Village). Timeline for work in 2022/2023 and related to future funding and next stepsA first online workshop could be held in December 2022 and then a first in-person workshop could be held in Yverdon-les-Bains at HEIG-VD in early 2023 to undertake the stakeholder mapping and the definition of the problem statement agreed by all the working parties. We will then propose to work all together with a number of stakeholders from cities and other institutions like CERN to develop a blueprint for the concept follow-up and this last workshop could be held potentially at the IdeaSquare in Geneva with the help of Markus Nordberg, Head of Resources Development, CERN and …. (team of Green Village, CERN). After the 20k funding has been exhausted we will apply for funding with the extended team including HSLU for an Innosuisse project or the DUT Transition Pathways funding scheme. The DUT Call 2022 opens on 21 September 2022, and offers opportunities for transnational and transdisciplinary cooperation along and across the three DUT Transition Pathways. See: https://dutpartnership.eu/

Project Idea Metadata

Project Idea Name: Easy citizen participation in climate strategy making at the local level
Date: 5/31/2022 4:04:10 PM
Administrators:
- Mary Jean Bürer

Project Idea Description

IoT4Citizens

What problem are we trying to solve?

We are trying to solve the need to have tools for easy citizen participation in decision-making related to energy planning and climate strategy-making on the local level. Today decisions are made primarily by local planners and consulted among a smaller group of citizens who are available to attend in-person community meetings which are held around 2-4 times a year. Only very pro-active communities hold alternative meetings for citizens to provide their inputs or to co-create projects and this is done today on a very ad-hoc basis.

Who are the customers of our solution and how do they benefit?

The final customers are residents of communities (or employees of green corporate villages). They benefit by having the chance to be heard and involved in climate strategy decisions made on the local level. However, the clients of our concept will initially be the smart city managers, or the municipalities' civil servants who promote digital transformation and tools for citizen involvement in planning. Other potential clients are large universities or other large professional campuses.

How does the project idea affect energy savings or CO2 emissions?

If people co-create the local projects, and feel they have been asked for their opinion in a fair and transparent manner, we believe they are more likely to be involved in being part of the solution, taking part in efforts themselves, and they will be more likely to use the installations that are finally developed and invested in on the community-level. There is a potential to reduce CO2 emissions in the local areas that use this application, but it also depends on the way that the application is implemented. There is a risk that some smaller communities do not grasp the concept, however it can always be used to educate citizens about existing programs and projects to reduce emissions in the community (where are electric bicycle installations, and where else to place them, if possible, etc.).

Current status and previous activities

We have a prototype of a concept involving an IoT platform already developed by Proxity, a start-up in Switzerland. We would use the 20k of seed funding to go one step further and develop a business model and plan of action, as well as host a co-creation workshop with key stakeholders to push forward the next steps (hopefully a test in a real community in Switzerland and one example could be within CERN’s Green Village). We already have contacts in Lucerne who are willing to test any application of this type, in a neighborhood bordering the university (HSLU), in the context of their living lab focused on energy community innovations. See: https://www.hslu.ch/en/lucerne-school-of-engineering-architecture/about-us/organization/competence-centres-and-research-groups/engineering-and-technology/digital-energy-and-electric-power/collabarative-energy-living-lab/ Our idea is to use the lessons from the application of our proof-of-concept application (a real functioning tool) in such real-life cases to improve the tool, and replicate the work in other areas of Switzerland (eventually communes and then larger cities). We also have good contacts at the city of Yverdon-les-Bains because the school of engineering has a very good contact with their existing programs. They are very willing and open to test the savoir faire of the school, when we are ready with a proof-of-concept for this particular citizen-driven "smart city" application. We will proceed with an Innosuisse project after the NTN Innovation Booster has funded the business model and “blueprint for action” with the partners included in the process this coming year, if awarded.

What has been tried before? What was not successful? What have you learned?

We have already worked with a group of EPFL students to develop a prototype of a concept involving an IoT platform already developed by Proxity, a start-up in Switzerland.

Resources needed

We need time of our team members, to be partially funded by the 20k seed funding, and we need resources to pay for the hosting of a workshop which we will hold in the first 6 months of receiving the grant, to develop and co-create the concept and business model, so that it is ready for the next steps which would include two main steps: 1) development of a proof-of-concept (programming an application) and 2) testing the application in one or two city contexts, hopefully in Lucerne and Yverdon-les-Bains (or Geneva in a specific commune such as Meyrin, or within CERN’s Green Village).

Timeline for work in 2022/2023 and related to future funding and next steps

A first online workshop could be held in December 2022 and then a first in-person workshop could be held in Yverdon-les-Bains at HEIG-VD in early 2023 to undertake the stakeholder mapping and the definition of the problem statement agreed by all the working parties. We will then propose to work all together with a number of stakeholders from cities and other institutions like CERN to develop a blueprint for the concept follow-up and this last workshop could be held potentially at the IdeaSquare in Geneva with the help of Markus Nordberg, Head of Resources Development, CERN and …. (team of Green Village, CERN).

After the 20k funding has been exhausted we will apply for funding with the extended team including HSLU for an Innosuisse project or the DUT Transition Pathways funding scheme. The DUT Call 2022 opens on 21 September 2022, and offers opportunities for transnational and transdisciplinary cooperation along and across the three DUT Transition Pathways.

See: https://dutpartnership.eu/

The project intends to develop and test an application based on an already developed platform by Proxity. We will develop the tool and test it. This funding will help us to test the tool in ideal case scenarios such as real cities in Switzerland that are grappling with smart city choices.