Urban Environment Good Practice & Benchmarking Report
European Green Capital Award 2017
Green cities - fit for life
The authors of the Urban Environment Good Practice and Benchmarking Report for the 2017 EGCA Cycle are Ashley O’ Toole, Brenda McEvoy and Louise Campion, RPS Group, Ireland together with the contribution of the Expert Panel.
RPS, an environmental and communications consultancy based in Ireland, is currently appointed as the European Green Capital Secretariat. The competition application process and the work of the expert panel and the jury are facilitated by the European Green Capital Secretariat.
The secretariat also assists with PR activities related to the award scheme through the European Green Capital Award website, Facebook, Linked In and Twitter pages, and through various communication channels such as brochures and press releases.
Urban Environment Good Practice & Benchmarking Report EGCA 2017
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 INTRODUCTION ...... 1
1.1 EUROPEAN GREEN CAPITAL AWARD ...... 1
1.2 THE INDICATOR AREAS ...... 2
1.3 APPLICANT CITIES FOR 2017 AWARD ...... 2
1.4 THE AIM OF THIS REPORT ...... 4
1.5 STRUCTURE AND APPROACH OF THIS REPORT ...... 4 2 ENVIRONMENTAL GOOD PRACTICES ...... 5
2.1 CLIMATE CHANGE : MITIGATION & ADAPTATION ...... 5
2.2 LOCAL TRANSPORT ...... 10
2.3 GREEN URBAN AREAS INCORPORATING SUSTAINABLE LAND USE ...... 16
2.4 NATURE AND BIODIVERSITY ...... 21
2.5 AMBIENT AIR QUALITY ...... 25
2.6 QUALITY OF ACOUSTIC ENVIRONMENT ...... 30
2.7 WASTE PRODUCTION AND MANAGEMENT ...... 37
2.8 WATER MANAGEMENT ...... 41
2.9 WASTE WATER MANAGEMENT ...... 45
2.10 ECO -INNOVATION AND SUSTAINABLE EMPLOYMENT ...... 48
2.11 ENERGY PERFORMANCE ...... 52
2.12 INTEGRATED ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT ...... 55 3 INTEGRATED GOOD PRACTICE EXAMPLES ...... 58
APPENDICES
Appendix A Expert Panel Profiles
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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1-1 Map of 2017 Applicant Cities ...... 3 Figure 2-1: CO2 Emissions per Capita (t CO2/inhabitant) in 2017 EGCA Applicant Cities ...... 6 Figure 2-2: Thermal image of the entire municipal area, a sample neighbourhood and a sample building ...... 7 Figure 2-3: The existing heating systems (brown); urban and regional expansion (blue) ...... 8 Figure 2-4: Nijmegen district heating network ...... 8 Figure 2-5: Biodiversity Meadows in Lisbon City...... 9 Figure 2-6: Cycle path length per Applicant city inhabitant ...... 11 Figure 2-7: Proportion of Population Living within 300 m of an Hourly Public Transport Service ...... 12 Figure 2-8: Baixa Pombalina (downtown area) of Lisbon ...... 13 Figure 2-9: There’s great cycling in ‘s-Hertogenbosch! ...... 15 Figure 2-10: The percentage of green areas, blue areas, residential areas, industrial or economic areas, mixed areas, brownfields ...... 16 Figure 2-11: Soil Sealing in inner city & overall city ...... 17 Figure 2-12: The Green Target ...... 18 Figure 2-13: Parque das Nações walkway ...... 19 Figure 2-14: The dimension of the riverside renovation ...... 20 Figure 2-15: The Cascais Urban Ecological Structure ...... 22 Figure 2-16: Iberochondrostoma lusitanicum (boga-portuguesa) ...... 23 Figure 2-17: Scarce large blue in Moerputten...... 23 Figure 2-18: Animals reintroduced include beaver, spadefoot toad, badger and stork ...... 24 Figure 2-19: The Biobarometer developed by 's-Hertogenbosch ...... 24 Figure 2-20: Max Number of days per year on which EU target value for ozone were exceeded (max running 8h mean) ...... 25 Figure 2-21: Annual Mean Air Concentrations of NO2, PM2.5 & PM10 ...... 26 Figure 2-22: Drive4Zero initiative ...... 27 Figure 2-23: Metropolrad Ruhr rental bike at Essen central station ...... 28 Figure 2-24: Public local transport in Essen ...... 29 Figure 2-25: % Population Exposure to Noise ...... 31 Figure 2-26: Percentage of citizens living within 300m of quiet areas ...... 32 Figure 2-27: Extension of the A40 at Essen-Frillendorf with "porous asphalt" and new noise barriers .. 33 Figure 2-28: Opportunities for improving sound quality by road surface changes in ‘s-Hertogenbosch 34 Figure 2-29: Silent asphalt planned for all road surfaces in 2020 ...... 34 Figure 2-30: The art-work “Lev!” (Live!) with sound installations at Umeå central train station Photo: Thomas Kieselbach (CC BY-NC 2.0)” ...... 35 Figure 2-31: Example of a typical unmanned noise monitoring station at an event & municipal website showing current noise levels ...... 36 Figure 2-32: Municipal and domestic waste generation/capita ...... 37 Figure 2-33: Waste treatment in 2017 EGCA Applicant cities ...... 38 Figure 2-34: Campaign Poster for “Look! Waste = Resource” ...... 39 Figure 2-35: Waste flows in the city of Pec ...... 40 Figure 2-36: Domestic Water Consumption in Applicant Cities ...... 41 Figure 2-37: Water loss in pipelines, leakage management and network rehabilitation ...... 42 Figure 2-38: Occurrences Table on www.aguasdoporto.pt website ...... 43 Figure 2-39: Location of parametric probes installed at Middle Central Monitoring and Control Zone (ZMC) ...... 43 Figure 2-40: Drongelens Canal inlet structure ...... 44
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Figure 2-41: HoWaBo water storage area (in blue), Moerputten and Vlijmens Fen natural spaces (in red) ...... 44 Figure 2-42: Proportion (%) of total annual generated waste water load, connected to waste water collecting system + urban waste water treatment plants (UWWTPs) ...... 45 Figure 2-43: Micropollutant treatment process (Source: www.pills-project.eu) ...... 46 Figure 2-44: School students taking part in a 60 minute lesson Source: http://www.umeva.se ...... 47 Figure 2-45: Green Schools taking place in schools in the city ...... 49 Figure 2-46: Infographic on the SMILE Industrial Symbiosis Initiative ...... 50 Figure 2-47: Teknopark Istanbul...... 51 Figure 2-48: Energy use/capita in 2017 EGCA Applicant cities ...... 52 Figure 2-49: Project ECO-Neighbourhood - ‘Boavista Ambiente +’ ...... 53 Figure 2-50: Energy conference ‘Bossche Energiecongres 2014’ with 170 visitors ...... 54 Figure 2-51: Sustainability Relay events in Nijmegen ...... 56 Figure 3-1: Sustainable district of Paleiskwartier ...... 59 Figure 3-2: Hybricon Arctic Whisper ...... 60
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1.1: Details of Applicant Cities (in alphabetical order) ...... 3 Table 2-1: 2017 EGCA Applicant City Reduction Targets ...... 6
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1 INTRODUCTION
7th Environmental Action Programme (EAP)
The Commission commenced the 7 th Environmental Action Programme (EAP) in 2013 which sets out a strategic agenda for environmental policy-making with 9 priority objectives to be achieved by 2020. It establishes a common understanding of the main environmental challenges Europe faces and what needs to be done to tackle them effectively. This programme underpins the European Green Capital Award in relation to policies for sustainable urban planning and design.
Protecting and enhancing natural capital, encouraging more resource efficiency and accelerating the transition to the low-carbon economy are key features of the programme, which also seeks to tackle new and emerging environmental risks and to help safe guard health and well-being of EU citizens. The results should help stimulate sustainable growth and create new jobs to set the European Union on a path to becoming a better and healthier place to live.
Cities play a crucial role as engines of the economy, as places of connectivity, creativity and innovation, and as centres of services for their surrounding areas. Due to their density, cities offer a huge potential for energy savings and a move towards a carbon-neutral economy.
Today more than two thirds of Europeans live in towns and cities. Most cities face a common core set of environmental problems and risks, including poor air quality, high levels of noise, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, water scarcity, contaminated sites, brownfields and challenges in resource efficiency. At the same time, EU cities are standard setters in urban sustainability and often pioneer innovative solutions to environmental challenges. An ever-growing number of European cities are putting environmental sustainability at the core of their urban development strategies.
Thus, in order to enhance the sustainability of EU cities, the 7 th EAP fixes the goals that by 2020 a majority of cities in the EU are implementing policies for sustainable urban planning and design.
1.1 EUROPEAN GREEN CAPITAL AWARD
The European Green Capital Award is the result of an initiative taken by 15 European cities (Tallinn, Helsinki, Riga, Vilnius, Berlin, Warsaw, Madrid, Ljubljana, Prague, Vienna, Kiel, Kotka, Dartford, Tartu & Glasgow) and the Association of Estonian cities on 15 May 2006 in Tallinn, Estonia. Their green vision was translated into a joint Memorandum of Understanding establishing an award to recognise cities that are leading the way with environmentally friendly urban living. The initiative was launched by the European Commission in 2008.
It is important to reward cities which are making efforts to improve their urban environment and move towards healthier and more sustainable living areas. Progress is its own reward, but the satisfaction involved in winning a prestigious European award spurs cities to invest in further efforts and boosts awareness within the city as well as in other cities. The award enables cities to inspire each other and share examples of good practices in place. The winning cities to date include: Stockholm in 2010, Hamburg in 2011, Vitoria-Gasteiz in 2012, Nantes in 2013, Copenhagen in 2014, Bristol for 2015
MDR0763Rp0035F01 1 Urban Environment Good Practice & Benchmarking Report EGCA 2017 and Ljubljana for 2016. All are recognised for their consistent record of achieving high environmental standards and commitment to ambitious goals.
The objectives of the European Green Capital Award are to:
a) Reward cities that have a consistent record of achieving high environmental standards;
b) Encourage cities to commit to ongoing and ambitious goals for further environmental improvement and sustainable development;
c) Provide a role model to inspire other cities and promote best practice and experiences in all other European cities.
The overarching message that the award scheme aims to communicate to the local level is that Europeans have a right to live in healthy urban areas. Cities should therefore strive to improve the quality of life of their citizens and reduce their impact on the global environment. This message is brought together in the Award's slogan ‘ Green cities – fit for life ’.
1.2 THE INDICATOR AREAS
The selection of the European Green Capital 2017 is based on the following 12 environmental indicator areas: 1. Climate Change: Mitigation & Adaptation 2. Local Transport 3. Green Urban Areas Incorporating Sustainable Land Use 4. Nature and Biodiversity 5. Ambient Air Quality 6. Quality of the Acoustic Environment 7. Waste Production and Management 8. Water Management 9. Waste Water Management 10. Eco-innovation and Sustainable Employment 11. Energy Performance 12. Integrated Environmental Management.
1.3 APPLICANT CITIES FOR 2017 AWARD
A total of 12 cities applied for the 2017 Award. Details of the 2017 applicants are included within the table and map overleaf.
Of the 12 cities to be evaluated 9 are signatories of the Covenant of Mayors and 8 countries from across Europe are represented. The smallest city by population is Lahti in Finland with a population of 103,400, whereas Istanbul in Turkey has the largest population of 14,160,467.
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Table 1.1: Details of Applicant Cities (in alphabetical order)
City Country Inhabitants
1 Bursa Turkey 2,274,000 2 Cascais Portugal 206,429 3 Cork Ireland 119,230 4 Essen Germany 574,000 5 ‘s -Hertogenbosch Netherlands 144,000 6 Istanbul Turkey 14,160,467 7 Lahti Finland 103,400 8 Lisbon Portugal 537,412 9 Nijmegen Netherlands 168,000 10 Pécs Hungary 150,000 11 Porto Portugal 233,061 12 Umeå Sweden 119,000
Figure 1-1 Map of 2017 Applicant Cities
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1.4 THE AIM OF THIS REPORT
The aim of this report is to showcase ‘ Environmental Good Practice ’ currently undertaken in the applicant cities for the European Green Capital Award 2017 title, while also benchmarking the environmental performance of these cities in order to provide quantitative data, thus sharing knowledge with other cities.
It is anticipated that this report will be widely read throughout European cities, including current, previous and potential applicants of the Award. In this way all cities will be inspired to adopt some of the tried and tested environmental good practices that already exist and also to learn of technologically advanced innovations that can greatly contribute to resource efficiency efforts. This in turn will lead to greater economic prosperity and job creation in accordance with the 7 th EAP priorities and the EU 2020 Strategy, which are the key drivers for all European policies.
1.5 STRUCTURE AND APPROACH OF THIS REPORT
The members of the Expert Panel (details in Appendix A) were requested, as part of their role, to identify two examples of ‘Environmental Good Practice’ for their primary indicator area. These examples were to include new and innovative initiatives which may be transferable to other European cities. The report presents the data provided by cities in their 2017 EGCA application forms and is supported, as necessary, by additional engagement with cities.
The European Green Capital Secretariat compiled and edited this information which is now presented in Section 2 in twelve individual chapters, one per environmental indicator area. Section 3 highlights integrated examples of good environmental practice where more than one indicator has benefited from the implementation of a project.
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2 ENVIRONMENTAL GOOD PRACTICES
2.1 CLIMATE CHANGE: MITIGATION & ADAPTATION
Climate change is now clearly acknowledged by the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The IPCC completed the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) with the release of the Synthesis Report on 2 November 2014. AR5 is the most comprehensive assessment of climate change undertaken with input from over 830 scientists across more than 80 countries. The report finds that there is clear evidence of human influence on the climate system, the more we disrupt our climate, the more we risk severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts; and we have the means to limit climate change and build a more prosperous, sustainable future. 1
As the major global issue of our lifetime, climate change is at risk of simply being viewed from a macro level. However there is a growing realisation that its impacts are likely to be felt locally. Pressure is increasing for strategic approaches for adaptation to be devised and delivered at a local level. Adaptation action is needed to protect people, buildings, infrastructure, businesses and ecosystems. Due to the varying severity and nature of climate impacts between regions in Europe most adaptation initiatives will be taken at regional or local level.
Preventing dangerous climate change is a strategic priority for the European Union. Local and regional governments share the responsibility of fighting global warming with national governments. Towns and cities account directly and indirectly (through the products and services used by citizens) for more than half of the greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) derived from energy use related to human activity.
Within the Europe 2020 growth strategy, the EU has committed to cutting its emissions to 20% below 1990 levels. EU initiatives developed to achieve this target and reduce greenhouse gas emissions include an Emissions Trading System, implementing legislation to raise the share of energy consumption produced by renewable energy sources to 20% by 2020, setting a target to increase
Europe's energy efficiency by 20% by 2020, setting binding targets to reduce CO 2 emissions from new cars and vans and supporting the development of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies to trap and store CO 2 emitted by power stations and other major industrial installations. The European Climate Change Programme (ECCP) has been in place since 2000 to identify and develop all the necessary elements of an EU strategy to implement the Kyoto Protocol.
On the 23 rd October 2014 a domestic 2030 greenhouse gas reduction target of at least 40% compared to 1990 was agreed at an EU level. UN negotiations are now under way to develop a new international climate change agreement that will cover all countries. The new agreement will be adopted at the COP21 - Paris climate conference in December 2015 and implemented from 2020.
The EU commitment to reducing emissions will only be achievable if local stakeholders, citizens and civil society share it. Therefore local and regional governments, representing the closest administration to the citizen, need to lead action and set a good example. Many of the actions, on energy demand and renewable energy sources, necessary to tackle climate disruption fall within the scope of competence of local governments.
All of the applicant cities are working hard to reduce their CO 2 emissions for 2020 and beyond. All cities have committed to reduce their CO 2 emissions by at least 20% from their various baseline years
1 IPCC, 2014: Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report.
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(as demonstrated in Table 2-1 below 2). Noteworthy objectives to be commended are Nijmegen aimin g to be Climate Neutral by 2045; ‘s -Hertogenbosch aiming to be climate neutral by 2050, Lisbon aiming for a 54.4% reduction fr om 2002 levels by 2050; and Ume å with a goal of 50% reduction from 1990 levels by 2025.
Table 2-1: 2017 EGCA Applicant City Reduction Targets
City Base year Target Year % reduction Cascais 2005 2020 20% Cork 2005 2020 20% Essen 1990 2020 40% ‘s-Hertogenbosch 2007 2050 Neutral Lahti 1990 2020 35% Lisbon 2002 2050 54.40% Nijmegen 2008 2045 Neutral Pécs 2012 2020 42.90% Porto 2004 2020 45% Umeå 1990 2025 50% Overall Cascais is reported as producing the lowest CO 2 emissions/capita, producing 2.8t CO 2/capita in total. Cork City has the highest level of CO 2 emissions per capita across all applicant cities, producing 12.8 tonnes CO2/capita. CO2 emissions for all applicant cities are presented in Figure 2-13
Figure 2-1: CO2 Emissions per Capita (t CO2/inhabitant) in 2017 EGCA Applicant Cities
2 No data is available for the City of Bursa or Istanbul. The City of Bursa has initiated studies on calculating the greenhouse gas inventory. Once this has been completed the city reduction targets will be established.
3 No data is available for the city of Bursa.
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The following examples selected from the 2017 applications for the European Green Capital Award title showcase what cities are doing in terms of Climate Change in an urban environment.
Essen
Essen has an ambitious target of reducing CO 2 emissions by 40% before 2020, which goes significantly beyond the EU, national and state government targets. Essen also aims to be a low - carbon city by 2050, and will have reduced emissions by 95%, thus exceeding the German national targets. The city of E ssen considers the energy transition to be part of a sustainable programme of urban development, working towards the model of a compact, resource efficient city.
In order to establish Essen in the context of a new climate culture, the Climate Agency was founded in 2012 as a central and independent point of contact for consumers, companies, and other organisations in Essen. The Essen Climate Agency sets trends, provides funding for projects and organises events and campaigns.
A range of consulting services are organised in an energy expert partner system, supporting building owners in all phases of the renovation process, from initial analysis (27,000 thermal images in 2013), through planning, financing, involvement of tenants, and implementation of renovat ion.
Figure 2-2: Thermal image of the entire municipal area, a sample neighbourhood and a sample building
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Nijmegen In 1997 the City of Nijmegen stated within the Energy Policy Plan “Nijmegen is a city with a VINEX "4 (from the central government) building target of 12,000 houses. This will be a totally new part of the city, in which energy-saving and use of sustainable energy can be integrated.” To meet this objective the development of the Waals prong neighbourhood in Nijmegen has been realized and the use of sustainable energy has been central to development. A CO 2 reduction of at least 35% compared to other types of energy supply was foreseen.
In 2012 construction of the heating system began in order to facilitate the transport of waste heat from the waste incineration plant located in Weurt, 6 km to the Waalsprong district. The facility was built by the city with ARN, Alliander and the province of Gelderland and Nuon. The physical connection was finalised in 2014 with approximately 4,500 houses in the Waalsprong district connected. It is estimated that approximately 5.5 million m3 gas is saved per annum in switching from the original gas heated units. The extension of the network to serve the municipality of Arnhem is also under development with plans to connect it to Arnhem, making it a regional heating network. It is planned that 90,000 homes in both cities will be connected to Arnhem by 2030.
Figure 2-3: The existing heating systems (brown); urban and regional expansion (blue)
This heating system contributes to the objective of Nijmegen to be energy neutral in 2045 as it contains up to 70 percent less CO 2 emissions than gas boilers. The first phase of the project is co-financed by the municipality of Nijmegen, which contributes €3.8 million, and the province of Gelderland, which contributes €4 million and the national government, offering a maximum of €2.5 million .
Figure 2-4: Nijmegen district heating network
4 'Vinex' (Vierde Nota Ruimtelijke Ordening Extra) is a notation of the Dutch Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Env ironment ('Ministry for VROM') meaning 'Fourth note on spatial schedu ling extra'. This policy paper defined significant c onstruction tasks where large outer city areas were identified for new housing development. The Vinex locations were established in the 1990s as a result of the Vinex national spatial policy.
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Lisbon The Portuguese Carbon Fund was created in 2006 under the Portuguese Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning to help in meeting the commitments made at a national level to the Kyoto protocol. As part of this scheme Sown Biodiverse Pastures were funded which aim to reduce GHG emissions through carbon sequestration.
In 2013 the Sown Biodiversity Pastures were awarded the overall prize in the ‘World You Like Challenge’ from the European Commission as an innovative solution to climate change for reducing
CO 2 emissions, soil erosion and the risk of wild fires while increasing the productivity of pasturelands, a key example of a win-win situation for both mitigation and adaptation actions.
Overall the Sown Biodiverse Pastures project involves over 1,000 Portuguese farmers and provides them with seed mixtures adapted for specific soils which help increase the soil's resilience to environmental instabilities. The project, promoted by a Portuguese agricultural and environmental company called Terraprima, has led to improved soil fertility, water retention and erosion resistance as well as helped to increase the productivity of pastures across many parts of Portugal.
Building on this innovation, and forming part of Lisbon’s climate adaptation Master Plan, Lisbon Municipality developed a 1.0 ha pilot urban biodiversity meadow, and is planning to expand the project to more than 50 ha in the Eastern Greenway starting by 2016.
Figure 2-5: Biodiversity Meadows in Lisbon City
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2.2 LOCAL TRANSPORT
Cities all over Europe face similar growing problems in the area of mobility which include congestion, road safety, security, pollution, climate change due to CO 2 emissions. Getting from one place to another is a requirement of all people across the European Union, plays a significant role on the quality of life of citizens and has an important role in providing healthy local and national economies. The key considerations that cities and towns now face in the development of sustainable urban transport systems and infrastructure can include:
° Reducing traffic congestion in the urban environment
As traffic increases in urban areas this leads to congestion which can have negative economic, social and environmental impacts and degrades the built environment. Many European towns and cities suffer from chronic traffic congestion which is estimated to cost €80 billion annually.5 Alternatives to private car use, such as collective transport, walking and cycling need to be made attractive and safe for all. Citizens should be able to switch between modes easily.
° Developing cleaner and greener towns and cities
The main environmental issues in towns and cities stem from the domination of oil as a transport fuel, which generates CO 2, and air pollutant emissions. The EEA estimates that urban transport is 6 responsible for up to 25% of all transport CO 2 emissions. These have a negative impact on citizens' health. Developing and implementing new and clean technologies (energy efficiency, alternative fuels) and redefining green zones (developing a pedestrian zone within towns and cities, restricting access zones) can help in the evolution of towns and cities.
° Smarter urban transport
Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), urban traffic management and control applications present a potential added value for the efficient management of urban mobility in cities and towns. These measures can include smart charging systems, better traveller information and the standardisation of interfaces and interoperability of ITS applications in towns and cities are part of the solution.
° Accessible urban transport
As society develops and evolves citizens expect more intelligent and affordable mobility solutions. Citizens now expect seamless and accessible collective transport and safe infrastructure for walking, cycling and private vehicle use. They expect more flexible transport solutions for both freight and passenger mobility.
5 Together towards competitive and resource-efficient urban mobility, COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS 6 A closer look at urban transport – TERM 2013: transport indicators tracking progress towards environmental targets in Europe, EEA 2013
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° Safe and secure urban transport
About two-thirds of road accidents and one -third of road fatalities takes place in urban areas with the most vulnerable road users being pedestrians and cyclists. In order to improve this situation, possible solutions must cover behavioural, veh icle and infrastructure aspects as well as a strict enforcement of traffic rules. Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMP) look to foster balanced development and better integration of different urban mobility modes. Sustainable urban mobility is primarily about people with a significant emphasis on citizen and stakeholder , engagement, as well as fostering changes in mobility behaviour.
The Reference Framework for European Sustainable Cities (RFSC) offers guidance to cities in order to encourage its citizens to change their travel behaviour e.g. trying alternatives to the car such as cycling, walking and public transport.
Figure 2-6 shows the length of cycle paths and lanes per inhabitant in each of the applicant cities. Lahti has the highest proportion of cycle paths per inhabitant with 3.8m/inhabitant , followed by ‘s- Hertogenbosch (2.17m/inhabitant).
Figure 2-6: Cycle path length per Applicant city inhabitant
Data provided by the 2017 EGCA applicant cities showed that in 10 of the applicant cities over 80% of all of citizens live within 300m of an hourly or more frequent public transport service . Lisbon was the city with the highest access to mobility, with 99 -100% of citizens living within 300 m of an hourly or more frequent public transport service. Lahti was the applicant city with the lowest access to mobility with 60% of citizens living within 300 m of an hourly or more frequent public transport service.
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Figure 2-7: Proportion of Population Living within 300 m o f an Hourly Public Transport Service
The following examples from Lisbon and ‘s -Hertogenbosch demonstrate some excellent initiatives at greening transport in cities.
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Lisbon The Baixa Pombalina Mobility Plan is an i nnovative approach adopted in the downtow n area of Lisbon which has resulted in a significant reduction of traffic flow (e.g. 48% for Rua do Ouro street) and the conversion of car space back to public space (e.g. 400 m of the Ribeira das Naus avenue waterfront).
Prior to 2008, Baixa Pombalina (downtown area) was dominated by traffic. It was a major axis for cars, acting as a crossing route from “Avenida da Liberdade” in the north to the Main square “Praça do Comércio”, and then in the direction of east or west. The Main Square “Praça do Comércio” was open to normal car traffic with the central area being for pedestrians only.
In 2008, the introduction of the Mobility Plan resulted in several changes to this system such as the complete pedestrianisation of the Main Square “Praça do Comércio”. This led to an improvement in circulation to public transportation (bus and taxi) and also a renewal of public space.
A new system of circulation was also implemented on the main avenues “Marquês de Pombal” square, “Avenida da Liberdade” and “Rua do Ouro” resulting in a 49% traffic reduction. A new metro station was opened in 2007 and renovations were made to mobility infrastructure such as the train interface to Cascais and the boat station to South bank river cities. In 2013, the Main Square section on the West riverside front, “Ribeira das Naus”, was completely renovated and is now a 30 km/h zone with only 1+1 lanes for cars during the week. It is also 100% pedestrian use only at the weekends and school holidays periods.
The stakeholders involved included transport operators, commercial association, parking companies and local institutions. The plan initially met some public opposition however the new system has now been widely accepted and used and is also now complemented by two public lifts that allow connections with the surrounding historical hills.
Since 2012, Lisbon´s air quality in this area has improved and is now compliant with the legal limits defined by the EU. The changes made as part of the Mobility Plan has also led to an increase in house renovations and jobs, which has also had a knock-on positive effect on the local economy.
Figure 2-8: Baixa Pombalina (downtown area) of Lisbon
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‘s-Hertogenbosch The city of ‘s -Hertogenbosch has developed and implemented the ‘ Lekker Fietsen ’ campaign to encourage cycling in the city. In recent years, the municipality of 's-Hertogenbosch introduced a variety of measures to get more residents, employees and visitors of 's-Hertogenbosch to use cycling as their primary means of transportation. This has led to the nomination of ‘s-Hertogenbosch as Bicycle City of the Netherlands in 2011.
The total cost of the total plan is €25 million over the period 2009-2015. The programme consists of investments in infrastructure including bicycle paths, lanes, bicycle parking facilities (guarded and free of charge), marketing and innovation.
Bicycle traffic into the inner city has increased by 70% as a result of investments made by the municipality such as the construction of a high-quality bicycle network with bike lanes, bicycle streets and bike fast lanes. Since 2005, a total of 30 km of cycling routes and 1,750 free monitored bicycle parking sites have been established. There is also free bicycle parking in the inner city and at the main railway station.
's-Hertogenbosch has approximately 310 km of cycle lanes along roads, which amounts to 2.2 metres of cycle lane per resident. Approximately 56% or 1,000 hectares of the living area in the city is residential. The car is equivalent to the bicycle in these areas and people can cycle safely to do their errands and for commuting.
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Figure 2-9: There’s great cycling in ‘s-Hertogenbosch!
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2.3 GREEN URBAN AREAS IN CORPORATING SUSTAINA BLE LAND USE
As urban areas grow and population densities rise, it is easy for municipalities to neglect the need for green areas, and sacrifice these spaces for industrial growth. Green spaces, quiet streets and recreational parks are vital to the well -being of citizens and it is imperative that these areas are maintained and enhanced with in the urban environment.
Urban sprawl is a natural occurrence within cities, a balance between the needs of urban, rural and residential areas is needed and sustainable land use policies and practices need to be in place to help find this balance. The Territorial Agenda of th e European Union was developed and adopted informally in 2007 by EU ministers to promote spatial development plans to address sprawl and promote stronger partnerships between urban and rural areas. The EU’s Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (G MES) programme enables the monitoring of land use in Europe through mapping at continental (‘CORINE land cover’) and local hot spot (‘Urban Atlas’) areas.
The EU utilises funding programmes to foster green space initiatives such as the ‘Green and Blue Spa ce Adaption for Urban Areas and Eco Towns’ (GRaBS) project which is supported by Cohesion Policy funds and promotes urban planning efforts aimed at preserving and adapting open spaces to improve quality of life while also combating climate cha nge.
Genera lly all applicant cities for the 2017 EGCA are cities with an increasing population density. Cities that reported a decreasing density included Lisbon, Pécs and Porto. Lisbon has the highest population density with 64 inhabitants per hectare while Lahti is the least densely populated applicant city with 7 inhabitants per hectare. The composition and make -up of cities and towns can vary greatly and are influenced significantly by the geographical location and history. The make-up of the applicant cities for the 2017 EGCA is presented in Figure 2-10.
Figure 2-10: The percentage of green areas, blue are as, residential areas, industrial or economic areas, mixed areas, brownfields
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Soil sealing is the covering of the ground by an impermeable material, such as asphalt or concrete, and is identified as one of the main causes of soil degradation in the EU. This is an important issue to be considered in the development and management of our urban environments. Soil sealing in the applicant cities in presented in
Figure 2-11.
Figure 2-11: Soil Sealing in inner city & overall city 7
The following examples showcase what cities are doing in terms of Green urban areas incorporating sustainable land use in the urban environment.
7 The cities of Bursa and Istanbul did not provide data for this benchmark.
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Umeå Umeå has developed an impressive tool called the ‘Green Target’ that is used as a quality control feature during the planning process. To develop the ‘Green Target’ surveys were undertaken to obtain data about the accessibility of citizens to green structures serving different kinds of outdoor experiences and activities. The target is a summarized illustration of the accessibility of green urban areas to residential areas and targets for green structure. It is used for administration and planning purposes and in communicating the goals with the public.
In the development and growth of the city it is the objective of Umeå to ensure that all citizens have access to facilities including playgrounds, small groves, lawns etc. within 250m of their homes. The results of the ‘Green Target’ demonstrated that Umeå offers extensive opportunities to the citizens to connect to a diverse range of green structure close to housing areas. In 2014 approximately 83% of citizens were living within 300m of green urban areas 5000m2 in inner city.
It is also used in the impact assessment for comprehensive or detailed plans and in planning as a quality control regarding available green urban areas and activities in residential areas. Every detailed development and building plan within the city is evaluated for their impacts on environment, nature and biodiversity as well as on the targets for green structure. Where a plan has major impacts on green targets, actions to avoid impacts or compensation for the impacts have to be considered. Having well developed and formulated targets for green structure is important for weighting interest of real estate developments against public interests connected to green structure.
Figure 2-12: The Green Target
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Lisbon “Parque das Nações ” is an icon of urban regeneration within Lisbon city. The area covers 340 ha, with 5 km of riverfront area on the Tejo river estuary integrated into a 60 ha area around the Doca dos Olivais [Olive Groves Dock] – built in the 1940s for use as a hydroplane airport. In just over 10 years this neighbourhood has become a mixed use area for housing and services with a high quality of life.
The decision to redevelop this area was as a result of Lisbon being nominated to host the 1998 World Fair under the theme "The Oceans, a Heritage for the Future". It also helped the City and its citizens to develop a new and energised relationship with the Tejo river estuary.
Figure 2-13: Parque das Nações walkway
The redevelopment of the Parque das Nações area commenced in 1993 where it was formerly home to industrial installations, petrol deposits, old military warehouses, an obsolete abattoir and “Beirolas” solid waste dump.
“Parque das Nações”, following soil decontamination, became a modern and high standard neighbourhood upon the riverfront, thanks to the new pleasant public spaces, cultural and leisure facilities. Its central area became a new economic hub, where many important new technology companies located their headquarters, well linked with the main railway line, public transport and close to Lisbon airport.
Accessibility was an important issue during the renewal, which involved the creation of roadway structures, the construction of the Vasco da Gama Bridge, the extension of the metro rail network and the construction of the Oriente Station, an intermodal transit station.
“Parque das Nações” is an exemplary green area within Lisbon with over 110 hectares of urban parkland comprising of 20,000 trees, 70,000 bushes, and 1,500,000 other plants. The largest park is located along the Tagus River, occupying 92 hectares along its northern bank. The Cabeço das Rolas Park extends for 7 hectares and the Garcia de Orta Gardens extends for 1 hectare.
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Figure 2-14: The dimension of the riverside renovation
The details of the project include high quality urban design, wide pavements and attractive areas for circulation. It is an area with a multi-functional use across recreation and leisure, a commercial zone, an exposition centre, and centre of culture and knowledge. On average ‘Parque das Nações” is visited by an estimated 1 million people every month.
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2.4 NATURE AND BIODIVERSITY
Closely related to the implementation of green urban areas in cities, is the need to maintain nature and biodiversity in urban settings. Biodiversity makes our cities greener and more liveable, and it also makes them beautiful places to live in. The social impacts of nature and biodiversity are endless, providing aesthetic pleasure, artistic inspiration and recreation. The impact on health and well-being is also crucial. Normally associated with more rural areas, it may come as a surprise that cities can be very biologically diverse places. Cities are required to recognise the vulnerability of biodiversity, the negative effect that urban sprawl can have on it and their policies which will protect it.
The EU has committed itself to the protection of biodiversity through different policy actions. It is a Party to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) 1992, which seeks to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of the diversity of species, habitats and ecosystems on the planet. The EU has adopted a series of measures to implement this Protocol, the most recent of which was in March 2010. It was pledged to halt the loss of biodiversity and the degradation of ecosystem services in the EU by 2020, and restore them in so far as feasible. CBD parties agreed in 2010 on 20 key biodiversity goals, which are known as the Aichi Biodiversity Targets. Cities play a central part in achieving these goals because they are the place where nature is at the same time most useful to people's well-being and most endangered by urban sprawl and modern living – and also because cities are places of politics and decision-making, that can make a difference with nature and biodiversity-related policies.
Implementing Directives which require the integration of biodiversity concerns into spatial planning is one way the EU has employed to reach the 2020 target. These Directives are the Habitats (92/43/EEC) and Wild Birds (2009/147/EC) Directives which require Member States to protect habitats and species of EU conservation concern. Through these Directives it has been recognised that the most important sites for these habitats and species should become protected areas. This led to the establishment of the Natura 2000 network which is the largest network of protected areas in the world. It comprises over 26,000 protected areas with an area of more than 750,000 km 2 which is nearly 20% of the EU’s land area.
Geographical location and climate also plays a significant role on the natural biodiversity of an area. The climatic conditions in the applicant cities for the 2017 EGCA vary greatly with maritime temperate climates in Cork, Essen, ‘s-Hertogenbosch and Pécs, mild temperate in Nijmegen, warm temperate in Istanbul, cold temperate in Lahti, continental subarctic condition in Umeå and Mediterranean in Cascais, Lisbon, Porto and Bursa. The city which receives the most rainfall annually is Porto, with over 1,200 mm/annum and Istanbul has the lowest rainfall receiving 439 mm/annum.
The following examples showcase what cities are doing in terms of Nature and Biodiversity in the urban environment.
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Cascais The Cascais Urban Ecological Structure aims to protect areas that support essential and complementary ecological systems, whose protection is essential for the sustainable functioning of urban space and for all public green zones.
Figure 2-15: The Cascais Urban Ecological Structure
The long-term goals are as follows: ° Maintain a healthy environment, carrying out measures aimed at restoring and maintaining ecosystems and biodiversity; ° Enhance the natural environment by raising awareness about the value of the natural zones and the importance of maintaining the ecological services; ° Regenerate the city grid, assessing and addressing the lack of green areas in the urban environment by building parks and gardens and the restoration of historical centers; ° Preserve the landscape, carrying out measures and actions to maintain the identity of the area. The short-term goals are as follows: ° Creating connectivity among the habitats through ecological corridors that act as shelters for flora and fauna and provision of environmental services; ° Encourage biodiversity, the protection of priority habitats and the restoration of ecosystems that allow the establishment of typical fauna and flora; ° Multifunctionality of the landscape, highlighting the mosaic of the local landscape, the uses and functions, promoting a balance between production spaces, recreation and biodiversity conservation; ° Provision of access to the natural areas to encourage a healthy lifestyle which invites people to opt for hiking, mountain biking or horse riding. Courses may be associated with ecological corridors such as tributaries, country roads and lanes; ° Reference projects such as nature parks and urban parks representative of a line of coherent action, compatible with the biophysical characteristics of the territory, encouraging visits, environmental education, sport and other recreational and leisure activities.
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Cascais Municipal Council has developed an improvement campaign for 2015 for the council's tributaries to improve the quality of life of its residents and visitors. The purpose of the redevelopment is to create a genetic pool for native species currently under threat e.g. i n locations with the greatest potential, individual Iberochondrostoma lusitanicum (boga- portuguesa) will be i ntroduced, which are classified as "critically endangered" by LVVP4.
Figure 2-16: Iberochondrostoma lusitanicum (boga - portuguesa)
‘s-Hertogenbosch ‘s -Hertogenbosch has demonstrated good practices in successful reintroduction and monitoring of target species.
In 1990, the City successfully reintroduced the Scarce large blue in Moerputten within a Natura 2000 area. This is the only location in the Netherlands where this species can be found.
The City received confirmation of the success of the approach in 2012 when the Natura 2000 site received €1.7 million under the title 'Blues in the Marshes' from the European programme Life+ with 'Blue' referring to the Scarce large blue.
Measures taken as part of the re -introduction include arrangements with other authorities and proprietors regarding verge management and maintenance and the transfer of blue grassland grass strips from the central nature area to the surrounding grasslands in 2014. The Scarce large blue is also being taken into account in flood Figure 2-17 : Scarce large blue in management with the construction of quays. Moerputten Other species have also been reintrodu ced within the city environment. In 2013 the City reintroduced the spadefoot toad in Hooge Heide. Individuals and Brabants Landschap worked together to improve and enhance the habitat with a species protection plan and a comprehensive vision for nature in Hooge Heide. The beaver, stork and badger can now be found in the environment again with beavers tending towards the Green Forest, the storks tending towards the wetland around the city in the Bossche Broek the Gement, the Maas floodplains and the Dieze es tuary and the badgers have settled in the Hooge Heide.
Natural and small-scale cultivated landscape areas will form the habitat of the badger, middle spotted woodpecker, viviparous lizard and spadefoot toad. There are currently 300 acres of natural lands cape and 350 acres of small-scale cultivated landscape available. The municipality gained 10 more acres of additional natural land in the form of ponds and hedgerows and 15 hectares of monotone pine forest has been transformed into natural forest with natu ral fields. Brabant Water will add approximately 75 hectares to this in 2014-2015.
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Figure 2-18 : Animals reintroduced include beaver, spadefoot toad, badger and stork
The effects of all management measures are carefully monitored, especially by nature organisations and the province of North Brabant and within the National Ecological Network and Natura 2000 areas.
The City of 's-Hertogenbosch has also invented the biobarometer, which experts and concerned citizens can use to assess the quality of nature in green areas. This is also a means of communication to stimulate new initiatives.
Figure 2-19: The Biobarometer developed by 's -Hertogenbosch
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2.5 AMBIENT AIR QUALITY
Clean air is vital to our well-being and cities play a vital role in delivering programmes to maintain air quality in the urban environment . Economic activities, in particular those related to road transport, power and heat production, industry and agriculture, emit a range of air pollutants. These have direct and indirect effects on human health, and also adversely affect both ecosystems and cultural heritage .
In December 2013 the Commission adopted a Clean Air Policy Package consisting of a new Clean Air Programme for Europe with new air quality objectives for the period up to 2030 and a revised National Emission Ceilings Directive with stricter national emission ceilings for the six main pollutants.
Particulate matter (PM), ozone (O 3) and nitrogen dioxide (NO 2) are broadly consid ered to be Europe's most problematic atmospheric pollutants in terms of harm to human health. In particular, both high
PM and O 3 pollution have been linked to reducing life expectancy and to cardiovascular and chronic respiratory problems. Ozone is a secon dary pollutant formed in the atmosphere by the chemical reaction of hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxide ion s in the presence of sunlight. In the Air Quality Directive a target value was set for 2010 whereby 120 μg/m3 is not to be exceeded as maximum daily 8 hour running mean on more than 25 days per calendar year averaged over three years 8. Figure 2-20 presents the m aximum number of da ys per year on which the EU target value for ozone was exceeded measured at air quality monitoring stations representing most recent years . Bursa and Pécs exceeded this target exceeding the threshold on 80 and 68 days respectively. Cork and Lahti reported no days where O 3 limits were exceeded.
Figure 2-20: Max Number of days per year on which EU target value f or ozone were exceeded (max running 8h mean) 9
8 European Union Directive 2008/50/EC of 21 May 2008 on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe 9 There is currently no ozone monitoring station in Umeå with the closest station located 50 km from Umeå. Therefore no data is available to present.
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For NO 2 the cities of Bursa, Essen, Istanbul, Lisbon and Pécs have exceeded the annual mean limit value of 40 µg/m3. Lahti reported the lowest concentration of 16 µg/m3. Bursa and Istanbul are currently exceeding the target value for PM 2.5 of 25 µg/m3 and the lim it value of 40 µg/m3 for PM 10 . Figure 2-21`presents the maximum measured values at air quality monitoring stations for most recent 10 year for NO 2, PM 2.5 and PM 10 as annual mean concentration for the EGCA Applicant cities of the 2017 cycle
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Figure 2-21: Annual Mean Air Concentrations of NO2, PM2.5 & PM10
The following examples showcase what cities are doing in terms of air quality in the urban environment.
10 No data on the annual mean concentration of PM 2.5 was provided for the cities of Cascais and Pecs.
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Cork Cork is the pilot city for the 2014 launch of the Drive4Zero initiative which encourages companies and individuals to consider the electric vehicle as a real and cost effective alternative to petrol or diesel cars. If successful, this initiative will reduce CO 2 emissions by 50%, improve air quality and the acoustic environment. It provides an opportunity for Cork based companies to encourage their employees to make sustainable choices, encouraging public transport, walking and cycling and assisting the transition to a cheaper, cleaner and happier driving experience.
A target of 10% of all vehicles to be electric by 2020 has been set as electric cars have become an alternative to diesel and petrol fuelled cars in the last number of years. The vehicle technology, fuelling infrastructure, performance, comfort and affordability of electric cars has progressed rapidly and they are now a very real option for car buyers.
Employers, local government, public representatives, industry and car manufacturers have developed Cork’s Drive to Zero opportunity to offer excellent value for money to potential buyers, along with a range of advantages that aims to make owning an electric car an easy and feasible option.
Figure 2-22: Drive4Zero initiative
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Essen The City of Essen has shown commitment to improving air quality based on the time frames for 2020 and 2035, and is working towards a two-stage objective. Primarily, air pollutants (PM 10 , NO 2) must sustainably be kept at a level below the EU limit values over the entire area. In the second stage, the aim will be to comply with the WHO guidelines.
3 The 2020 objective is the stabilisation of the PM 10 annual average to <29 μg/m . This would ensure compliance with the annual maximum of 35 days exceeding the daily average of 50 µg/m³, even in years where weather conditions mean limited change of air. Extensive compliance with the NO 2 limit value is also a 2020 objective. The 2035 objective is extensive compliance with the WHO guideline values for PM 10 (20 µg/m³) and reduction of days when PM 10 values exceed EU daily limit values (50µg/m³) to zero. Extensive compliance with EU limit values and WHO guidelines for NO 2 is also a 2035 objective i.e. annual average: 40 µg/m³, hourly average: 200 µg/m³ at 18 days exceeding limit per year. Essen intends to achieve these objectives by implementing an integrated strategy including: ° Pollution protection measures developed in close cooperation with the Essen Climate Agency. Establishment of the "integrated energy and climate protection concept (IECC)” and the Clean Air Plan which include measures relating to the themes of energy efficiency, mobility, consumer conduct, and business and industry. The many varied projects will generate a host of synergy effects.
° The EURO VI standard for trucks, valid from 2013, and the Euro 6 standard for cars and light utility vehicles, which is mandatory from September 2014, have enabled the City of Essen to sustainably reduce the emissions of its own vehicle pool. By 2022, complete compliance of the vehicle pool will have been achieved. These regulations provide for a reduction in fuel consumption and a
reduction in PM10 and NO 2 emissions of up to 80%. Furthermore, a strategy of introducing electromobility is currently being pursued. Two city subsidiaries (Stadtwerke Essen AG and Allbau AG) are successfully using the first vehicles under this scheme.
Figure 2-23: Metropolrad Ruhr rental bike at Essen central station
° The reduction of car traffic is predominantly the result of the expanding cycling infrastructure and the extension of the local public transport system. In 2011, 122.8 million passengers used Essen's local transport system. In 2013, this figure increased to 124.1 million passengers. The overall investment requirements for systems, buildings, vehicles and operating equipment within the
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Essen local public transport system for the years 2013 – 2017 stands at approx. €234 mi llion.
° Participation in coordinated "truck routing concept" for the Ruhr Metropolis, in order to develop an environmentally friendly route for truck traffic, the route recommendations of which could be passed on to the manufacturers of navigation systems.
Figure 2-24: Public local transport in Essen
° In the west of the city, the four-lane road "Berthold-Beitz-Boulevard" is being built as a city centre bypass, which will also be equipped with the new tram line 109. The objective will be to take the load off the Hindenburgstraße and Hans-Böckler-Straße hotspots. Of the three sections under construction, two were opened in 2009. The 3rd section is currently under construction (overall costs: €80 million).
° Redesigning the A40 intersection at Essen-Frillendorf to take the pressure off the Hombrucher Straße hotspot. Reconstruction of the "North" and "South" intersections.
° Reorganisation of the traffic routing at Essen-Werden to overcome the traffic hotspots in Brückstraße Reduction of emissions from small residential combustion plants.
Between the themes of air quality, noise reduction, climate protection and local traffic, there are mutual interactions . Through synergy effects, measures developed for the specific sectors will have a knock-on positive effect on each of the other subject areas mentioned above.
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2.6 QUALITY OF ACOUSTIC ENVIRONMENT
The quality of the acoustic environment is an important element of the urban environment and a challenging issue facing city administrations. It impacts on the quality of life of the population of a city. Ambient sound levels that are beyond comfort levels are referred to as environmental noise pollution. This can be caused by many different sources, such as traffic, construction works and industry as well as some recreational activities. Excess levels of noise can cause damage to hearing, increased stress levels and unnatural sleeping patterns. According to World Health Organisation (WHO) research it is estimated that one in five Europeans are regularly exposed to sound exceeding 55dB at night.
The Environmental Noise Directive (2002/49/EC) relates to the assessment and management of environmental noise. Its principle aim is to ‘define a common approach intended to avoid, prevent or reduce, on a prioritised basis, the harmful effects, including annoyance, due to the exposure to environmental noise’. The Directive refers to noise that people are exposed to continuously and not to noise created by persons themselves, their neighbours, their workplaces or while in transit. Its aim is to provide a basis for developing EU measures to reduce noise emitted by major sources, in particular road and rail vehicles and infrastructures, aircraft, outdoor and industrial equipment and mobile machinery. The underlying principles of the Directive include
° Monitoring environmental noise pollution through the development of "strategic noise maps" for major roads, railways, airports and agglomerations, using harmonised noise indicators Lden and Lnight.
° Informing and consulting the public about noise exposure, its effects, and the measures considered to address noise.
° Addressing local noise issues by developing action plans to reduce noise where necessary and maintain environmental noise quality in areas where it is good.
° Developing a long-term EU strategy, which includes objectives to reduce the number of people affected by noise in the longer term, and provides a framework for developing existing Community policy on noise reduction from source.
EU regulations on noise management have been based on internal market objectives such as setting harmonised noise limits for motor vehicles, household appliances and other noise-generating products. These laws have encouraged the development of innovations that can help limit noise pollution, such as low noise tyres and more silent road surfaces, as well as noise barriers and soundproofing. A number of applicant cities for the 2017 cycle have demonstrated the use of noise reduction measures, particularly in the use of low noise asphalt materials within their cities. Details of this are presented in below.
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Figure 2-25 shows the exposure to noise in each of the applicant cities, where available, using harmonised noise indicators. 11 Lden is an abbreviation for day-evening-night level and is the accumulated sound level for the day, evening and night time periods. It is a descriptor of noise level based on energy equivalent noise level (Leq ) over a whole day using the average of the calculated sound values for the day time period (7.00 hrs-19.00 hrs) plus 5 dB(A) for evening noise (19.00 hrs- 23.00 hrs) and plus 10 dB(A) for night time noise (between 22.00 hrs-7.00 hrs) 12 .
Figure 2-25: % Population Exposure to Noise The Environmental Noise Directive defines a quiet area in an agglomeration as ‘an area, delimited by a competent authority, for instance, which is not exposed to a value of Lden or another appropriate noise indicator greater than a certain value set by the Member State, from any noise source’.
The methods generally used to identify quiet areas include noise mapping by modelling and calculations, actual measurements of sound-pressure levels in situ, evaluation of user/visitor experiences (i.e. the soundscape approach), and expert assessments. Within the applicant cities for the 2017 EGCA cycle Ume å citizens have the greatest access to ‘quiet areas’ with 88% of their citizens living within 300m of ‘quiet areas’.
11 Note data for Istanbul concerns only 15 of the 39 districts, therefore a higher exposure percentage is likely with a complete dataset; Data for Cascais is incomplete as few road noise sources are included resulting in artificially low reported exposure percentages. 12 EEA Definition http://glossary.eea.europa.eu/terminology/concept_html?term=lden
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Figure 2-26: Percentage of citizens living within 300m of quiet areas 14
The following examples showcase what cities are doing in terms of noise in the urban environment.
14 Data for Bursa, Cascais, Cork and Istanbul was not available
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Use of low noise road pavements Historically materials like asphalt concrete and chipped hot rolled asphalt have been used as the main road surface material used on roads across Europe. The cities of Essen, ‘s-Hertogenbosch and Nijmegen have demonstrated efficient noise reduction measures through the use of low noise road pavements as a material used in the resurfacing of roads.
Essen
Low Noise Asphalt materials generally thin layer surfaces or porous asphalts with one or two layers. Thin layers are different bituminous layers with a maximum thickness of 3 cm and a small aggregate size (4-8 mm as maximum chipping size).
In Essen ‘hotspots’ or areas where particularly high numbers of residents were affected by high noise levels were identified with the first noise-reduction measures of Essen's 2010 Noise Action Plan implemented between 2009 and 2011. As part of this work 8 stretches of road were resurfaced with noise-optimised asphalt.
Noise-optimised asphalt was developed at Ruhr University Bochum. It is an even surface structure of concave plateaus with crevices which ensures less contact pressure with tyres, as a result of which the tyres vibrate less, generating less airborne sound. The crevices in the surface structure allow air trapped between the profile blocks to escape, significantly reducing the "air-pumping effect". The noise-optimised asphalt used in Essen reduces tyre noise by up to eight dB(A); cumulatively, a noise reduction of four dB(A) was introduced into the noise calculation.
By August 2014, a total of 18 road sections had been resurfaced with noise-optimised asphalt. The total area of these measures comes to approx. 128,000 m², and corresponded to a construction cost volume of approx. €12.1 million. As part of the Main Roads Programme 2013 it is planned that in future years approx. 64,000 m² of road surface will be replaced annually at an estimated cost of approx. €5 million per year. Where possible noise-optimised asphalt will be used.
Figure 2-27: Extension of the A40 at Essen-Frillendorf with "porous asphalt" and new noise barriers
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‘s -Hertogenbosch
Quieter types of tarmac (thinner layers) are used in a number of places in the city such as the Parallelweg. At present these measures are only implemented during reconstructions and road upgrades where it is financially feasible. A noise-reducing tarmac (SMA NL -05) is also used within the municipality which has a reducing effect of about 1 dB compared to the regular non -porous asphalt concrete.
Figure 2-28: Opportunities for improving sound quality by road surface changes in ‘s-Hertogenbosch
Nijmegen
In Nijmegen, there is a focus on noise reduction measures that are cost efficient and efficient. As part of the Noise Action P lan the most effective way identified of achieving this was by replacing the standard dense asphaltic concrete pavement in major maintenance by silent asphalt.
It is planned that this will lead to a noise reduction of approximately 1.5 dB. Nijmegen strive s to ensure that all roads within the municipality are equipped with silent asphalt by 2020.
Figure 2-29 : Silent asphalt planned for all road surfaces in 2020
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Umeå Umeå , the European Capital of Culture 2014 , considers sound, nature and culture as connected and intertwined aspects of the city. An example of this is demonstrated at the upgraded railway station in downtown Umeå which showcases “Lev! (Live!) – a soundscape-like installation inspired by the works of the regionally acclaimed author Sara Lidman.
The installation, the largest glass art work in Europe, was unveiled in November 2012 and is inspired from train travel through a birch tree landscape. It is illustrated in sound by bird-song and the author reciting from her work.
Historically the tunnel was considered dark, narrow, steep with limited daylight and not easily accessible from safety perspective. In designing the new tunnel the architects have worked with space, height, daylight, rounded edges, gradual gradient, artwork and maximum transparency with a stair case at the entrance, exit and in the middle of the tunnel.
The tunnel cost approximately €12.7 million euro to implement which was co–financed by the Swedish transport administration and the National Board of Housing, Building and Planning
Figure 2-30: The art-work “Lev!” (Live!) with sound installations at Umeå central train station Photo: Thomas Kieselbach (CC BY-NC 2.0)”
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’s-Hertogenbosch
The municipality of 's-Hertogenbosch has a strong focus on the manag ement of noise from events. Since 2007 the City has been measuring noise generated at all major events and typically covers twelve to fifteen events per year. U nmanned measuring stations are used which can be read remotely for four years. When the limit is exceeded or complaints are received the event organiser is contacted immediately. In addition to this event organiser s can proactively monitor the noise situation in real time on the municipal w ebsite.
Figure 2-31: Example of a typical unmanned noise monitoring station at an event & municipal website showing current noise levels
This measure has resulted in an increase in compliance and positive feedback has been received from event organisers regarding the monitoring options and the available information. In 2014, the City implemented a penalty syste m which is used when an organi zation does not comply with the sound limits.
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2.7 WASTE PRODUCTION AND MANAGEMENT
Policy objectives aim to deliver a lasting shift towards prevention and recycling as part of a transition to a greener economy. Managing waste as a valuable resource and maximising the potential for reuse, recycling or recovery has now become a growing focus across Europe. Waste that is merely disposed of can be interpreted as a loss of resources and thus as an inefficiency of the economy.
The EU Waste Framework Directive (2008/98/EC) is the cornerstone of EU waste policy. It revised the waste hierarchy as a 5 step priority order, with waste prevention as the best option, followed by preparing for reuse, recycling and other forms of recovery including energy recovery. Disposal is the least preferred option and with many Member States implementing landfill bans and taxes, the landfilling is quickly becoming an obsolete waste treatment in EU Member States. Furthermore, life- cycle thinking was also introduced as a new waste policy concept.
Today EU waste legislation has a strategic approach to waste and resource efficiency, and manages different waste streams by setting different recycling targets. For example, the 2015 target for recycling of end of life vehicles (ELVs) will be 85% and the recovery target (including energy recovery) will be 95%. The EU 'Roadmap to a Resource Efficient Europe' reinforces this approach.
Figure 2-32: Municipal and domestic waste generation/capita
In 2013 approximately 481 kg of municipal waste 15 was generated per person in the European Union. This represents almost a 9% decrease since 2002 and shows a downward trend in waste generation across Europe. Figure 2-32 presents waste generation across the 2017 applicant cities and shows that Cork reports the lowest municipal waste generation per capita at 344 kg/capita. Essen has the highest municipal waste generation rate of the applicant cities at 556 kg/capita.
In terms of waste treatment options the European trend, reported by Eurostat for 2013 states that 31% of municipal waste was landfilled, 43% of waste was recycled 16 and 28% of municipal waste was
15 Municipal waste is defined as ‘waste generated by households, and also includes similar waste from sources such as shops, offices and public institutions’ . Data on municipal waste generation in the Netherlands is not available as municipalities in the Netherlands are by law only responsible for the collection and environmentally safe treatment of household waste. 16 Recycling includes material recycling and composting
MDR0763Rp0035F01 37 Urban Environment Good Practice & Benchmarking Report EGCA 2017 recovered. From the 2017 EGCA Applicant cities Nijmegen has the highest recycling rate at 68% with the remaining 32% thermally treated and is well above the average across EU Member States.
Figure 2-33 : Waste treatment in 2017 EGCA Applicant cities
The following examples showcase what cities are doing in terms of waste in the urban environment.
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Nijmegen A communication campaign “Look! Waste = Resource” was established in Nijmegen to increase awareness of the public on waste prevention and segregation. This campaign was launched in 2013 with the aim of persuading people that "waste does not exist", but ins tead is a valuable resource that can be reused again.
Using the consistent message and brand, Look! Waste = Resource, a specific waste stream is focused on each year. The aim of the annual campaign is to create awareness among residents about:
- the social and economic value of that specific waste;
- the importance of separate collection and recycling of that specific waste, and
- how one can participate
Figure 2-34: Campaign Poster for “Look! Wast e = Resource”
In 2013, organic waste was the focus of the campaing. The campaign message that organic waste is the raw material used to make compost and biogas. To promote the campaign free compost was given to people. Within the theme of organic waste th e prevention of food waste was also a key focus. For 2015 the focus is on textiles. Prevention will be an integral part of this campaign by emphasising that even torn clothes and curtains, sheets and similar goods are reusable and can be deposited in textile crates.
Other activities used to disseminate the message of the Look! Waste = Resource campaign include:
1. Recycling game for schools
2. A cycling game has been developed which makes children acquainted with the value of waste playfully.
Guided tours are organised for schools and other groups to experience and understand the lifecycle and journey of waste materials. Visits are organised to composting facilities, anaerobic digestion facilities, material recovery installations, landfills and incinerators.
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Pécs In Pécs the coverage of separate collection services are available to 100% of households in the city. 70% of households have separate kerbside packaging waste and organic/garden waste collections. The remaining 30% of households have access to designated collection points in housing estates with separate containers for waste streams.
As part of the planning and development of waste management infrastructure such as the mechanical-biological treatment facility, the city of Pécs completed a range of measures to understand the waste streams generated. These measures include waste characterisation surveys, data analysis, market needs assessment reports and the identification of adaptable technological opportunities in accordance with expected waste market trends.
Waste composition and particle size analyses were carried out to assist in understanding the composition of waste within the city. These analyses examined every residential area (inner town, suburb, housing estates, etc.). Based on the results the systems required were designed accordingly to ensure maximum separation of biodegradable materials and the proportion of combustible, especially plastic waste is minimal.
This planning resulted in:
° the implementation of a system suitable for local needs and characteristics; ° selection of a technology which is cost-effective and adaptable; ° a system which is less vulnerable to utilisers.
Figure 2-35: Waste flows in the city of Pec
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2.8 WATER MANAGEMENT
The EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) acknowledges that modern water management needs to take account of the environmental, economic and social functions of water resources throughout an entire river basin (EEA, 2007). Indeed, more and more countries are considering both supply and demand in their river basin management plans, and particularly in their public water management (EEA, 2010).
Water pricing and governance are among the strategies and measures employed to encourage sustainable use. The WFD requires Member States to take account of recovery of the costs of water services (including environmental and resource costs) from users including farmers, industry and ordinary household consumers, based on the polluter-pays principle (EEA,
2007, 2010a).
Water metering provides a high incentive to save water, and experience shows that households with water meters (and associated charges) generally use less water than those without them. Currently, only some European countries meter the majority of water uses; often metering is still limited, especially relating to agricultural water use.
Amongst the applicant cities for the 2017 cycle Cork is the only city where water usage is not metered. Cork and Cascais have the highest domestic water consumption rates of all the applicant cities with each citizen using approximately 150 l/day. Pécs has the lowest usage of domestic water with only 81.5 l/day used by each inhabitant in 2013. Domestic water consumption within the applicant cities is presented in Figure 2-36.
Within the water distribution network water can be lost through leaks. The identification of where leaks occur within the system, repair and updating within the distribution infrastructure is critical in the minimisation and prevention of wasted water resources.
‘s-Hertogenbosch has the lowest percentage of water loss in pipelines with only 2.5% of water losses reported. Cork has the highest water losses reported with over 55% of water which is input into the distribution network is lost through leaks.
Figure 2-36: Domestic Water Consumption in Applicant Cities
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Figure 2-37: Water loss in pipelines, leakage management and network rehabilitation 17
The following examples showcase good practices being completed by applicant cities in relation to water management with in the urban environment.
17 In Nijmegen the data pr ovided is national data that is estimated for the city as the water company Vitens does not have city specific data on leakage.
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Porto
Águas do Porto has developed an ‘Occurrences Table’ on its website (www.aguasdoporto.pt ). This service identifies in real time, all the anomalies observed so that customers with insufficient or no water pressure or cases of water or sewage leaks can be mapped and the relative location of these occurrences quickly identified and resolved.
Figure 2-38: Occurrences Table on www.aguasdoporto.pt website
In 2011, Águas do Porto installed nine multi-parametric probes at strategic points of the Middle Central Monitoring and Control Zone (ZMC), creating nine sub-areas of measurement. The monitoring system has the distinctive feature of simultaneous and continuous measurement of three parameters (noise, flow rate and pressure). These recorded values are analysed and compared to reference values.
Figure 2-39: Location of parametric probes installed at Middle Central Monitoring and Control Zone (ZMC)
This innovative technology has data receiving and processing software, which is programmed for the generation and remote transmission of alarms when leaks occur.
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‘s-Hertogenbosch HoWaBo , is an extensive project developed to protect 's -Hertogenbosch against flooding . Historically flooding has been a significant threat to Dutch cities and in 1995 this threat was realised in ‘s- Hertogenbosch as a result of a dike breakthrough. As a result a large amount of water flowed into the Bossche Broek polder and flooded the A2 motorway.
In order to prevent flooding in 's-Hertogenbosch, it is estimated that a total of approximately 12.5 million m³ of water retention is required. Since 2000, the Bossche Broek has accounted for 9 million m³ of this retention plan. The HoWaBo water storage area is planned to provide the remaining capacity required.
On the west side of 's-Hertogenbosch the Aa and Maas Water board is creating an additional water retention area of 750 hectares. In 2013 an inlet structure was created on the Drongelens Canal, which allows the water storage area to be filled and controlled in times of flooding. This may happen about once every 150 years. Figure 2-40 : Drongelens Canal inlet structure
Construction works of the new dikes around the storage area commenced in late 2014 and are expected to be complete in 2017. During peak floods on the Meuse, it can temporarily absorb 4.5 million m3 of water. A total of €12.3 million in funding across EU, national, regional and private institutions has been invested in the development of this measure.
The water storage area partially overlaps with the Moerputten and Vlijmen Ven (Natura 2000) natural areas and the measures for HoWaBo are in line with the nature targets within Natura 2000.
Figure 2-41 : HoWaBo water storage area (in blue), Moerputten and Vlijmens Fen natural spaces (in red)
In order to preserve and further develop existing nature values in this area, construction of the dikes is being combined with the LIFE+ nature project 'Blues in the Marshes', focused on combating water depletion in these natural areas. The dykes also fulfil a role in the establishment and migration of Great Burnet and Scarce Large Blues. The crown of the dykes is also used as a hiking trail.
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2.9 WASTE WATER MANAGEMENT
The treatment of waste water is a vital step in the continuous water cycle but also in terms of protecting the natural environment. With great advances in waste water treatment and the corresponding increase in the quality of water discharged into the rece ived environment, all stakeholders are benefiting.
A clean urban environment is among the goals of the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive (91/271/EEC). Its objective is to protect the environment from the adverse effects of urban waste water discharges and discharges from certain industrial sectors .
This Directive requires all cities and towns with populations of 2,000 or more to have sewage collection systems in place and to treat the waste water to certain minimum standards before it is discharged in to the environment. This legislation has helped to clean up rivers, lakes and coastal areas and has been essential for meeting the health -based standards of the Bathing Water Directive (2006/7/EC).
According to the data reported by the 2017 EGCA applicant cities all applicants have over 90% connection of it’s citizens to a waste water collection system. Umea and Bursa have connection rates of 90%. Eight of the applicant cities have a connection rate of 99 -100% of its citizens connected to a waste water collection system.
Figure 2-42: Proportion (%) of total annual generated waste water load, connected to waste water collecting system + urban waste water treatment plants (UWWTPs)
In terms of waste water treatment infrastructure Istanbul has the most waste water treatment plants within the city with 67 WWTPs operating in 2014. As a result it has a treatment capacity of 17.5 million p.e. per day.
The following examples showcase what cities are doing in te rms of waste water in the urban environment.
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Essen Micropollutants can be found in the aquatic environment as a result of pharmaceutical drugs which have only been partially metabolised by humans before being excreted and disposed of into municipal wastewater. Personal hygiene products, drugs, pesticides, leftover paint and other similar compounds can fall in to the category of micropollutants. Usually these compounds are not treated sufficiently within current wastewater treatment systems and escape in to the receiving waterbody. To date more than 100 pharmaceutically active compounds have been detected in the aquatic environment, sometimes in ecotoxicologically relevant concentrations.
Emschergenossenschaft and Ruhrverband, are the two water associations operating wastewater treatment plants in the Essen municipal area who are supporting the reduction of micropollutants in wastewater discharges from their facilities through the development of new technology processes. There are currently two research project for the elimination of medicinal product contamination underway; the Ruhrverband's municipal wastewater treatment plant at Schwerte and the Emschergenossenschaft "PILLS" project.
At the Marienhospital in Gelsenkirchen, a full scale plant for the treatment of the wastewater from the entire hospital is installed. The pilot is built in a compact architecture, which is easily integrated into the neighbourhood. With this pilot plant, for the first time, a full-scale local treatment plant to eliminate pharmaceutical residues has been developed and implemented at the hospital. This facility has the approval required to discharge treated effluent directly into the water body. Approximately 200 m 3 of wastewater is treated daily the wastewater of 560 hospital beds, 75,000 patients per year and 1,200 employees.The ‘PILLS’ pilot plant works in three steps: The first step is a biologic membrane filtration before it is then treated with ozone and / or powdered activated carbon. The last treatment step is a sand filtration before the clean water is discharged into a water body. The new treatment process is presented in the following process diagram.
Figure 2-43: Micropollutant treatment process (Source: www.pills-project.eu )
The processes developed and utilised at these plants can effectively remove micropollutants from waste water. These micropollutants have been discussed as candidates for the list of priority substances for the implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive and will be monitored in the coming years.
In a pilot experiment at the Schwerte sewage treatment plant, oxidation and adsorption processes will be tested under service conditions. The results will be analysed and compared to results achieved by conventional sewage treatment. The task of completely eliminating all micropollutants from waste water discharges is a significant challenge and one which will be difficult to achieve fully. The concentrations in which the currently known compounds are present in the Ruhr, however, are considered to be harmless for both human beings and the environment.
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Umeå UMEVA (Umeå Water and Waste Ltd.) is the company responsible for water production, waste water treatment and waste management in Umea and demonstrates an awareness raising campaign, which has been ongoing since 2006, delivered at a school level to educate young citizens of Umeå on both waste and waste water treatment. UMEVA offers all schools in the municipality two lessons of 60 minutes tailored to school classes in fourth grade. The first lesson is in waste and recycling, the second lesson is in waste water and sewerage. The information provided includes information such as how a waste water treatment plant works and their purpose. An important topic covered as part of the learning to understand what is suitable to flush down the toilet and more importantly, what is not suitable to flush down i.e. chemicals and medicines. It is also important to increase the school teachers´ awareness and knowledge on these subjects in order to continue the discussions with the students after the lessons have been completed.
UMEVA work continuously to raise awareness of water and waste management issues. In September 2014, UMEVA sent out an information brochure to all households in the municipality about what UMEVA is doing, what the citizens can do reduce water consumption and what they can do to improve things such as the waste water quality. The survey results show that the provision of the brochures has had a very positive impact as there has been a continuous decrease observed in what the citizens declare they flush down, i.e. less unwanted objects in the waste water.
The expected improvements are less litter and fat in incoming water. This will result in cleaner incoming waste water to waste water treatment plants which will in turn result in cleaner sludge and cleaner outgoing water from waste water treatment plants .
Figure 2-44 : School students taki ng part in a 60 minute lesson Source: http://www.umeva.se
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2.10 ECO-INNOVATION AND SUSTAINABLE EMPLOYMENT
In order for cities to create a future for its citizens and develop a green economy, sustainable employment is crucial and this is often realised through eco-innovation. The improved management of waste, water and energy resources, supporting sustainable production and consumption and fostering sustainable innovations and clean technology is a key element of the green economy developed within cities.
Achieving a low-carbon economy is a critical element in a transformation towards a green economy. A low-carbon society builds low-energy, low-emission buildings with intelligent heating and cooling systems, electric and hybrid cars in to the day to day life of its citizens.
Benefits and synergies that can be realised by building a resource efficient community include 18 :
° Creation of jobs in sectors linked to sustainable growth are often more secure, with high potential for exports and economic value creation; ° Increased stability as action on climate change and energy efficiency can increase energy security and reduce vulnerability to oil shocks; ° Low-carbon technologies reduce emissions and often bring benefits in terms of air quality, noise and public health; ° Taxes and subsidies on the use of energy or other resources can be used both to steer behaviour leading to reduced and more efficient consumption and to help restructure public finances away from labour taxation, which benefits job creation and economic growth; ° Increasing recycling rates will reduce the pressure on demand for primary raw materials, help to reuse valuable materials which would otherwise be wasted, and reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from extraction and processing; ° Improving the design of products can both decrease the demand for energy and raw materials and make those products more durable and easier to recycle. It also acts as a stimulus to innovation, creating business opportunities and new jobs ° Improving energy efficiency reduces the need to generate energy in the first place and the need for infrastructures. This, in turn, eases pressure on land resources. The following examples showcase what cities are doing in terms of Eco-Innovation and Sustainable Employment in the urban environment.
18 Resource-Efficient Europe – Flagship initiative under the Europe 2020 Strategy
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Pécs Since 2002 the municipality of Pécs and waste management company, BIOKOM Kft., founded the “Green School” Programme. The purpose of this programme is to promote the development of environmentally-friendly behaviour in children ages between 3 and 20 years old.
“Green School” allows children, teachers and families to become acquainted with the principles of modern waste management and teaches everyday waste management tasks through appropriate, creative and accessible methods. The programme engages the children by illustrating the potential “routes” of waste in a spectacular and expressive way whilst providing guidance for the reduction of the amount of waste generated in households.
The “Green Schools” Programme has seen much success since its initiation with 35,390 participants in the different educational programmes, events and competitions over 12 years. The open days have been attended by 13,770 people which serves to promote the recovery plant and separate waste collection. Overall the programme aims to promote awareness of waste management and has successfully assisted in the diversion of 300,000 tonnes of waste from landfill towards more sustainable waste management processes.
Figure 2-45: Green Schools taking place in schools in the city
Cork SMILE Resource Exchange is an industrial symbiosis initiative that facilitates the reuse of unwanted waste materials within industry in Ireland. SMILE, Saving Money through Industry Links & Exchanges, is a free service which encourages this exchange of resources between its members in order to save money, protect the environment, divert waste from landfill and to develop new business opportunities.
The concept behind the SMILE network is that one businesses waste or unused resource could become another businesses raw material. This results in a mutually beneficial relationship which saves both operating or disposal costs and procurement costs. Potential exchanges are identified through free networking events, a free online exchange facility and a support team to assist members of the SMILE service.
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Examples of items and products which may be on offer are plastics, timber, cardboard, paper, pallets etc. All items offered are offered for free or below market value. SMILE was initially developed to serve the Cork region in 2011 and has since grown to become a national industrial symbiosis initiative and a member of the Irish National Waste Prevention Programme.
SMILE currently has over 400 members in Cork (over 1,200 members nationally) which has resulted in approximately 500 synergies or resource exchanges in the Cork region. In 2014 SMILE facilitated the diversion of 347 tonnes diverted from landfill and with a potential cost savings of €397,780.
Figure 2-46: Infographic on the SMILE Industrial Symbiosis Initiative
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Istanbul Teknopark Istanbul, set to be the largest technology park in Turkey, is being developed to house the research and development labs of approximately 1,000 local and foreign companies from technology-intensive centres. It has been jointly developed by the Undersecretariat for Defence Industries (SSM) and the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ITO), along with academic input from several universities in Istanbul.
The technology park, located on the Asian side of Istanbul, is currently under construction and is scheduled for completion by 2023. The purpose of the development is to establish a comprehensive R&D capability and added-value creation in Turkey.
Teknopark Istanbul has been designed with a 950,000 m 2 indoor space which will accommodate some 30,000 personnel engaged in R&D projects for strategic sectors including defence, ICT, electronics, energy, biotechnology, aviation and aerospace.
Figure 2-47: Teknopark Istanbul
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2.11 ENERGY PERFORMANCE
The European Union's main objectives in relation to energy policy centre around securing energy supplies, maintaining a competitive environment that ensures affordable prices for homes, businesses, and industries and ensuring energy consumption is sustainable, through the lowering of greenhouse gas emissions, pollution, and fossil fuel dependence.
The Europe 2020 strategy defines the key priorities for the EU to be accomplished by 2020: reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 20% (or more, depending on international negotiations) relative to 1990; increasing the share of renewables in the EU's energy mix to 20%; and increasing energy efficiency by 20% by 2020.
It is estimated that at a European level 75% of housing stock is energy inefficient and 94% percent of transport relies on oil products, of which 90% is imported 19 . The establishment of a European Energy Union will ensure secure, affordable and climate-friendly energy for citizens and businesses. Using energy more wisely and fighting climate change creates new jobs and is a valuable investment in the future.
From the applicant cities to the 2017 EGCA, Pécs was identified as the applicant city with the lowest energy use per capita – using 11.4 MWh/capita in 2013. Cork was the applicant city which had the highest energy consumption using approximately 136.5 MWh/Capita in 2012. Figure 2-48 presents the energy usage of the applicant cities in the 2017 EGCA Cycle.
The following examples showcase what cities are doing in terms of Energy Performance in the urban environment.
Figure 2-48: Energy use/capita in 2017 EGCA Applicant cities 20
19 European Energy Security Strategy, COM (2014) 330 20 Data for the cities of Bursa and Istanbul was not provided. The data provided for Cork represents a wider region as city specific data was not available.
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Lisbon
In 2010 Lisbon municipality launched the Project ECO -Neighborhood – ‘Boavista Ambiente +’ in partnership with various stakeholders including Lisboa E-Nova (Municipal Agency for Energy and Environment), local housing and community associations. The aim of the project was to commit to achieving improved energy performance through an Integrated Model for Sustainable Innovation. This project is developed under the Lisbon POR program and the framework for financial support QREN, dedicated to the specific regulation of the Policy Cities Partnerships for Urban Regeneration. This project was developed for the social housing district of Lisbon called the Boavista Neighbourhood.
Boavista is located on the western outskirts of Lisbon and surrounded by Monsanto Forest Park. The neighbourhood was developed in the 1940s and houses a multicultural, and somewhat vulnerable, community comprising 10,000 inhabitants. There are two distinct environmental situations within the neighbourhood that motivated the implementation of this initiative: poor energy and environmental performance of the neighbourhood and poor masonry zones within the neighbourhood.
The project aims to achieve full refurbishment and increased energy performance in this district through a variety of undertakings including:
° Public Lighting (LED); ° Urban Gardens; ° Free Wi-Fi for the local community; ° Sustainable Urban Refurbishment (double-glazed windows, façade insulation, energy monitoring, and behaviour changes); ° Renewable Energy Production: implementation of urban wind turbines, photovoltaic and solar thermal systems; ° Environmental and Energy Awareness: monitoring of electricity, gas, and water consumption and a “coopetition” (competition+cooperation); ° Training for the construction of an urban wind turbine, involving children and renewable energy specialists; ° Publishing of a Best Practices Handbook.
Figure 2-49 : Project ECO -Neighbourhood - ‘Boavista Ambiente + ’
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‘s-Hertogenbosch In 2010, 's -Hertogenbosch founded the Bossche Energy Covenant (BEC) together with the employers' association BZW. In this covenant, the government, companies, and educational organizations work together and in 2011 and 2012 this resulted in combined energy savings of 7% and 8% respectively. BEC also organizes an annual Energy Conference (Bossche Energiecongres).
In 2012, the vision of 's-Hertogenbosch Smart Green City (2012) was prepared by the participants of the BEC with the support of the municipality. Each participant chooses a number of energy saving projects to be carried out until the end of 2015.
‘s-Hertogenbosch takes cognisance of sustainability in business by obliging companies that consume more than 50,000 kWh of electricity annually, or more than 25,000 m3 of natural gas, to take energy saving measures. By implementing the mandatory measures, companies save a total of 24 million kWh of electricity and 2.5 million m3 of gas annually, equating to an average saving of more than €17,500 annually. The municipality has monitored the initiative intensively since 2011 with 300 companies having been audited by the end of 2013.
Figure 2-50: Energy conference ‘Bossche Energiecongres 2014’ with 170 visitors
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2.12 INTEGRATED ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
The various dimensions of urban life – environmental, economic, social and cultural – are interwoven and successful urban management requires an integrated approach. Measures for environmental protection and improvement should be combined with those for physical urban renewal, education, economic development and social inclusion. Strong partnerships between citizens, civil society, the local economy and the various levels of government are a pre-requisite for effective action.
This all-encompassing area includes showing leadership, demonstrated by elements such as Green Public Procurement (GPP) as well as energy efficiency and public building management.
Green Public Procurement is the process where ‘public authorities seek to procure goods, services and works with a reduced environmental impact throughout their life cycle when compared to goods, services and works with the same primary function that would otherwise be procured’ 21 . Europe’s public authorities are major consumers and central to the successful implementation of GPP by using their purchasing power to choose environmentally friendly goods, services and works.
Although GPP is a voluntary instrument, it has a key role to play in the EU’s efforts to become a more resource-efficient economy. It can help stimulate a critical mass of demand for more sustainable goods and services which otherwise would be difficult to get onto the market. GPP is therefore a strong stimulus for eco-innovation.
The shift towards the low carbon economy is critical is delivering increased energy efficiency and improving the management of our public buildings. Green buildings that require less energy for lighting, heating and cooling through smarter use of materials, façade design and innovative air flow systems, are an essential component of the effort to achieve efficient and sustainable European cities. The development of block, district and city ‘group-thinking’ in relation to energy performance in cities is also critical. Development of compatible and integrated energy infrastructures on a city basis lay the foundation on which smart-cities can optimise their energy performance.
Involvement of all stakeholders within a city is essential to the development of a ‘smart city’. It requires support on a political level to be proactive in bringing together city officials, innovative suppliers, national and EU policymakers, academics and civil society.
The following examples showcase what cities are doing in terms of Integrated Environmental Management in the urban environment.
21 Public procurement for a better environment, COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS
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Nijmegen The Sustainability Relay in Nijmegen was initiated following the municipality’s participation in the final of the European Green Capital competition for 2016. This competition led to a spontaneous and passionate endorsement by a large number of athletes such that within one week they had organised a relay race from Nijmegen to Copenhagen.
The baton from the relay race was brought in during the presentation of Nijmegen to the EGCA Jury and has since taken on a significant role in continuing to promote sustainability. The baton has been transferred from one sustainable initiative to another throughout the city of Nijmegen as summarised below. When Where Why June 27 th , 2014 TPN -West Initiative energy -neutral industrial area Inspiration and information for June 29 th , 2014 Sustainability market residents Making the biggest event in the July 10 th , 2014 Four Days festivities Nijmegen Netherlands more sustainable Design and implementation cycling August 28 th , 2014 City Region Arnhem Nijmegen policy Sustainable education building, University of Applied Sciences September 10 th , 2014 education program and business Arnhem Nijmegen operations September 25 th , 2014 Energy Square Nijmegen Help with housing sustainability Cooperation October 5 th , 2014 Citizen participation wind turbines WindpowerNijmegen
The initiative is very attractive from a PR perspective and demonstrates the broad societal commitment to a achieving a sustainable city and a sustainable Europe.
Figure 2-51: Sustainability Relay events in Nijmegen
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Lahti Since the early 2000’s, Lahti has used a peer review tool for developing their own environmental work activities and sustainable development goals. Due to the success of Lahti’s peer review technique, it has been at the European forefront in developing a number of environmental management and sustainable development measures and methods. Peer review has been further rolled out for utilisation in international environmental cooperation applications.
In recent years, peer reviews have dealt with different environmental issues. Sustainable development work takes place every 1-2 years with different Finnish cities and Lahti has also assisted a number of European cities in their mutual environment and sustainable development peer reviews.
In addition to the initiatives outlined above, Lahti has made cross-border bilateral environmental co- operation in several projects in St. Petersburg and the surrounding region. There has been over ten years' co-operation with African partners in the North-South Local Government Cooperation Programme which currently includes the cities of Rustenburg and Madibeng in South Africa and the city of Ho in Ghana.
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3 INTEGRATED GOOD PRAC TICE EXAMPLES
Some of the applicant cities have developed initiatives which have a positive effect across a number of the indicators used in the competition judging process. T wo cities have been selected to demonstrate the work they have done in one target area which has had a positive knock on effect in another environmental area or in some cases multiple areas .
‘s-Hertogenbosch
The sustainable district of Paleiskwartier is the flagship of ‘s -Hertogenbosch’s integrated environmental policy winning the International Urban Regeneration Award in 2004. Located on the outskirts of the inner city and historically characterised by train noise and obsolete commercial activity, Paleiskwartier was previously seen to be an outdated and uninviting area. ‘s -Hertogenbosch has worked to restructure the district into an appealing space from residential, commercial and leisure perspectives with gre at success.
As a result, Paleiskwartier now forms an integral part of the enlarged inner city and demonstrates how different environmental indicators can be combined to realise environmental goals. The Paleiskwartier initiative integrates local transport green urban areas, biodiversity, air quality, eco - innovation, energy performance and integrated environmental management.
Paleiskwartier is one of the largest urban redevelopment sites in the Netherlands with almost 75 acres of new residential, w ork, and habitat areas with innovative and sustainable furnishings. The residential area is nestled in the heart of the Paleiskwartier district; sheltered by an exterior of high rises offices, education institutes and commercial activity.
Paleiskwartier E lectric is an example of the “learning by doing" approach where companies in the district share a pool of electric cars, and implement innovative measures such as the development of a wirelessly rechargeable electric bus.The district boasts impressive visu al amenities such as high quality public spaces and numerous water features which have been designed by leading international architects. As part of this, Paleiskwartier features a pond which is the largest solar water heater in the Netherlands. This pond provides heat to an estimated 1,400 households.
The area is very accessible via the adjacent Central Station and the new city ring road of 's -
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Hertogenbosch. It is also near De Gement and Bossche Broek natural areas and the Westerpark.
Figure 3-1: Sustainable district of Paleiskwartier
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Umeå The municipality of Umeå has worked in cooperation with Hybricon, a company developing ultra -fast charged electric full-size urban buses with hybrid back-up, to produce the Hybricon Arctic Whisper (HAW).
The HAW is an electric bus which serves to benefit the air quality, noise and climate in Umeå. The concept for the HAW was initially brought to fruition in 2010 when Hybricon led the development of chargeable hybrid technique using the Toyota Prius. Along with Umeå kommunföretag, they developed a plan to put two ultrafast charged electric buses with hybrid backup on the streets in Umeå.
The success of the joint venture has seen the HAW become an integrated part of the public transport system with 9 buses due for operation by June 2015.
It is envisaged that an additional 24 buses will be operational by 2020 as Umeå aims to increase the share of electric buses in the city transport system from 0% to 70% (from 2010).
The main advantages of the electrically run HAW are that:
° fossil fuel combustion is greatly reduced; ° the emissions of greenhouse gases and other particles decline; ° it is economical compared with diesel prices; ° buses are silent which reduces noise levels; ° it provides a more comfortable bus ride for passengers.
City buses are the most appropriate form of chargeable hybrid technique since the buses run on fixed routes. During the breaks at the terminus there are opportunities for rapid charging of the batteries.
Figure 3-2: Hybricon Arctic Whisper
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APPENDIX A
EXPERT PANEL PROFILES
Indicator No. 1 – Climate Change: Mitigation and Adaptation
Expert: Mr. F. Javier González Vidal, Atmospheric pollution technical advisor, Regional Government of Valencia – D.G. Environmental Quality, Spain
F. Javier González Vidal is an Industrial Engineer by the Polytechnic University of Valencia. Throughout his professional career he has always focused on the promotion of environmental respect, both at the regional and international level.
For the last 13 years he has been working for the Regional Government of Valencia in the D.G. Environmental Quality, where the activities and responsibilities of the job have provided him with a wide view of the situation related to the intensive use of energy, climate change, polluting emissions and air quality.
The development and implementation of policies to fight air pollution and climate change have been one of his priorities, having used emissions inventories as a key tool to assess effectiveness. During this period some of the main tasks he has been involved in have been the development, implementation and monitoring of the policies included in the regional Climate Change Strategy and the implementation of the EU ETS, the management of the PRTR register, and the air quality network analysis and subsequent development of air quality actions plans.
He was a member of the Climate Change Committee of the European Commission as a representative of the regional governments of Spain in order to express their opinion during the negotiations of the European policies.
Since 2005, as a member of the Roster of Experts of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Javier contributes to the review of national communications and inventories, focusing in the energy chapter, according to the Kyoto Protocol commitments. He has cooperated actively with D.G. Enlargement providing technical support to EU partner countries with regard to the approximation, application and enforcement of EU environmental legislation through the Technical Assistance and Information Exchange instrument.
During 2013 he worked with the Ministry of Environment of Brazil, in the context of the sectorial dialogues between the EU and Brazil, on the Climate Change and Energy Efficiency Chapter."
Indicator No. 2 - Local Transport
Expert: Dr. Ian Skinner, Director of Transport and Environmental Policy Research , London, UK.
Ian Skinner is an independent researcher and consultant with over 20 years of experience in undertaking research and consultancy projects focusing on the environmental impacts of transport.
His PhD from University College London was on the implementation of sustainable transport policies in South East England and he has also undertaken research at the University of Kent on the marginal cost pricing of transport.
Since his PhD, Ian has worked at the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) and AEA (now Ricardo-AEA) before co-founding TEPR in 2009. Ian’s work focuses on the implementation and evaluation of sustainable transport policies for national and international organisations. Much of Ian’s work has been undertaken at the European level for the European Commission, which has involved impact assessments and evaluations of various EU transport and environmental policies.
He has also worked for UNEP, including in support of their EST goes EAST project, and been an independent evaluator for the European Commission. Ian was invited to draft the chapter on European transport policy for an Edgar Elgar book Research Handbook on Climate Change Mitigation Law (Van Calster and Vandenberghe (eds)), which was published in early 2015.
Indicator No. 3 - Green Urban Areas incorporating Sustainable Land Use
Expert: Ms Ir. Hedwig van Delden, Director, Research Institute for Knowledge Systems (RIKS), Maastricht, The Netherlands & Associate Professor, the University of Adelaide, Australia
Hedwig van Delden is the Director of the Research Institute for Knowledge Systems (RIKS) in Maastricht, the Netherlands and Associate Professor at the University of Adelaide, Australia. After graduating from the University of Twente as a Civil Engineer in Water Engineering and Management, she started working at RIKS as a Policy Analyst and in the following years rose to the position of Director.
Over the years she has taken on many roles ranging from Researcher to Project Manager and Project Leader in projects worldwide working on integrating models from a broad range of fields such as land use change, hydrology, economics and transport and making them applicable for policy support.
Her academic work focuses on issues relating to land use change modelling, integrating socio- economic and bio-physical processes, bridging the science-policy gap and scenario studies. In this capacity she has authored or co-authored a long list of peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters. She recently gave a keynote lecture at the 20th International Congress on Modelling and Simulation in Adelaide, Australia on integrated modelling for policy support.
Indicator No. 4 - Nature and Biodiversity
Expert: Dr Jake Piper, Associate and Senior Research Fellow, Faculty of Technology, Design and Environment, Oxford Brookes University, United Kingdom.
Jake Piper has worked as a researcher and lecturer at Oxford Brookes University for the past twelve years, following on from an earlier career
in environmental consultancy. Her academic background includes forestry and land management, and environmental assessment.
In recent years she has contributed to and managed studies of policy development and spatial planning, frequently as related to biodiversity protection and enhancement in circumstances of climate change, as part of EU programmes (MACIS, BRANCH), and she has been a peer reviewer of the C-Change project which promotes community engagement and behaviour change as well as creating multi-functional spaces. She has also worked on studies preparing guidance for projects affecting Natura 2000 sites, and projects concerned with rural development.
Issues around biodiversity, water resources, flooding and sustainable drainage have been a particular interest – as demonstrated in her recent book Spatial Planning and Climate Change (with Elizabeth Wilson). Other project work has involved the economic and environmental assessment of many forms of development, including offshore wind, water resources, railway infrastructure, forestry and leisure.
Indicator No. 5 – Ambient Air Quality
Expert: Dr Steen Solvang Jensen, Senior Scientist, Department of Environmental Science, Aarhus University, Denmark.
Steen Solvang Jensen is Senior Scientist, PhD at the Department of Environmental Science, Section for Atmospheric Modelling, Aarhus University in Denmark. He is department Coordinator of the Science Program for Sustainable Energy and Environment.
He is a civil engineer with a specialization in planning with 22 years of experience within traffic planning and urban air quality assessment and management. He has worked as project manager within research, consultancy and administration, and has acted as an advisor for the Danish Environmental Protection Agency and international development agencies.
His main experience is within research and development of integrated modelling systems for air pollution and human exposures for application in decision-support systems in urban air quality management and in air pollution epidemiological studies. These studies include mapping, impact assessment, scenario analysis, and policy options within emission, air quality, human exposures, health and external costs of air pollution as well as environmental impacts of renewable energy systems and technologies (hydrogen, biofuels, biomass).
Indicator No. 6 – Quality of the Acoustic Environment
Expert: Prof Dr Diogo Alarcão, Specialist in Acoustic Engineering. Principal Researcher and Professor at Instituto Superior Técnico University of Lisbon, Portugal & the Polytechnic Institute of Lisbon, Portugal.
Diogo Alarcão is a Physics Engineer with a PhD in Acoustics. He is Principal Researcher and a Professor in the scientific area of Acoustics at Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Portugal.
He is a Chartered Acoustical Engineer, member of the board of the Portuguese Acoustical Society a nd member of the executive commission for the Specialization in Acoustic Engineering of Ordem dos Engenheiros.
He has been responsible for major projects in Environmental Acoustics and Noise Control, including Noise Mapping and Action Plans for large urban areas in various Portuguese cities and for many large transport infrastructures. He has also been responsible for various projects in the area of Room Acoustics and Virtual Acoustics including real time simulation and auralization of sound fields in enclosures.
Indicator No. 7 - Waste Production and Management
Expert: Mr. Warren Phelan, Technical Director, Waste, Energy & Environment, RPS Group Ltd., Dublin, Ireland .
Warren Phelan is a Technical Director with the Waste, Energy and Environment Section of RPS. Warren is a Chartered Waste Manager and a Chartered Civil Engineer with a Master’s degree in Engineering Science from University College Dublin.
Since joining R PS in early 2001, Warren has worked in the resource and waste management sector developing specialised skills in policy and legislation, strategy and planning, stakeholder consultations, data analysis and collation methodologies, waste prevention and onlin e resource applications.
Warren has extensive knowledge and experience in the strategic approach to managing wastes at a city, regional and national level. Warren is currently the project manager for the development of the waste management plans coveri ng the Irish State including the preparation of strategic environmental assessment and appropriate assessment documentation supporting the plans.
The ability to source, compile, analyse and present data is essential for the development of robust waste m anagement systems and plans. In recent years Warren has led a team appointed by the Irish Environmental Protection Agency required to collate and analyse data gathered from all of the major waste treatment facilities in Ireland. Warren has also prepared da ta for the Irish government benchmarking Ireland’s performance in the sector against comparable international countries.
Warren has applied his waste management skills and developed waste management plan for large infrastructure projects, international airports, industrial operations and university campuses. Clients have included INTEL and Aeroport de Paris.
Warren has wor ked on waste projects in the UK, across Europe and in the Middle East. Warren’s clients include the European Commission and the World Bank among others. Warren is currently acting as the Irish country agent on a European Commission Horizon 2020 funded proj ect on Sustainable Innovation (CASI project).
Warren has also worked on the design of many waste facilities including baling stations, transfer stations, material recovery facilities and recycling centres and is currently he is working for WRAP on the redesign of a waste facility in Wales.
Indicator No. 8 - Water Management
Expert: Mr. Giulio Conte, Project Manager of natural resources area at Ambiente Italia and water policy expert at IRIDRA.
Giulio Conte is a civil-environmental engineer with 19 years of experience in environmental consulting and has a specific expertise in water management.
He has worked on a range of projects in India dealing with leak detection in water supply networks, river basin action plan, stormwater management, and water quality and quantity modelling.
During the last 10 years, he has worked on water policy sector in France and Europe. He led several studies for the European Commission on Water Efficiency Standards and the Water Performance of Buildings and also contributed to studies for the European Parliament.
He contributed to the 2011 UNEP Green Economy Report and also supported the EEA on two chapters dealing with social and technological megatrends of the European Environment State and Outlook Report (SOER) 2010. Recently, he advised the UNFCCC on the methodology for evaluating the water saving devices in the context of the clean development mechanism.
Indicator No. 9 – Waste Water Treatment
Expert: Dr Ana Lončarić Božić, Associate Professor, Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology, University of Zagreb, Croatia
Ana Lončarić Božić is an associate professor involved in teaching and research in the field of Chemical and Environmental engineering. Ana holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering. Her research interests include advanced technologies for water and wastewater treatment, advanced oxidation technologies, photocatalysis, degradation of recalcitrant pollutants and contaminants of emerging concern and ecotoxicity.
She participated in 5 national and international research projects with academia and industry in the field of advanced wastewater treatment. She is the author/co-author of more than 30 scientific papers published in peer-reviewed journals (cited over 500 times, h-index 12). Ana sits on 3 editorial boards and is a regular reviewer for more than 20 scientific journals. She is also an Environmental Management System Auditor.
With a background in Chemical and Environmental Engineering and the expertise in the wastewater treatment and water management, Ana was involved as an evaluator for FP7-ENV- 2012, FP7-ENV-2013 and NCBR-Core 2012 calls.
Indicator No. 10 - Eco-innovation and Sustainable Employment
Expert: Dr Stefan Speck, Project Manager environmental economics and policies at the Integrated Environmental Assessments Programme at the European Environment Agency.
Stefan Speck is an environmental economist with a PhD in economics. His main area of research is the application of market-based instruments for environmental policy, environmental fiscal reform, and green economy.
Prior to his current position, he was employed as a senior consultant at Kommunalkredit Public Consulting in Austria and as a senior project scientist at the National Environmental Research Institute/University of Aarhus in Denmark within the EU-funded project ‘Competitiveness effects of environmental tax reforms’ (COMETR). He also contributed to the research project ‘Resource Productivity, Environmental Tax Reform and Sustainable Growth in Europe’ funded by the Anglo-German Foundation.
He has implemented projects for a range of clients including the Danish Environmental Protection Agency (DEPA), European Commission (EC), Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, and the UK Department for International Development (DFID). He has carried out research projects in Africa and Asia, and has published widely on economic instruments and environmental financing and recently co-edited the book Environmental Tax Reform (ETR) A Policy for Green Growth (Oxford University Press, 2011).
Indicator No. 11 - Energy Performance
Expert: Prof Dr -Ing. Manfred Fischedick, Vice President of the Wuppertal Institute and Professor at the Schumpeter School of Business and Economics, Wuppertal, Germany
Manfred Fischedick is the Vice President of the Wuppertal Institute, an international well known think tank investigating transformation processes to a sustainable development. With particular reference to the areas of climate, energy, resources and mobility, the institute is looking for technical, infrastructure and social innovations supporting the transition to sustainable structures. Special focus is given on the transition process of the energy system and cities.
Manfred Fischedick is also leading the research group “Future Energy and Mobility Structures” of the Wuppertal Institute and is professor at the Schumpeter School of Business and Economics at the University of Wuppertal. He has been working for more than 20 years in the field of energy system analysis (including sustainable urban infrastructure analysis). He is adviser to the German government as well as the Bundesland of North Rhine-Westphalia, author of various publications and peer reviewed articles. Manfred Fischedick is coordinating lead author for the IPCC (responsible for the chapter industry in the upcoming 5 th assessment report), member of several national and international scientific boards and advisory councils.
Manfred Fischedick has been intensively working in the context of sustainable urban infrastructures and energy efficient cities. His project experience comprises among others the development of long term concepts for the German cities of Munich and Düsseldorf and the Chinese city of Wuxi. For the Innovation City Ruhr Bottrop, which is kind of a real-term laboratory in the Ruhr Valley aiming for an emission reduction by 50% between 2010 and 2020 he is leading the scientific accompaniment process.
Indicator No. 12 - Integrated Environmental Management
Expert: Jan Dictus, Founder of GOJA Consulting for Environment and Sustainable Development, Vienna, Austria
Jan Dictus (nationality Dutch, living and working in Austria since 2000) is an expert on sustainable development of cities. He has provided services to a wide range of clients at international, European, regional and local levels on environmental and sustainable development issues. He was involved in several EcoCity projects: For the City of Vienna Jan has led the development of the Environmental Vision of Vienna and is presently supporting the network Cities for a Nuclear Free Europe CNFE. Also for Vienna he was technical chair of the EUROCITIES Environment Forum. As a UNIDO expert Jan has been involved in the organisation and reporting of conferences in Jordan and Bahrain on EcoCities in Middle-East and North Africa (MENA Region). Also for UNIDO and the Government of Japan he is presently setting up a network of Eco-Cities in South East Asia, introducing the instrument of Peer Review for Cities. Together with Astronaut Marcos Pontes Foundation and UNIDO he is preparing the development of an Eco-State in Roraima, Brazil. Jan has started a project in Morocco to develop a reference framework of sustainability for the new-to-build EcoCity Zenata. In the past Jan worked on Green Industry and the promotion of Eco-Business projects in e.g. India and Thailand, and on the development of a Green Award mechanism in Cambodia. Jan is a member of the Expert Evaluation Panel for the European Green Capital Award since 2012, acted as Lead Expert for URBACT-II and is a member of the expert group for the “UNEP- JCEP Sustainable Urban Development and Liveable Garden Community – China Programme“ in China.
www.rpsgroup.com/ireland Editors: Ashley O’Toole, Brenda McEvoy, & Louise Campion
ec.europa/europeangreencapital