109 Novatlantis Sustainability at the ETH Domain – Promotion of Transdisciplinary Science

novatlantis CCEM – Annual Activity Report 2014 novatlantis 109 novatlantis Sustainability at the ETH Domain – Promotion of Transdisciplinary Science Scope of activities novatlantis – Sustainability at the ETH Domain – is the interface between research (ETH Zurich, EPFL, PSI, WSL, Empa and Eawag) on the one hand and industry, society and the public sector on the other. The aim is to contribute towards the sustainable development of our society whilst taking the ecological, economic and social dimensions of sustainability into account. Broad-based pilot projects are used to promote the transfer of the latest research results for the sustainable development of cities, municipalities and regions. The basis for this is the initiation of transdisciplinary projects in close collaboration with scientists from the ETH Domain and other research institutions, as well as with authorities and companies. The novatlantis team developed very positively in 2014. Dr sc. techn. ETH Anna Roschewitz took over the helm as Managing Director and Agnieszka Hamburger-Nowakowska, who holds an MSc in business administration, joined the team as a new assistant to the management. The major milestones in the 2014 financial year were the activities and projects in the Zukunfts- region Novatlantis Argovia and for the 2000-watt society in the pilot region Basel. The novatlantis Bauforum «City Vision 2050» on the neighbourhoods of the future, which was held in Lucerne in collaboration with the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts and the Canton of Lucerne for the first time, was met with great interest. Moreover, novatlantis boosted its PR work – via its new homepage with up-to-date information and an appealing appearance, and through stands at events or sponsoring a sustainability occasion. Zukunftsregion The new novatlantis team Novatlantis Argovia In May 2014 Dr Anna Ros- tection, and environmental Initial situation chewitz became Managing and energy city officer in the Director at novatlantis. Her city of Winterthur until the The Zukunftsregion Novat- predecessor Urs Elber, who end of 2013. lantis Argovia was founded in had held the position since 2013. It stems from a joint ini- the beginning of 2012, has In March 2014, novatlantis tiative of the Canton of Aargau, joined Empa as director of and CCEM gained a qualified the energy supplier IBAarau the Research Focus Area En- expert in the person of Ag- AG, Regionalwerke AG Baden, ergy and continues to super- nieszka Hamburger-Nowa- AEW Energie and novatlantis vise the Competence Center kowska, who holds an MSc in Managing Director – Sustainability at the ETH Do- Energy and Mobility (CCEM) business administration spe- Dr Anna Roschewitz main. In collaboration with the at the Paul Scherrer Institute cialising in public and non- municipalities in the Canton (PSI). profit management. In her Project Partners of Aargau, the Zukunftsregion capacity as assistant to the ETHZ Novatlantis Argovia is looking Anna Roschewitz completed management team, she is in EPFL to make a contribution towards a doctorate in environmen- charge of exacting project PSI the energy transition, espe- tal economics at ETH Zurich correspondence, accounting, cially in the fields of energy, and was co-director of the reports, webpage design, Empa mobility and buildings. As a re- Economics Department at and event management. Eawag sult, the partners joined forces the WSL from 2000 to 2007. WSL to promote sustainable de- She was also head of envi- The PSI remains the leading Pilot Region Basel velopment. They realise pilot ronmental and health pro- house for novatlantis. Zukunftsregion Novatlantis Argovia projects, encourage dialogue within the network of municipalities and help disseminate Project Websites knowhow and experience in novatlantis.ch energy and efficiency-related 2000watt.ch topics throughout the region. novatlantis-argovia.ch 110 novatlantis CCEM – Annual Activity Report 2014 novatlantis Sustainability at the ETH Domain – Promotion of Transdisciplinary Science palities; and on the more favourable organisation- other hand as a col- al structures at their disposal. lection of key quan- In some smaller municipalities, titative figures on however, this is compensated energy, mobility and with marked self-initiative. buildings. There is synergy potential in the collaboration between the Twenty municipali- communities, in the devel- ties – Aarau, Attelwil, opment and use of effective Baden, Bottenwil, Er- communication tools and in linsbach, Gränichen, the organisation of financial Hirschthal, Kölliken, resources for the realisation of Muhen, Oftringen, projects. Figure 1: Reitnau, Schöftland, The municipalities of the Zukunftsregion Seon, Suhr, Unterent- The discussion on potential Novatlantis Argovia. felden, Wiliberg, in the energy sector mostly The partners regard the Zu- Wohlen, Wohlenschwil, Zofin- focuses on the renewable en- kunftsregion Novatlantis Ar- gen and Zufikon – took part in ergies photovoltaics, district govia as a practical laboratory the potential analysis. These heating and biomass, and the for sustainability. New and es- communities have around implementation of LED-based tablished research results and 130,000 inhabitants, which lighting. An interest in the use technologies should rapidly corresponds to approximately of wood and small-scale hydro- find an application, tailored to 20 % of the canton’s popula- power is repeatedly expressed. the individual parameters and tion. With populations rang- The topics of wind energy, geo- needs in the cities and munici- ing between 170 and 20,000 thermics and power-to-gas are palities. Please visit the website citizens, both small, rural only mentioned occasionally. for further information: communities and larger towns www.novatlantis-argovia.ch could be illustrated. In the field of mobility, two types of municipality with very Potential analysis A summary of the results of the different challenges can be potential analysis reveals that ascertained: cities and rural In 2014 a potential analysis the data bases for the determi- centres refer to overcoming was conducted in twenty in- nation of relevant key figures through-traffic, the creation terested municipalities in a in the municipalities are very of 30 km/h-zones and the fur- bottom-up approach. The aim different. For a uniform cal- ther development of combined was to obtain an overview of culation of an energy and CO2 mobility (incl. slow traffic) as how the topic of sustainability footprint per municipality, the current challenges. Smaller with a focus on energy, mobil- collection of data would have municipalities in rural devel- ity and buildings is rooted in to be developed further for the opment areas, however, pri- small, medium-sized and large majority of the districts. More- marily raise the issue of poor municipalities in the Canton over, key qualified and quanti- connections to public transport of Aargau. This should enable fied figures on the expansion and the resulting high degree the identification of promising potential of renewable energy of motorisation. In both cases, pilot projects – explicitly for sources are often lacking. solution measures present a different community types and challenge because they con- needs, and for network solu- Based on discussions in the cern a complex transport sys- tions. A two-pronged approach communities, it is evident that tem and/or require changes in was adopted to compile the in- sustainability is actively being behaviour. formation: on the one hand, as processed as a political topic structured, openly conducted in virtually all municipalities. The topic of Minergie is fre- interviews with representa- Important projects tend to be quently mentioned as a bench- tives of the municipalities on launched by the larger munici- mark in the interviews on sus- location to gain «an impression palities as they usually have tainability in the building sector. of the mood» in the munici- greater financial resources and In particular, the renovation of CCEM – Annual Activity Report 2014 novatlantis 111 novatlantis Sustainability at the ETH Domain – Promotion of Transdisciplinary Science the municipal administration’s The Zukunftsregion Novatlan- interested municipalities in the own building is frequently dis- tis Argovia records the chal- network. cussed. Often, scarce financial lenges and needs of the mu- resources are a major obstacle nicipalities and has developed The aim for 2015 is to launch for an extensive renovation or an initial portfolio of project an exchange of experience new construction. Supporting proposals, which examine a among the participating mu- private building contractors on number of the needs men- nicipalities on the one hand energy-efficiency measures or tioned. Various pilot projects and realise pilot projects on renewable energies also plays are currently being reviewed the topics of energy, mobility a key role in the discussions. and finalised together with the and buildings on the other. Basel as a pilot region for the 2000-Watt society Review Project overview More than ten years ago, no- granted another loan of CHF For the current period from vatlantis – Sustainability at the 2.6 million for 2013 to 2016. 2013 to 2016, eleven projects ETH Domain – developed a vi- As a result, the broad-based were selected in the topic ar- sionary model of a sustainable network that has been estab- eas of construction, renewable energy future with the 2000- lished between research insti- energies and vehicles. Watt society. Pilot regions were tutes,

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