Page 95 - Enhancing innovation and participation in smart sustainable cities
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United for Smart Sustainable Cities
Enhancing Innovation and Participation
financing parts of project WCYCLE will be established; smaller investments will be covered by utility
companies.
o Project management is being set up, and a range of stakeholders will be involved in project
implementation on different levels and topics.
o WCYCLE as a brand is already set; with time the brand will be developed further.
The whole process of the implementation and development of project WCYCLE at the city level is
innovative; to use resources that the city produces in a sustainable way and to lower material/resource
dependence in general are the goals of this project. Figure 20 provides an understanding for energy,
material and water flows.
Figure 20 Wcycle Maribor
ICT will be an essential part of project WCYCLE to enable the implementation, following up and
evaluation of project WCYCLE; some parts of ICT will have to be developed for the purposes of this
project.
A solution is resilient, transferable with adjustments to local needs.
2.3 Results
The city and citizens should benefit from this project in many ways; first it will create new green economy
jobs, second, it will reduce dependence on materials in public utility companies; third, it will educate
citizens on the benefits of a sustainable way of dealing with waste and different materials, and it will
stabilize prices for utility services in the city. Also, more energy will be produced in the city; fuels for
public bus service will be provided (CNG, already 1/3 of city buses runs on CNG, later e buses will be
added to the system). Water consumption will be lowered and cleared waste water brought back into
the city system.
Every reuse of any material is sustainable in the short and in the long run. This is one of the main
objectives of a circular economy and it makes sense as nature does this all the time. Currently we as
civilizations are consuming more than the earth can provide in the long run and we have to change that.
Every effort in this direction will benefit society in time and to do this on a city scale must bring results
for city and citizens. Organizing public utility companies to their benefit in this way will bring positive
changes and a long-term sustainable use of resources.
U4SSC series 93
