Page 48 - U4SSC Factsheet, Bizerte, Tunisia, June 2020

Bizerte was one of thirty-seven cities that contributed knowledge of their own successful experiences
to the initiative's knowledge base during the pilot phase of the toolbox development. The knowledge
collected for the creation of the sustainable urban toolbox for the Mediterranean will be organized in
a database accessible through the MedUrbanTools knowledge-sharing platform.

Bizerte has previously networked with, and served as a host for, the EUNIC Cluster in Tunisia and its
Action Workshop project, which was developed on the idea of heritage as an instrument for democracy.
Bizerte hosted the July 2012 round-table discussions that promoted the idea of key Cultural Centres
as valuable incubators for regional/local initiative. The outcome of this discussion was a commitment
to conceive a more ambitious project, developed by EUNIC Global, which would benefit cultural
organizations (including public, private and associations) in the Maghreb area and the rest of the Arab
world.

With regard to its SSC development, there is also an opportunity for Bizerte to work closely with its
strategic partner and twin cities in Africa and Europe, including Tangiers (Morocco), Port Said (Egypt),
Annaba (Algeria), Kalamata (Greece), Palermo (Italy), Saint Petersburg (Russia), Rostock (Germany), and
Dunkirk and Clermont-Ferrand (France). The last of these has a cooperation agreement with Bizerte
for a programme of the rehabilitation of historic centres.

Tourism

An example of a tourism boost project that also dates back to the post-2010 era is the development
of a Mediterranean yachting marina at the port of Bizerte. The Goga Superyacht Marina has berths
for yachts of up to 110 meters in length. The intended outcome was a boost to the local economy
by attracting yacht owners, as well as professional crew year-round, and through the development
of service industries that supply the yachts, which has resulted in additional employment in the city.

Bizerte 2050 Projects

The development of SSC-centred mobile applications has also taken off within Bizerte in recent years.
At the second Bizerte Smart City conference in 2018 that was organized by the Bizerte 2050 Association
– in partnership with Tunisia's Ministry of Communication Technologies and Digital Economy – for
example, two highly innovative applications were presented. The first application sought to facilitate
the interaction between citizens and the municipal body responsible for city cleanliness, by giving
citizens the opportunity to report any cleanliness issues. The other application called Hafilati (‘My
Bus’) was made by the Bizerte Regional Transport Company. It is piloting the Bizerte – Tunis Carthage
Airport line for online service schedules and station locations.

The Bizerte Governorate, which is the third stakeholder group involved in the City of Bizerte's SSC drive,
has announced a laboratory dedicated to the development of a road map for the ‘Bizerte Smart City’
project spearheaded by the Bizerte 2050 Association.

The Bizerte 2050 Association has drafted comprehensive plans and frameworks to achieve tangible
decade-over-decade progress in SSC projects for Bizerte, which include: Smart Bridge (traffic management

42 U4SSC Factsheet | Bizerte, Tunisia | June 2020