European REMOURBAN Project Review meeting

From 17 to 19 September Valladolid hosted the periodic review meeting of the REMOURBAN project (REgeneration MOdel for accelerting the Smart URBAN transformation) to present before the European Commission (EC) the progress made over the last year and a half.

REMOURBAN, is a large-scale European Horizon 2020 R&D demonstration project that aims to speed up the smart urban transformation, taking onboard all the sustainability aspects and setting up groundbreaking energy, transport and ICT technology in the demonstration cities. 

REMOURBAN is being led by the CARTIF Technology Center and is being driven by a wide-ranging international consortium of 22 partners. In Spain the City Council (Ayuntamiento) of Valladolid and the companies GMV, Acciona, Iberdrola, Xeridia and Veolia will be responsible for setting up and carrying out various activities in the lighthouse city of Valladolid, designed to improve energy efficiency and favor smart mobility.

On 20 and 21 September Valladolid then hosted BY&FORCITIZENS, an event investigating the best ways to work towards a “Smart Regeneration of Cities and Regions”. Its remit is to provide an exhaustive source of information on the opportunities and challenges involved in the future development of smart cities and communities throughout Europe. The general aim of the meeting was to checkmark and better understand the steps to be taken by city leaders, delegates, lawmakers and other stakeholders in Europe to transform their cities into open, attractive spaces to live and work in, creating strong local ecosystems.

The event brought together local and national authorities, representatives of the EC and the Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA), project coordinators and experts involved in smart city projects co-funded by the EU’s Horizon 2020 and 7th framework programs. Several European projects are collaborating in BY&FORCITIZENS, including REMOURBAN and URBANGREENUP, of which GMV is a member.

GMV gave a paper in the SERNAUTO-chaired Connected and Sustainable Mobility session. Our colleagues also accompanied conference attendees on technical visits to the sites where various REMOURBAN sustainable mobility activities are being carried out.

Under the impulse of this project Valladolid’s fleet of electric vehicles, all monitored by GMV’s onboard equipment, is quickly growing. The visits were made to the most typical sites where the 48 electric vehicles and 5 electric buses are now running and recharged, including one of the end-stop charging pantographs and Valladolid’s biggest logistics center, where one of Spain’s rapid recharge points has been set up.

All this added up to five days of lectures, encounters, demos and working meetings that helped to take stock of REMOURBAN’s progress and work onwards to its successful completion.