On 30 January 2024, the Cities 4.0 Open Innovation Challenges Finals Event took place online. The 3 finalists of the Challenges pitched their innovative solutions to make climate neutrality a reality in Europe.
In the first step of the project, during the International Ecosystem Game, the Open Innovation Challenges were identified as common issues that require innovative solutions to be faced and managed in order to achieve climate neutrality in the cities involved.
Two main challenges emerged:
- Help create the context so as not to depend on private cars and discourage their use;
- Help extend to 1000 the number of homes energetically renovated per day.
The 3 finalists guests who pitched their innovative solutions to achieve climate neutrality by 2030 were:
- Anaïs Enrico, International Development Manager for Karos Mobility from France. The company aims at empowering sustainable mobility in rural and suburban areas across Europe through an AI-powered carpooling system integrated with public transport for daily commuting. Find out more about this solution here.
- Leo Salomaa, CEO and co-founder of Make a BIM from Finland. They use AI to create Building Information Models (BIM) from architectural drawings that can be used to scale up energy inefficient buildings. Find out more about this solution here.
- Alexandru Vasiliu, Chief Marketing officer for e-Mobility Rentals from Romania. The company implemented the first complete ecosystem for electric vehicle rentals with interchangeable batteries and its own network of charging and battery swap stations in Europe. Find out more about this solution here.
Only 2 solutions were selected by the Open Innovation Challenges Jury:
- Anna Lisa Boni, Deputy Mayor for EU/Recovery funds, Ecological transition and International relations at the City of Bologna
- Thomas Bast, Project manager on shared mobility and behavioral change, City of Helmond on behalf of Arno Bonte, Responsible for sustainability, climate adaptation, Brainport Smart District
- Charlotte De Jaegher, Director, Leuven 2030
- Elina Rantanen, Deputy Mayor of urban environment, City of Turku
The 2 winners are Karos Mobility and Make a BIM!
During the Event, Susanna Höglund of the City of Stockholm shared with the audience the planned and implemented measures and large scale climate-investments Stockholm made for more than 50 years to become a net zero and even a climate positive city by 2030.
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