Innovation Category Archive

Smart Pedestrian Crossings

Leave a reply Jonny Hankins

Climate Neutral and Smart Cities

As readers might remember, TechnologyBloggers has a partnership with the Bassetti Foundation. The Foundation participates in several European Union funded projects, and as I was learning about one of them, I discovered a connection with the city of Utrecht where I live.

One of the projects (MOSAIC) is funded through the EU Mission on Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities (Cities Mission), which aims to deliver 100 climate-neutral and smart European cities by 2030, while paving the way for remaining European cities to become climate-neutral by 2050. It works on a bottom-up approach which requires the participation of the entire local ecosystem and support from all governance levels.

It turns out that another project funded through the same mission is called IRIS, and one of the IRIS Project pilot Cities is Utrecht where I live, and so I went to see one of them, a smart pedestrian crossing with sound, air quality and traffic speed monitoring. Not only that but the white strips in the road actually light up as you approach and lights on the tops of the poles change colour according to the traffic situation creating the bright lit up crossing area in the photo above.

The crossing project takes in more of the area around it, with new street lights that can be dimmed or brightened and collect more data on the weather etc. The project was developed with the local population, the idea being that the local governance and urban management systems work with the people who live in the area to build and maintain the infrastructure that they feel they need.

From the MOSAIC website:

The mission presents a unique and unprecedented approach to the goal of climate neutrality. This new demand-led approach brings together all key stakeholders within a city, as well as the respective national/regional governments and the European Commission to work towards the same goal. The Climate City Contract provides a novel tool to ensure that all key actors – local authorities, private sector, academia, citizens/civil society – will work together towards the same ambitious goal via a joint strategy. The multi-sectoral and multi-actor dimensions will be key for the mission’s success.

The Cities Mission is therefore ideally placed to engage European citizens and stakeholders in the pressing global challenge of impending climate change, as it focuses strongly on the places where most Europeans live, work and move. While the overarching ambition of the mission relates to the issue of mitigating climate change, achieving success within this mission requires not only significant technological innovation but also a paradigm shift within the public sector, on local, regional, national and European levels, regarding the inclusion of the general public.

Check out the links in the article and the photos and video. A Rainy night in Utrecht.

Following the Fungus

Leave a reply Jonny Hankins

As regular readers might know, I have had an interest in fungus for several years. It all began when I came into contact with Maurizio Montalti and his works.

Montalti uses fungus to make artistic objects that demonstrate possible uses for this material form. He also uses this art to provoke conversation and discussion about how developments in the technology and processes used in his field allows us to replaces oil-based materials with natural ones.

In recent years the field has grown. Montalti and friends now have a production plant in Italy where they grow insulation materials. I say grow, and this is how this industry can be seen. Materials are grown into forms rather than shaped or cast.

Synthetic biology techniques allow the grower to adapt the material, which can then be finished and made into products. The example in the photo above tells the story, some shade from the sun and a circular garden house all panelled with fungus materials.

Take a look at the video linked above and this further discussion on the Bassetti Foundation website for lots more information.

Last month I attended the Floriade Expo and Dutch Design Week (both in the Netherlands) and came across a host of interesting growers and grown products. The environmental advantages of such approaches seem clear: objects can be grown, they are natural and so biodegradable. And also extremely versatile, as different densities and properties make for different uses.

But as pictures can paint a thousand words, I leave you with a gallery.

Acoustic insulation from Montalti’s production facility in Italy
Cycling Helmets
Design Lamp

New Ethos of Science or Institutional Reform of Science? The prospects of institutionalizing the research values Openness, Collaboration and Responsiveness

Leave a reply Jonny Hankins

New Ethos of Science or Institutional Reform of Science? The prospects of institutionalizing the research values Openness, Collaboration and Responsiveness

On 30 November 2022 at 5PM, René von Schomberg will deliver an open lecture as part of the Cultures of Research series of the International Centre for Advanced Studies, Kaete Hamburger Kolleg, RWTH Aachen University. Regular readers will know his work as I have collaborated with him on several projects. You can find a post about his work here, and more about our book here.

Von Schomberg has played an important role in the development of the concept and practices arround Responsible Innovation over the last 20 years through his roles working for the European Commission. He has seen it all we might say, from the first use of the term to its presence throughout the entire funding mechanism.

Openess, collaboration and responsiveness are three of the factors that have been seen as important in a responsible system. Can these things be built into a system? How could this be done? What would an innovation system look like that was based upon these aims? And what might be the advantages?

The lecture will be online with limited physical presence also possible. I will participate from Aachen and write about the event later in the year.

Registration (both online and physical) is required at events@khk.rwth-aachen.de.