In closure of the project, the SUNSHINE FINAL EVENT Conference organized by URBASOFIA as lead Communication and Awareness partner of the project, aimed at delivering results of the 3-year innovative initiative, within a large international participation, as well as to promote and network with other EU Projects on Energy Efficiency.
The conference has been held on January 14 2015, in the Auditorium Biagi room of the Salaborsa of Bologna, Italy. The event was organized in partnership with the Bologna Urban Center.
The SUNSHINE end event has been organized as a two-fold experience. Firstly, we aimed at offering the citizens and all stakeholders interested in Energy Efficiency the opportunity to take part in the Demos and experience first-hand the solutions for Energy Maps, Building Energy Awareness and Remote Control of Public Lighting.
Second, the Final Conference Session has been the core part of talking SUNSHINE and has gathered the project partners as well as speakers, panellists and expert invitees from a wide array of institutions: representatives of fellow innovation projects, of the municipality, region and energy supply companies, pioneer companies, institutes and research groups in the area of energy efficiency, location, the IoT, Standards and EU Policies as well as Open Energy. The day-long meeting provided the opportunity to present project achievements and innovative tools developed in the 3 years of project activities. URBASOFIA presented the lessons learned from the SUNSHINE Piloting experiences in the 8 cities of the project.
The event has been an appropriate opportunity to set up the basis for new partnerships to continue the efforts of the SUNSHINE project in the upcoming programming period, but also a means to support and transfer knowledge and lessons learned to stakeholders confronted with similar challenges in the Energy area.
Renowned experts from the regulatory, research and business sectors coming from Belgium, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and the United Kingdom shared their expertise in the field of energy efficiency, Internet of Things, standards and EU policies, as well as open energy in a high level round table. The speakers invited to present in the three specialized sections (Energy efficiency, Location and Internet of Things in the EU: common grounds, challenges and opportunities, Standards and EU Policies, Open Energy) have been the following:
- Aleksandra Arcipowska, Building Performance Institute Europe – Brussels, Belgium
- Michele Sansoni, ARPAE Environment and Energy Agency – Bologna, Italy
- Jean-Marie Bahu, European Institute for Energy Research – Karlsruhe, Germany
- Muna Hamdi, iMFV – Intelligent Mobility: FutureVision – Portsmouth, United Kingdom
- Daniele Miorandi, U-Hopper Trento, Italy
- Massimo Fustini, Emilia-Romagna Region – Bologna, Italy
- Joëlle Mastelic, European Network of Living Labs (HES-SO Valais-Wallis) – Sierre, Switzerland
- Gašper Stegnar, Building and Civil Engineering Institute ZRMK – Ljubljana, Slovenia
- Sara Picone, ASTER – Bologna, Italy
Their full profiles and presentations are available for downloading on the Conference webpage.
The conference was an excellent occasion for joint capitalization of European initiatives targeting the availability of building-related data, and highlighting the increasing interest and number of initiatives at European level involving institutions, local authorities and the business sector. Citizens and stakeholders interested in energy efficiency also had the opportunity to take part in the SUNSHINE live demos and experienced first-hand the solutions available for energy maps, building energy awareness and remote control of public lighting.
In closure, a panel discussion has been conducted with the speakers and invited experts on topics concerning the trends, barriers and projections of Energy Efficiency, ICT, Open Standards and Open Energy. The discussion has been very interesting and engaging, and the overall feedback has been excellent.
