Transition News

TRANSITION NEWS
MAPPING WROCLAW’’’S TRANSITION
TO A LOW CARBON ECONOMY
This informative newsletter promotes the sustainable activities in Wroclaw with a focus on climate
change, and specifically to transitioning from a fossil fuel economy to low carbon economy.
Inside this Issue
Climate KIC helps Cities turn
Plans into Action
3
Making Transitions Happen 5
Low Carbon CiƟes Model 7
Green Cultural Walking Route 8
Construction Spin out Company
Rethinks Sustainability
10
Valencian Pioneers propose
Solar Powered Public Transport
11
100 years since the Great War 12
Urban Laboratories and Fab
Labs
13
Personal Beliefs Key to Creating
Successful Business in a Low
Carbon Economy
14
EIT+ which was established in 2007,
is a unique undertaking in Poland,
dedicated to fostering innovation
based on the co-operation of academ-ia,
local government and innovative
business. The company’s sharehold-ers
are the largest universities in
Wroclaw as well as the authorities of
the city of Wroclaw.
EIT+ is currently developing its new
Pracze Campus at a €120 million, the
most significant Polish R&D invest-ment
in recent years. A network of
laboratories and offices, which are
under construction, will be world
class in equipment, infrastructure
management and R&D support ser-vices.
The Pracze Campus aims to become a
vibrant innovation village, truly sup-portive
of the creative environment
indispensable for the development of
the Knowledge Based Economy. In-ternational
colleagues from comple-mentary
backgrounds such as busi-ness
incubators, high technology
companies, financial institutions and
research will mingle in a collabora-tive
and pleasant atmosphere. A dis-crete
Science Park and Climate and
Energy Park are also planned to be
constructed on the premises.
EIT+ is also a founding partner in
one of the six European Regional
Innovation Communities (RICs) ded-icated
to address the problem of cli-mate
change. It is a newly created
undertaking of the European Institute
of Innovation and Technology aimed
at developing and implementing new
life-improving and pro-ecological
technologies.
The strategic goal of the company is
to organise and carry out interdisci-plinary
research activities as well as
knowledge management and transfer
particularly in the following areas:
biotechnology, medical technologies,
nanotechnologies, advanced materi-als,
telecommunication technologies
and climate change.
WROCLAW’’S ECO
ACTIVITIES, SPACE AND INSTALLATIONS
Wrocławskie Centrum Badań EIT+ Sp. z o.o.
ul. Stabłowicka 147, 54‐066 Wrocław, POLAND
T: +48 71 720 16 01 E: biuro@eitplus.pl
www.climate‐kic.org
Wroclaw’s
Dwarves
with
Umbrella

TRANSITION NEWS Page 2
Looking Back to go Forward
The short film ‘X’ highlights Carmela’s low energy lifestyle as she takes us through her daily chores in Spain.
Have you ever thought about sustainability? Do you
think that it is related to our daily life? Do you consider
that we are more respectful towards the environment
nowadays than 50 years ago because we separate our
rubbish and put it in different coloured containers? Are
we smarter than the previous generation due to the fact
that we have more efficient appliances?
It can be considered that sustainability is a modern con-cept,
but it is not. We can’t deny that the technology is
leading the market to have more efficient buildings and
equipment. Despite this fact, if we observe the current
way of life, we use much more energy than before.
Some decades ago, the lack of resources led the people
to use resources wisely, to take profit of all the materi-als
and food they had, to use less energy, that is to say,
to live in a more sustainable way. They didn’t separate
the materials in different containers, but they were
more respectful towards the environment. The most of
the rubbish they had was organic matter that was used
for fertiliser for growing crops. They didn’t have effi-cient
boilers that we have nowadays, but they used
warm clothes and blankets, and firewood when needed.
They didn’t have LED technology, but they did their
activities in daylight. They really knew how to be effi-cient.
The current consumption model is pushing society to-wards
a resources crisis, increasing the price of the
energy and materials, as well as other products and
services. As more and more people need more and
more resources a funnel is being created. We are in-
vaded by the consumer culture, exploiting fossil fuels reserves, raw
materials and water resources. Resources are finite but we want to
continue growing. This situation is pushing society to a collapse that
will need a change of direction in our lifestyle. In this scenario it is
crucial to recuperate the knowledge of our parents and grandparents,
and to reflect on it, comparing their environmental impact and ours.
Let’s use the technology for having more efficient buildings, equip-ment
and means of transport, but let’s use the knowledge of our
ancestors and recuperate their sustainable practices. Let’s look back
in order to build a more sustainable future and move forward to-gether.
Carmen Castells
E: carmen@aer-ribera.com
T +34 96 171 7007
LinkedIn es.linkedin.com/in/ccastells/en

Wroclaw’s City Square, Rynek, One of the largest Market squares in Europe
Photo courtesy of Web
Many countries now need to turn plans into action.
Hans Bruyninckx, EEA Executive Director
In the last number of years, global demographics have
undergone major changes. There are more people living
urban lives than in rural communities. Globally, we see
towns and cities becoming a haven as work becomes
increasingly concentrated in urban regions. This can
lead to displacement and isolation for those leaving and
those left behind. It can lead to overcrowding in cities
built for less capacity, and disconnection for some. Stra-tegic
planning is critical in the planets future with the
added impetus of a climate change uncertainty factor.
The focus on the urban environment is to build on pro-jects
of Climate-KIC that create momentum with the
local authorities in our regions and national centres.
Climate KIC is cross-disciplinary and the transition city
model promotes acceleration to a low carbon economy.
Transition Cities are resilient to climate change. By
bringing together a network of regions and national cen-tres
– a broad community of partners from business,
academia, the public sector and passionate young entre-preneurs
and students, our next change makers; Climate
KIC addresses the non-technical barriers of social, insti-tutional,
financial, behavioural and/or regulatory nature
and develop products aimed to deploy and scale-up inno-vations.
This newsletter is a snapshot of some of the projects that
are being developed in Wroclaw under the management
of EIT+. It is important to understand the need to incor-porate
sustainability and environmental issues across the
whole remit of society. Whilst the transition city model
is focused on Buildings, Energy and Transport to
achieve an accelerated transition, sustainability aspects
need to be incorporated into all city projects. In the
summary of city plans for 2014, the city’s president Ra-fał
Dutkiewicz emphasised that culture, innovation,
education, free time, quality of life, housing and mobili-ty
are the priorities for the city of Wroclaw. However,
Climate KIC
helps Cities turn
Plans into
Action
by Shirley Gallagher
environmental and sustainable measures have not yet been con-sidered
for the major upcoming events in Wroclaw in the coming
years. The city will host the European city of culture in 2016 and
the World Games in 2017. Construction is currently under way in
a number of venues in the city. Indeed, Wroclaw is a building
site reminiscent of Ireland in the Celtic Tiger years and whilst the
building fabric is a better standard than that in Ireland a decade
ago it is not standardised to European Building Performance Di-rective
as the national government have not yet acted on this Eu-ropean
Stipulation.
This is not unusual, UK government on one hand is promoting
’green new deal’ a scheme to allow residents to transition to
cleaner fuel, yet on the other hand is attempting to maximise its
fossil fuel outputs.
The general public are confused and need to hear a clear con-sistent
message that the time is now to make change happen. The
facts are that if change does not happen now the planet’s tempera-ture
will go beyond the predicted ‘tipping point’ of 2°C sooner
rather than later-IN OUR LIFETIME. Climate Change Scientists
are rewriting models as their predictions are happening now rather
than in the predicted 250 years. 1 in 100 year floods are happen-ing
frequently, often every 5-10 years. Wroclaw, like many major
cities had a flood in 1997 and much of the UK was under water
last winter as record rainfalls fell. The combined global surface
temperature for the January–September period (year-to-date) was
0.68°C above the 20th century average of 14.1°C tying with 1998
as the warmest such period on record (http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/
sotc/global/#ref).
Fortunately, there has been a decision by the European Leaders on
24th October 2014 to reduce their carbon emissions by 40% by
2030. Whilst this is of course important, the agreement does not
provide key milestones to guide the leaders and our countries to
achieving this step. In fact it allows for further mis-information
to gather steam for the next 16 years. With the next COP21 due
in Paris in 2015, it is hopeful that binding action will be taken
next year by all UN member states, however it appears we all
agree we save the planet but just not yet.

‘A binding 40% CO2 reduction effort domestically in
Europe is not an easy task. It can only be achieved
through a major transformation in all parts of the so-ciety.
That is why the EU leaders' decision to adopt the
Commission's proposal is an ambitious and important
step forward.’
Connie Hendergaard. EU Commissioner for Climate
Action
By developing a systematic, clear consistent message,
the Transition City Programme can develop Wroclaw
into a city that is more conducive to live, work and
play in for all the right reasons. Perhaps by using
Whistler’s model for the Winter Olympics in Canada
2010, Wroclaw can emulate the drive of Whistler by
recreating the model Mayor Ken Melamud used and
by having a systematic sustainable policy across all
remits of the city from government, business, educa-tion
and communities. Whistler remains a top ski resort whilst
driving sustainability through carbon offsetting and raising
awareness through sport.
Cont’d from p3
Rowerowy Wroclaw.
Bicycle OrganisaƟon

The first Transition Town
was set up in Kinsale, Ireland
by Rob Hopkins. He has
since moved to Totnes where
Transition Network was
formed. It has a simple mis-sion
- to inspire, encourage,
connect, support and train
communities as they adopt
and adapt the transition mod-el
on their journey to urgently
rebuild resilience and drasti-cally
reduce CO2 emissions.
Making Transitions Happen
The project is bringing together vari-ous
stakeholders required to achieve
the EU target of 20% reduction in Car-bon
and 20% increase in renewable
energies by the year 2020. The main
strategic challenge to becoming a
Transition city is to create a low car-bon
culture that engages companies,
communities and citizens to reduce
their impact and connect globally on
the climate change challenge.
Wroclaw along with Birmingham, UK,
Hessen, De, Budapest, Hu, Valencia,
Es, Bologna IT and the Hague, NL
have come together to use their know-how
and innovate to make a difference
in their cities. The transition city EU
funded project is focused on 3 themes
with a sustainable link connecting
them.
These are Building, Energy and Mobil-ity.
Buildings This is a critical theme
to focus on as 40% of Energy is used
by buildings in the European Union
(www.eceee.org/buildings/
EPBD_Recast/
EPBD_recast_19May2010.pdf).
The 2010 directive states measures
need to be taken to measure and im-prove
the energy performance of build-ings
with respect to climate and local
conditions as well as the indoor envi-ronment.
This directive had to be
transposed into national law by the 9th
July 2012. However in July 2014, the
Commission referred both Poland and
Austria to Court due to their inaction at
a national level . (IP/14/813). The
fine was set at a daily penalty of
96,720 € for Poland.
Imposing minimum energy require-ments
in buildings aims at providing
Wroclaw’s Dwarf with Duck may
know something about climate
change.! Preparing for the worst!
Some may remember the floods if
1997. Photo courtesy of Web
Wroclaw by Adam Mortka Courtesy of Facebook‐Wroclaw ExPats Group
environmentally friendly
market incentives both for
the renovation of existing
buildings and for the con-struction
of 'nearly zero en-ergy
buildings', i.e. build-ings
which consume very
little energy thanks to excel-lent
insulation, their orienta-tion
towards the sun, energy
-efficient heating and cool-ing
systems, etc.
http://ec.europa.eu/energy/
efficiency
However, as Wroclaw re-mains
a building site in many
parts of the city but in particu-lar
the ‘old town’, it is a un-fortunate
the new builds are
using old technology and will
possibly not conform to the
pending EPBD law.

Mobility The focus for Wroclaw for Mobility is to reduce
fossil fuelled transport. The city has an impressive plan to con-vert
many of the trams to ‘save braking energy’ and to inte-grate
new low energy buses.
There are exciting projects for Schools which focus on lower
carbon methodology. See p10 for Pioneer in Practise, Carmen
Castellis report.
Energy By using the cross-disciplinary
teams the transition can
be accelerated to a low carbon econ-omy
resilient to climate change. The
non-technical barriers of social, insti-tutional,
financial, behavioural or
regulatory nature are explored and
products are developed aiming to
deploy and scale-up innovations.
Our focus on the urban environment
is to build on projects of Climate-
KIC that create momentum with the
local authorities in our regions and
national centres.
Our network of regions and national
centres – a broad community of part-ners
from business, academia, the
public sector and passionate young
entrepreneurs and students, our next
change makers.
Solar PhotoVoltaic Panels
Users in Wroclaw an expect a Maxi-mum
Yield in 986 kWh/kWp*Y
(Source JRC,PV-GIS).
One of Wroclaw’s Running Routes
Dr Shirley Gallagher
Contact Details p8
Biomass such as wood logs, chips or pellets create local jobs by growing trees, management of forests, logging, treating and
bringing to market. The town of Gussing, Austira have created a whole industry around their forests and converting to a low
carbon economy. Photo courtesy of Web

LOW CARBON CITIES MODEL, for a sustainable Wroclaw development
EKO-BIEGŁY® is an association whose objective is to
provide professional environmental management by
providing knowledge and support in the area of environ-mental
protection, law, economy and engineering. Sustain-able
development comes from the need of a rational man-agement
of limited natural resources. EKO-BIEGŁY® is
working on a “Low Carbon Cities” project that promotes
the implementation of innovative environmental solutions
in the major European urban areas in order to reduce CO2
emission to the atmosphere by 20% before 2020 and, in
the consequence, improve the quality of life in these cities.
After applying a wide diversity of green solutions in many
European cities to reduce CO2 emissions, the conclusion
obtained is that the best way to improve environmental
conditions is to combine all this activities. For that reason,
is very important to take into account the triangle of sus-tainable
development goals.
This project presents some challenges and prospects to
Wroclaw city, in terms of space, culture and energy. First-ly,
it is proposed a new city planning system (from mo-nocentric
to polycentric city), covering the study of the
microclimate, sustainable urban development (smart cit-ies),
public transport (electric vehicles, creating a network
of bike rentals) and new green routes (expansion of bicycle
paths). Secondly, promoting a greater participation of local
cultural centres and further integrate the Odra river into
city life (sport activities, boat-tram,). And finally, increase
the diversification of renewable energy sources (solar,
wind and water energy) and implementation of new energy
efficient solutions in modern construction.
Inés Monfort, Pioneer
in Practise
Inés Monfort Escrig is
a graduate in Chemistry
and has a Master's de-gree
in Integrated Qual-ity,
Environment and
Prevention. After work-ing
at the University
Jaume I in some nation-al
research projects
related on characteriza-tion
of chemical com-pounds
by physical
techniques, she joined
to the department of
Applied Chemistry of the Energy Technological Institute
(ITE) in May 2013. Currently, she is actively involved in
several R+D+i projects, that are focused on sustainable
materials development for energy storage (Batteries of Li-polymer
or Redox, and Supercapacitors), materials and
components for electrolyzers and Fuel cell (PEMFC and
DMFC), energy renewable sources, energetic characteriza-tion
of biomass and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA).
Further information at
E: ines.monfort@ite.es
T +34 96 136 66 70
LinkedIn: es.linkedin.com/in/inesmonfort/
Walking School Bus
Photo courtesy of Carmen Castellis

New Green Cultural Walking Route Planned for Wroclaw
The European Capital of Culture in 2016
Wroclaw city council and EIT+ are involved in
promoting transitioning to using less fossil
fuels in the economy. We are planning to cre-ate
a 'green' eco walking cultural route of the
city. This will have an online presence and
anyone interested is welcome to get in-volved.
This will help promote local 'eco'
businesses and make tourists aware of
Wroclaw's green side and help meet the city
council's EU obligation to meet the 20:20 tar-get
by 2020. It is hoped that it will encourage
Eco Tourists to visit Wroclaw as a holiday des-tination.
A database will be created of interested parties,
business, organisations and individuals are all
welcome. A schedule is being prepared and
will be published. This will include training,
information days, media coverage and The
route, map and website can be generated in
time for 2016. It will raise the profile of
green, local
and sustaina-ble
practises
1. Create a network for eco business and promote
why it makes sense to get involved.
2. Carry out training sessions for business in large
and small groups to identify business practises and
products and plan for future.
3. Establish Sectors
Retail
Hospitality
Organic/Local Food
Construction (target building in transition city)
Transport
4. Establish Focus Areas and groups
Energy Consumption
Energy Production
Water
Waste
Mobility
Organic Food
Local Food/Products
5. Support a walking culture by integrating Walk 21
charter into EIT+ policies.
6. Create a walking training programme for walking
leaders.
7. Create a platform for a network between walking
leaders.
8. Scope the requirements for an audio visual (AV)
memory map of the city.
9. Scope the requirements for a future map of the city
including installations both temporary and permanent..
10. Research, design and implement a transition city
walking culture route that will be launched during in
2016.
11. Research and scope requirements for design of a
foldable paper map, website suitable for several devic-es
(web, tablet, mobile)
12. Develop a workshop concept for transition cities to
establish stakeholders in Wroclaw who will provide
guidance, leadership and implementation in urban de-sign
and planning, with a focus on low energy mobili-ty
and buildings as well as remembering the past.
Dr Shirley Gallagher is trained as a
scientist and an experienced event
manager, diplomat and social media
user. Cooperative thinking and
working is part of her makeup.
Shirley doesn’t have all the answers but her ability
to bring people together and motivate them makes
her a game changer. She works for the sustaina-ble
consultancy, SysPro;Systems for Progress
Limited
Contact Details E: sgallagher@syspro.ie
Skype:shirleyatsyspro Twitter: shirleyatsyspro
Linkedin shirleygallagher
Facebook Group
Sustainable Islands

New Green Cultural Walking Route Planned for Wroclaw
The European Capital of Culture in 2016 cont’d
Wroclaw city council and EIT+ are involved in promoting transitioning to using
less fossil fuels in the economy. We are planning to create a 'green' eco walking
cultural route of the city. This will have an online presence and anyone inter-ested
is welcome to get involved. This will help promote local 'eco' businesses
and make tourists aware of Wroclaw's green side and help meet the city coun-cil's
EU obligation to meet the 20:20 target by 2020. It is hoped that it will
encourage Eco Tourists to visit Wroclaw as a holiday destination.
A database will be created of interested parties, business, organisations and individuals are all welcome. A schedule is being
prepared and will be published. This will include training, information days, media coverage and The route, map and website
can be generated in time for 2016. It will raise the profile of green, local and sustainable practises and improve efficiency and
costs.
Climate KIC cities host the
Innovation festival bringing
together a wealth of knowledge
on Climate change to one place
once a year. In 2013, Wroclaw
was the host city and this year
Valencia will be the backdrop.
The Pioneer, Dr Shirley Gal-lagher
used Picasso’s Bull to
connect the two places. It has
been the backdrop of the Tau-romachia
Adverts for the Pi-casso,
Dali and Goya fascinat-ing
exhibition that is running in
Wroclaw’s Architectural Mu-seum.
There has been contro-versy
as many of the exhibits
are copies (lithography). The
cost is on par to the V&A,
London is another issue. The 3
day festival provides a plat-form
to network and share in-formation
on the work carried
out of the last 6 months.
Climate KIC’s Annual FesƟval is here. Birmingham is host In 2015,
Picasso’s Tauro looking rather green as we join the dots to create a low carbon economy in
Transition Cities

Construction Spin out Company Rethinks Sustainability using Renewa-ble
Technology for Complete Solution to Off Grid Situation
Sunark provides integrated Energy and Shelter SoluƟons FAST
SWOT is a company which was created to design and pro-mote
the project SUN ARK. The implementation and intro-duction
of this state of the art design is pivotal to bring a sus-tainable
solution to populations in need of immediate multi-functional
and energy independent sheltering. SUN ARK is a
break-through solution for modular, innovative and flexible
lodging that can bring fast relief to population in need. SUN
ARK is a free standing energy generating multifunctional
building that can be placed anywhere without the need of
foundations. The features characterizing Sun-Ark are:
Features
Containerized transportation
Easy assembly with no foundation needed
Sustainable structure in Wood or steel.
Integrated energy storage system
Insulated structure- roof and walls (U value)
RENEWABLE ENERGY PRODUCTION
Energy is produced using integrated Solar Photovoltaic Pan-els
(PV) system on a unique slope roof (edge shape building)
which is optimised for self consumption. Energy is used in
the form of water pumping, and for heat and light
SUNARK provides energy and shelter for
MULTIFUNCTIONALITY for off grid solutions
shelter for people, refugee camps
Hospitals, Schools, Farming, Animals, Green house
SWOT cooperates with Governments, Charitable Organiza-tions,
NGOs and private companies. For further infor-mation
please contact Jerzy Kasperowicz.
Bloomfield’s Engineering Director visits Poland as a Pioneer in Practice to work with SWOT
Roberto Colucci is an electrical engineer specialized in turnkey renewable energy solutions including solar both photovol-taics
and thermal, micro wind and micro hydroelectric systems, energy storage, efficiency and management. He is a Co-
Founder of Bloomfield involved in design, build and operation (DBO) of sustainable energy plants. Other sustainable
projects include LED lighting, passive wooden houses, and smart energy systems. Mr Colucci also is a certified Profes-sional
Engineer and Lead Auditor ISO50001. Bloomfield is a member of a the Italian consortium CEIR.

Valencian Pioneers propose Solar Powered Public Transport
The climate change issue Despite major efforts being
made by the cities of our socio-cultural environment, to
reduce greenhouse gas and improve quality of life of its
inhabitants, the majority of our cities are dependent on
contaminant based fossil fuel resources for public
transport systems.
Public Transport is a balancing act as municipalities need
to respond, simultaneously, to the needs of users, meet
speed and frequency criteria; comply with stringent rules
on budgetary adjustment, which includes the monitoring
of the derivative costs of the longevity of the urban bus
fleet, its maintenance and fuel consumption per kilome-tre.
In many European cities there are prototype buses being
developed to test fuels such as natural gas, hydrogen, bio-fuel,
etc. slowly moving away from conventional ones.
Technology is being used to analyse consumption, securi-ty,
number, accessibility and speed of charging points etc.
Replacing the fleet due to obligations on low carbon
transport initiatives is a significant cost to the battered
budgets of many municipalities of Europe.
In the framework of the “Pioneers into Practice” PIP Pro-gram,
driven by the European project Climate-KIC, a
team of three Valencian and one Portuguese “Pioneers”,
have developed an idea that would allow significant fuel
savings and a important CO2 emission reduction in bus
fleets.
The idea of the “Solar Adhesive” project basically con-sists
in an installation of photovoltaic solar cells system
on the exposed surfaces of each city bus. They obtain
energy which is used as electricity in operation (air con-ditioning,
Heating, internal and external lighting, ramps
and doors).
Some of the perovskite-based photovoltaic materi-als,
which are used in research in laboratories led
by teams from Jaime I University of Castellón and
Valencia University, could be used to generate
electricity.
Using existing technologies on the market, the
photovoltaic solar cells that the team intends to use
are transparent, flexible and incorporated in poly-mer
based on electricity conductive that can be
adhered and adapted to any surface. Without mod-ifying
the aesthetic appearance, the solar PV cells
are intended to reduce installation costs, avoid
overweight that could distort its purpose or which
could change the intended structure, or which
could require maintenance. Electricity storage
using high storage capacity graphene batteries
could also be implemented. Care would be taken
to ensure performance and safety regulations
would be maintained or exceeded.
Estimated ROI Predictions
Using existing technology and optimal efficiency,
the return on investment (ROI) is estimated at 6-8
months. In addition, with a system like the one
suggested, each bus could stop emitting an average
of 14 tonnes of CO2 equivalents per annum. A pi-lot
scheme is pending.
The role of Climate-KIC
Transitional thinking was used to perform the vari-ous
analyses and studies to reach these preliminary
conclusions. This methodology is taught and ap-plied
in Climate-KIC PIP 2014. They have devel-oped
the idea in an environment of healthy compe-tition
and mutual collaboration, which puts into
direct contact the talent and creativity, often bril-liant,
of many European professionals working
tirelessly for a better world, fighting against cli-mate
change and helping us to be adapted to it.
Inés Monfort,
Pioneer in Practise
(p6 for details)
Europe’s Bus Fleet

100 years since the Great War
The cartoon of Guernica, Picasso’s interpretation of the rebellion at Guernica-has become one of the world renowned anti
war statements since it was created in 19XX. Currently on show at Wroclaw’s Architectural Museum
http://www.wroclaw.pl/tauromachia-wroclaw-wystawa-picasso-dali-goya
It has been 100 years since the beginning
of the Great War. It was called the Great
War because for the first time, man had
invented weapons of mass destruction.
The use of machinery escalated death to
levels never seen before. As we have im-proved
our technology, we have supersed-ed
our ability to cause harm and shame on
many by using our very clever brains to
maim and kill. This year I visited the
UK’s National Arboretum in the West
Midlands. It was a beautiful day. There
are beautiful gardens, each garden com-memorates
the dead. Many are soldiers
but there is a garden for the innocents, and
for the Women’s Institute and other non
military personnel. The innocents have a
tree dedicated to Anne Frank, it is pruned
each year so it will never flower and ma-ture
like those it is dedicated to. There
was a soldiers regiment there, praying and playing the
brass band marches. I am an Irish Nationalist at heart
and a true pacifist, it does make me sad and wonder
on the sheer madness of war as the world teeters on
tenterhooks as Russia, China and the Middle East
erupt yet again. Driving through the French and Ger-man
country side on the highways and byways, there
were many acknowledgements of the wars. The sad-ness
in Wroclaw is tangible, 70% of the city lay in
ruins after the war in 1945. After a bitter siege with
the red army. It was the last Nazi city to fall The res-idents
of Lower Silesia of the time were sent West
and those Poles that had been East moved back. I
was on a tour to Walim, and I met a German whose
family were ousted after the war. He spoke with sad-ness
that the legacy is lost as we wandered around the
Lutheran Graveyard at the Peace Church in Swidnica-looking
for a gravestone with his name on it.
I also visited Auschwitz but that is another tale.
Shirley Gallagher

Urban Laboratories and Fab Labs
The fablab concept is from the esteemed US
college, MIT and they are popping up
throughout the world. There are 350 fablabs
registered with the foundation. Dr Gallagher
proposes that a Fab Lab, a hacker space
where people can get there hands on materi-als,
kit and technology to develop into some-thing
truly amazing is creatd in Wroclaw. It
could host adult and children activities in-cluding
sustainable learning, coderdojo
www.coderdojo.com and arts and crafts.
Creativity is the key and the sky is the limit
when the imagination is let loose. Wroclaw
could create a space that could springboard
new inventions, ideas and investments.
Urban Labs will be the first in Central and Eastern Europe the urban tech-nology
center developing and implementing of solutions dedicated to towns
and cities to improve the quality of life. Created research infrastructure will
serve the development of modern technology in everyday life of people liv-ing
in areas of high population density. The subject of research and demon-stration
projects will address the following areas: climate change, efficient
transport, urban planning, municipal engineering and ICT, and new social
models. It will be focused on strengthening Wrocław as a family-friendly
city. It will Facilities will be a base available to researchers, the existing
companies in the market, as well as those wishing to enter the market. All
users of the infrastructure will be equipped with the tools to carry out the
necessary analyzes, through which it will be possible to develop innovative
models, creating prototypes, conduct necessary tests leading to the creation
of solutions as a result of which other European cities and metropolitan are-as
will benefit by improving the quality of life of their inhabitants. With the
full integration of the city and projects in the field of Urban Labs Wroclaw
will be able to join the most technologically advanced cities in Europe,
while specializing in urban technologies with high market potential. Thanks
to created, developed and implemented solutions, specially new social mod-els,
the quality of life in Wroclaw will increase significantly, and emissions
Figure Geodesic Dome
made from Milk Jugs
(Milk Carton Igloo)
This project building
igloos teaches children
waste, reusing, logistics,
on time delivery, mathe-matics,
architecture and
art. As well as being a
fun activity and creating
a play space that can be
used afterwards
Figure Warsaw Fab Lab Session
(hƩps://www.facebook.com/FabLabWarszawa)
GTAmbiente di Gualdi Andrea – AcusƟca e EnergeƟca
via Bosco n. 9 – Campogalliano (MO), Italy
cell: 348 31 67 494
e‐mail: gualdian‐drea@
gtambiente.com
home: www.gtambiente.com
Linkedin URL: it.linkedin.com/
in/gualdiandrea/
and energy consumption will be reduced.
Andrea Gualdi has a background in environmen-tal
engineering and is a life long learner having a
broad palette of skills in the area of climate im-pact
assessment. He has been a local Campogal-liano's
councillor and was responsible for envi-ronmental
practises. His strengths include ener-gy
design, noise certification for building, with a
focus on energy audits and building energy per-formance.
He has recently been a finalist in
Life+ European ECO Courts AWARDS with
project: “ASAC ECLOD ASAC” – The story
my family.
Andrea worked on a retrofit for building plan
that is currently in a grant application and not
available for public consumption at present. He
used SketchUp, a google 3D software package to
highlight changes in building.

Personal Beliefs Key to Creating Successful Business in a Low Carbon Economy
‘La Dolce Vita’ DFrancesco Rosso, Gruppo Macrolibrarsi, with Roberto Colucci, Bloomfield, Pioneers in PracƟse, Italy 2014
Mr. Francesco Rosso CEO and leader of a three companies group (Gruppo Editoriale Macro - Macrolibrarsi, Golden Books,
La fattoria dell’ Autosufficenza) shows us how he is capable to contributing towards a low carbon society in a positive and
active way. His personal believes and drive are focused on combining local community involvement, respect of the environ-ment,
social aspects taken in great consideration, employees satisfaction, sustainability on the product and services offered
to the customers and company’s facilities sustainability.
Among the most impressive skills of Francesco are the capacity of being innovative and strongly connected to the local
community in order to develop low carbon projects that are both very sustainable and profitable. It is strong, in him, the
belief that the World is going through a great transitioning period.
Being “The example” to the “regimes” is the way he wants to change the status quo. This is the idea that Francesco believes
in. The local public institutions represent the main regime which he addresses by showing to the regime itself that a business
can be at the same time very profitable and socially and environmentally sustainable. The examples and the change need to
rise anyway from the bottom and the bottom is us: the people, the community, employees and customers. The company
management takes in great consideration the employees’ happiness and measures its own success in making sure that people
love to work for the company. Motivation and respect leads to a shared success.
Pioneers in Practise
Luigi Lena is an architect, partner founder of F+LR architettu-ra,
involved in sustainable and eco friendly buildings and city
design, energy improvement and retrofitting of existing build-ings,
renewable energy use applied on cities and buildings.
Luigi approaches design by taking into account two points of
view: one technological and performance-based, and the sec-ond
one concerning new relationship between people, archi-tecture
and landscape and generating identity with a greater
creative empathy. The integrated use of up-to-date knowledge,
advanced technology and responsible thinking is essential for
a low impact, comfortable and affordable environment. Luigi
was also involved in building project that is private at present.
Contact details T +39 335 5925959
it.linkedin.com/pub/luigi-lena/4b/893/aa1 Email lenarch@gmail.com / luigi@flrarchitettura.it

New
Science
Learning
Centre for
Children
EIT+ is based in a campus which also hosts the Humanitarium which opened in September offering chemical, optical and
acoustic lessons in a fun way.
Humanitarium Kampus Pracze Wrocławskiego Centrum Badań EIT+
ul. Stabłowicka 147A 54-066 Wrocław tel. 71 734 70 00 (telefon czynny od 9:00 do 15:00) info@humanitarium.pl
This informative newsletter was created as part of Climate KIC Pioneer’s in Practise Programme
2014 as part of an information guide on what’s green in Wroclaw. The newsletter has been pro-duced
by Dr Shirley Gallagher, SysPro; Systems for Progress Limited in conjunction with other Pio-neers
in Practise, 2014. Photographs and images were not credited have been obtained from the In-ternet
and gratitude is given for their use.
Please contact Shirley for further information-Twitter @shirleyatsyspro or further details p7.

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