In a shocking report by The Guardian last week, statistics by Feedback EU showed that around 153m tonnes of food in the EU are frittered away yearly.

A recent study shows that most EU member states miss collection targets for electronic waste - the fastest growing waste stream in the EU.

Those looking for city sustainability inspiration can take a cue from a line in Billy Joel’s Vienna: “You better cool it off before you burn it out.”

The EU explains that sector integration means linking various energy carriers with each other and the end-use sectors.

August has been a big month for the European Commission, with multiple green projects approved to contribute to their 2050 climate neutrality target. Among these projects is a €2.98 billion German scheme to promote green district heating based on renewable energy and waste heat.

August saw a few major projects approved by the European Commission, including a €149 million Romanian scheme that supports the production of renewable hydrogen. Is renewable hydrogen important and what does hydrogen actually do? Let’s find out!

Sustainable architecture is hopping on the timber train by embracing mass timber as an alternative to concrete and steel. Who wood have thought?

Why did the cars in cities like Oslo, Ghent, and Paris stop driving? They were tired! All jokes aside, more and more cities are giving cars the thumbs down, and it may just be something that we give the green light!

How do the song lyrics by Joni Mitchell go? “They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.” Well, quite the opposite is true in many parts of the world, where cities are dedicating themselves to turning once unused or dilapidated parking lots into paradises of recreation for their people.

In the fight against climate change, increasingly more cities are focusing on sustainability – especially the ones realising the threat of rapid urban spread, greenhouse emissions, and the socio-economic issues faced by their residents as a result of these.

What are some of the most innovative sustainability efforts across Europe, and what can we learn from them?

Community development will always be an essential aspect of bettering towns and communities, which is why I tip my hat to initiatives that focus on improving lives by bettering places; communities drive placemaking. 

A circular economy is vital in the fight against climate change, reports The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). According to UNECE, more world leaders are now aware of the importance of renewable energy in the fight against climate change. They are shifting focus to a circular economy to create sustainable consumption, minimise pollution and extend the lifecycle of products and services.

UNECE further states that a circular economy aims to create a competitive economy where green jobs can strive and that innovation is at the core of these economies. In the spirit of celebrating all things cutting-edge, I’ve listed five circular economy innovations currently making waves in green-focused economies.

Singapore has a unique waste management system that turns trash into energy, but it also comes with its own set of challenges. So what other systems (and policies) from around the world are leading the way in waste reduction and recovery, that we can all look to for inspiration?

What are the key predictions for Smart Cities for 2027? Rapid advances in technology must serve a citizen-centric model of rebuilding and restructuring smart cities, that take into consideration challenges such as the climate, energy and food crises, as well as avoiding future scenarios that mimic the recent global pandemic.

So which advances, in the next five years, will be leading the charge in this direction?

What can we do to further encourage public transport and alternative mobility choices in a post-Covid world? With public transport systems in parts of the world at the risk of collapse, smart communities need to think of ways around the decline in demand, and use technological advances and available data to the best of their possibilities.

While much of the attention over the past few years has focused on smart parking applications and sensors, which have done a huge job in contributing to more fluid traffic systems in cities, the truth is that we need to look beyond apps and other tech - for example, by readdressing free parking in city centres and how this contributes to many other factors around traffic and parking.

As smart communities grow and new ones continue to appear around the world, a hot topic that often pops up is that of interconnectivity - and not just in terms of logistical infrastructure, but connectivity between citizens.

The future of smart communities belongs to their citizens, and today we take a look at the Top 5 European cities putting people at the heart of their city centres. 

This week, we take a look at the Top 5 Smart City Trends for 2023. Smart Cities are built on a number of layers that interconnect and determine how a city functions overall. Mixing tech applications, data and public use, we’ve created an ecosystem that keeps transforming and adapting not only to citizens’ needs, but also to emerging innovations that have the potential to simplify urban planning and enhance quality of life for all.