MOVE.BG-initiated Green Restart Coalition has brought together over 50 of Bulgaria's leading experts in the fields of innovation economy, energy transition, bioeconomy and biomass, smart cities, nature-based solutions and sustainable finance. In June, motivated by the desire to turn Bulgaria into one of the green and innovative leaders in Europe, they took part in a special event for generating sustainable development ideas "Mission Green Bulgaria".
During the event, over 150 challenges to Bulgaria's green transformation were outlined, as well as over 150 recommendations to overcome them. The Green Restart Coalition summarized the ideas in a special report containing six thematic chapters, based on the six groups into which the participants were divided:
- Mission Green Innovation
- Mission Energy Independence
- Mission Bioeconomy
- Mission Smart Cities
- Mission Nature-based Solutions
- Mission Sustainable Finance
Today, we present to you the challenges and recommendations, generated by the expert group Mission Smart Cities. Among the participants in the panel are:
- Svetoslav Stoykov, Co-founder of the ICE, panel moderator
- Ina Tsvetkova, Co-founder of the ICE, panel rapporteur
- Petko Anchev, Senior Operations Manager of Lime for Bulgaria and Greece
- Boris Bonev, Founder of Spasi Sofia (Save Sofia), independent Municipal Councillor in the City of Sofia
- Joro Penchev, Advisor of the Ministry of e-Government with focus on data and information systems, technology, management and economy Expert at Urban Policy Association
- Evgenia Tasheva, Expert, For the Earth Environmental Association
Mission Smart Cities
Did you know?
At present, over three-quarters of the EU population live in cities. Globally, cities consume more than 65% of energy and they are the source of 70% of all greenhouse gas emissions. Cities, with their financial, technological, economic and human potential, can underpin the successful green transition. But in order for this goal to be achieved, cities need green and digital reforms and modernization. This is the rationale of the smart cities concept.
What is a smart city?
A smart city is a place where resources are used in a smart manner and less harmful greenhouse gas emissions are produced, while living and working conditions for inhabitants and businesses and the environment are improved. This is possible thanks to the implementation of innovative solutions which are based mainly on the use of digital technologies, the introduction of circular economy practices, and the use of reliable systems for high-quality collection and continuous updating of data. Thus, the existing networks and services in a smart city are made more efficient and greener and new, modern and environmentally friendly products and services are provided.
This is how we could summarize the European Commission’s views on the smart city concept.
“A smart city goes beyond the use of digital technologies for better resource use and less emissions. It means smarter urban transport networks, upgraded water supply and waste disposal facilities and more efficient ways to light and heat buildings. It also means a more interactive and responsive city administration, safer public spaces and meeting the needs of an ageing population”, as noted by the European Commission.
Where are we?
Bulgaria continues to experience serious difficulties with some key aspects of the transition to smart cities: the Bulgarian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which are the backbone of the economy, rank penultimate as regards the integration of digital technologies in the EU. In Bulgaria, only 2.6% of all materials used come from recycling and reuse (secondary flows) compared to the EU average of 12.8% and over 30% in the leader, the Netherlands. Electric buses are still in the initial phase of their introduction in the public transport in Bulgaria: currently, according to the available public data, a mere of 45 electric busies move in the streets of Sofia (2021) or less than 10% of all buses, while some EU Member States have already turned to the use of mainly electric buses to achieve net zero emissions in the public transport: 78% of urban buses in Denmark and 75% in Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
The main problem that the experts in the Mission Smart Cities panel have identified is the lack of high-quality, up-to-date and reliable data. This is a key challenge since data represent the foundations for the introduction of successful smart city practices.
Challenges
Legislative and administrative challenges
- Lack of clear objectives on the national level to develop smart cities in Bulgaria, e.g. specific targets for energy efficiency, emissions reduction, or waste recycling
- Lack of a long-term vision for the development of smart city practices in the Bulgarian municipalities;
- Problem with the inconsistency of the smart city development measures in some municipalities which have already adopted such policies;
- Lack of political will and prevalence of economic interests hampering the implementation of smart city development projects
- Lack of expertise in some Bulgarian municipal administrations
- Citizens still fail to fully understand the impact of their actions on the urban environment and this issue is compounded by some local policies, such as anonymous utility services, where the uniform system does not encourage citizens to appreciate the effect of their consumption patterns
- Citizens underuse the public transport
- Lack of a response system in the cases of accidents with urban buses in the capital city which has the largest public transport system in the country
- Low waste recycling rates
- Lack of conditions for walking – pedestrian zones and safe mobility lanes are insufficient
- Underdeveloped system of bike lanes
- Lack of a realistic assessment of the building stock
Challenges to the supply and use of reliable and up-to-date data
- Incomplete data from some sectors (e.g. urban transport) and a total lack of data from other, especially in these with difficulties to collect information via technological means
- Lack of motivation of local administrations, including mayors, to provide data on the energy performance of buildings
- Lack of a vision on why data collection is needed
- Lack of a vision on why and how it is useful to use data for the improvement of the urban environment
- Problem with inconsistent data – data altered to suit the specific goal of receiving funding from EU funds and programmes
- Widespread problems with quality of data, old storage methods, lack of integration and interface for transfer of data
- Lack of system for data analyses including new software models
- Lack of data management soft skills in the public administration
Financial challenges
- Lack of financial and human resources for high-quality collection, maintenance and updating of databases in some municipalities
Solutions
Legislative and administrative solutions
- Elaboration of clear objectives on the national level to develop smart cities in Bulgaria, e.g. specific targets for energy efficiency, emissions reduction, or waste recycling
- Elaboration of a long-term vision on the development of smart city practices in the Bulgarian municipalities
- Introduction of mechanisms to monitor the implementation of the existing smart city development measures and policies
- Measures to provide the expertise needed in the municipalities which are currently lacking expert potential
- Introduction of the principle of outsourcing external expertise: experts from EU Member States who are prepared to provide consultancy and working solutions
- Analysis of the need for adjustment of local taxes and fees for the purpose of introducing measures that could help citizens become aware of the impact of their behaviour on the urban environment
- Implementation of campaigns to attract more passengers to public transport
- Introduction of a response system in the case of accidents with urban buses in the City of Sofia;
- Development of public awareness campaigns to inform citizens on how to recycle properly with clear and effective communication to the citizens
- Development of a project to prepare technical passports of buildings for the purpose of ensuring a realistic assessment of the building stock
- Improvement and expansion of pedestrian zones
- Improvement and expansion of bike lanes
- Analysis of successful international case studies and the opportunities for introducing these good practices in Bulgarian cities, depending on their needs. The experts in the Mission Smart Cities have shared some case studies. Parma: containers for separate waste collection were removed to leave room for more parking places, a door-to-door system of the separate collection was introduced, a pay-as-you-throw system was introduced to measure the volume of waste and charge additional fees above a certain threshold, and an application was developed for the citizens to monitor waste fees in real-time. Seoul: sensors were installed on smart litter bins to monitor the amount collected, thus reducing 30% of the garbage collection costs and 86% of the frequency of emptying the bins. Barcelona: smart electric meters were introduced in the households and consumers were offered specific data-sharing solutions
Solutions relating to the supply and use of reliable and up-to-date data
- Development of data collection plans by local administrations with clearly defined goals
- Introduction of data updating and maintenance mechanisms
- Introduction of mechanisms to ensure data reliability, e.g. through regular surveys to verify the information collected
- Introduction of performance indicators in the management of data
- Introduction of indicators to identify gaps in database systems
- Development of a national long-term plan/strategy on the use of data for creating a better-quality environment
- Development of a uniform system for data collection and sharing, i.e. establishment of a single national framework to facilitate the use of data
- Establishment of motivated teams to work with database systems
- Opening of data to third parties: data should be accessible to businesses, scientists, and NGOs so that third parties could offer solutions on the basis of the data made available to them and by following the spirit of the European Data Strategy and the Regulation on data governance
- Introduction of an obligation of municipalities to make the public transport data available freely: currently, the City of Sofia does not provide these data to Google and therefore Google Maps does not give accurate data on the duration of travel with the public transport
- Introduction of a mechanism to ensure that appropriate data are collected to measure the effect rather than the activity (e.g. data on the real quantities of recycled waste rather than data on the transportation of collected waste)
- Use of data in the elaboration of quantitative and long-term targets, e.g. attainment of a certain level of energy efficiency or use of renewable energy sources
- Development of a single framework of the soft skills needed in handling the data collected: a national programme for the development of minimum municipal capacity within short time limits (3 to 4 years) to work with digital data
- Introduction of the principle of involving experts from various spheres to help identify the specific skills needed for the administration to work with data
- Establishment of a green network in which big cities could share data
Financial solutions:
- Provision of the resources needed for high-quality collection, maintenance and updating of databases in municipalities in which no budget resources have been allocated for this purpose, including via the new operational programmes and the NRRP
The challenges outlined and the solutions generated are based on the shared ideas of the participants in the Mission Smart Cities panel. The ideas are summarized and grouped together without any claims that they have been approved unanimously by all participating experts in the panel.
Read the full “Missin Green Bulgaria”Report here (in English).
Read more about the Green Restart Coalition here (in English).
