As climate change develops, with most of the world population living in urban areas, decarbonisation of cities is among the greatest challenges of the coming decades. In the framework of the EU City-zen project, a number of so-called Roadshows has been organised in ten cities within and outside Europe in order to plan and kick-off their transition towards an energy- and climate-neutral economy. During the Roadshows, a group of experts is engaged to perform co-working activities and participative labs involving local stakeholders. These activities support cities in identifying their own decarbonisation pathways, mainly by combining three mutual processes, i.e. energy design, urban design and carbon accounting. The latter, in particular, has been used to quantify the greenhouse gas emissions of cities and neighbourhoods and to estimate the mitigation effect of a combination of measures towards the desirable condition of carbon neutrality. This exploratory and proactive design process has been successfully demonstrated through intensive workshops and can be potentially replicated in other cities. This paper provides a schematic overview of the main results achieved in the Belgian town of Roeselare, but more significantly it describes the techniques needed to make that cooperative process understandable, impactful and implementable. It is likely that 2050 European goals will drastically change urban environments and socio-economic dynamics in cities, due to the fragmentation of energy sources. Hence, from this standpoint there is a vital need for integrated technologies and infrastructures, a circular economy and community-based processes such as food production, sharing of facilities and valorisation of ecosystem services.

The City-zen Roeselare Roadshow brought over 300 stakeholders into the process of re-imagining and visualising their 2050 future city with these solutions. Stakeholders, with no particular expertise in carbon accounting or sustainability, would now have the capability of understanding and applying these solutions in a combined effort to meet the zero-carbon challenge. The approach is generally replicable elsewhere being highly visual, impactful, transferable, and multi-stakeholder friendly. Given that data are made locally available, the combination of this general approach, site-specific assessments and the involvement of both experts and local stakeholders (i.e. policy makers, citizens, etc) allow the transition to start by referring to any real city or neighbourhood.@en

The natural ecotone between people, community and carbon reduction is the zero-carbon community. Over recent decades, the design of zero-carbon communities has focussed too greatly on carbon emissions and not enough on building communities. Anthropogenic climate change is a human problem, yet people are seldom placed at the centre of design solutions. The City-zen Roadshow is an intensive co-creational approach to creating zero-carbon communities, which places stakeholders at the very centre of the design process. The methodology uses an ‘urban-first’ approach and champions urban design as the main driver to deliver change. Carbon accounting and energy analysis sit in adjacency with the urban design proposals to deliver interventions that are net zero-carbon, low energy, low waste, socially rich, ecologically diverse, economically robust, resilient, fit for purpose and engaging. The paper describes this novel approach using one roadshow as a case study to illustrate the urban interventions proposed. Living in zero-carbon communities is not just about photovoltaic panels and wind turbines. It is, instead, about thinking differently about the way in which people live and the decisions they make, to provide people with alternative ways of living that are more desirable than those currently available.@en

Back in 2012, a group of enthusiasts submitted a project proposal to the EU. Many talks, partner proposals, and city explorations later, City-zen was granted EU-funding “to develop and demonstrate energy efficient cities and to build a methodology and tools for cities, industries and citizens to reach the 20-20-20 targets”. The program, rooted in Amsterdam (NL) and Grenoble (FR), had its first official kick-off in March 2014. In the past five years, no less than 28 partners have been working on 20 pilot projects, aiming for an annual saving of an impressive 59,000 tonnes of CO2. Academics, industries and residents have been brought together to face the cities’ challenges. An integrated methodology has been developed, as have roadmaps to sustainability for Grenoble and Amsterdam. City-zen did not shield its learning from other urban environments, either. A vehicle aptly named the ‘Roadshow’ sent a group of experts in the fields of sustainability, energy, and urban design to various European cities to ideate with local governments, knowledge institutions, entrepreneurs and residents. Based on the results of workshops, field visits and serious games, municipalities have been shown feasible avenues towards sustainability. Next to Amsterdam and Grenoble, the following European cities were visited: Belfast, Izmir, Dubrovnik, Menorca, Sevilla, Roeselare, Preston, Nicosia (north and south), and Amersfoort. This interactive book, entitled 'A TALE OF TWO CITIES' documents all City-zen activities since 2012, including those of the Roadshow in the section "Proof of the Pudding' (pp.40-43). The book has been fully translated in English and French, highlighting its international reach and collaborative network. Included in the Roadshow section are quotations of support from two key city decision makers, Mayor Declercq of Roeselare (Belgium) and Mayor Bolsius of Amersfoort (The Netherlands). Both City Mayors worked with the Roadshow when the project visited their cities in April 2018 and October 2019 respectively.@en

The City-zen Roadshow travels with a team of internationally recognized experts, in the field of energy planning and design to help develop a sustainable agenda for cities and their neighbourhoods. The overall aim of the Roadshow team is to work closely with people from the hosting city, whether they be city leaders, energy planners, local architect, professionals, academics, students and citizens. The Roadshow normally spends 5 days in each hosting city (in Amersfoort they were a compressed 3 days) to deliver energy and urban design fun-shops in which all local stakeholders are welcome and encouraged to join and to take ownership of the final outcomes, outcomes that will allow the cities resources, both people and energy, to be directed effectively, by highlighting the energy challenges and potentials to be found in their neighbourhoods, and to finally present a sustainable ‘City Vision’. The following report will describe the activities and outcomes of the City-zen Amersfoort Roadshow that took place in the Netherlands from the 16th to the 18th of October 2019.@en

The Roadshow travels with a team of internationally recognized experts, in the field of energy planning and design to help develop a sustainable agenda for cities and their neighbourhoods. The overall aim of the Roadshow team is towork closely with people from the hosting city, whether they be city leaders, energy planners, local architects, professionals, academics, students and citizens. The Roadshow spends 5 days in each hosting city to deliver energy and urban design fun-shops in which all local stakeholders are welcome and encouraged to join and to take ownership of the final outcomes, outcomes that will allow the cities resources, both people and energy, to be directed effectively, by highlighting the energy challenges and potentials to be found in their neighbourhoods, and to finally present a sustainable ‘City Vision’.The following report describes the activities and outcomes of the City-zen Preston Roadshow that took place in Lancashire (United Kingdom) between the 12th & 16th of November 2018.@en

The City-zen Roadshow travels with a team of internationally recognized experts, in the field of energy planning and design to help develop a sustainable agenda for cities and their neighbourhoods. The Roadshow visited 9 cities in total over a 5-year period who sort expert guidance on how to become more sustainable and wish to move towards energy neutrality. The overall aim of the Roadshow team was to work closely with people from the hosting city, whether they be city leaders, energy planners, local architect, professionals, academics, students and citizens. In Nicosia, the Roadshow spent 8 days delivering energy and urban design fun-shops to local stakeholders in order to encourage city participation and to take ownership of the final outcomes. Outcomes that will allow the cities resources, both people and energy, to be directed effectively, by highlighting the energy challenges and potentials to be found in their neighbourhoods, and to finally present a sustainable ‘City Vision’. The following report describes the activities and outcomes of the City-zen Nicosia Roadshow that took place in Cyprus between the 8th to 15th of May 2019. @en

To create energy-neutral cities, we need to fundamentally change how we live in our cities. The City-zen Roadshow helps to understand that it is necessary to look at sustainability from both a technological and a societal perspective. The tenth Roadshow, organised in Amersfoort, once again shows how the project creates awareness by connecting citizens, legislators, and market players with students and experts.@en

Many cities across the world have the ambition of becoming carbon neutral, but exact figures of progress toward that goal are limited. Regarding Europe’s not overly ambitious 2020 carbon emission targets, many countries still have a long way to go (see Fig. 1), with cities as the prime objects for improvement. It is fair to say that the energy transition is lagging behind, for which several reasons can be given. One assumption, based on experience with projects with various European cities, is that cities—their administrations and other stakeholders—generally have insufficient understanding of how to gain and maintain control over the complex process of the energy transition with its multiple actors and diverse objectives and responsibilities. Another suggested reason is the lack of appropriate approaches, strategies, and methods to guide the energy transition in formulating clear targets and intermediate steps of mainly technical and spatial interventions. These, however are currently under development, and are being tested in cities across the continent—such as in Gothenburg, London, Rotterdam, Cologne, and Genova within the EU project Celsius (www.celsiuscity.eu), and in Amsterdam and Grenoble, for the EU project City-zen (www.cityzen-smartcity.eu)—with promising results so far. The main research question underlying this chapter is: How can cities be supported in their energy transition toward carbon neutrality? We will describe the development of approaches, strategies, and methods for the urban energy transition, their background and theoretical basis, and present urban case studies where they were applied. Finally, an outlook will be given for methodological developments in the near future.@en

Several strategies are presented to teach university students and professionals in the sector how to reduce the environmental impact of our cities. First, the European City-zen project is summarized and its application to the city of Seville, more specifically to Tiro de Linea, a working class neighborhood, is described; the viability and functionality of the neighborhood are analyzed and improvements are proposed so that it becomes an area that attains zero emissions. Second, HEREVEA project is presented, which developed a software for the feasibility analysis and proposals to improve neighborhoods. Its usefulness is presented in a case study in the same neighborhood. Finally, the experience of how to transmit all this knowledge through university teaching is presented.@en

IIn the challenge for a sustainable society, carbon-neutrality is a critical objective for all cities in the coming decades. In the EU City-zen project, academic partners collaborate to develop an urban energy transition methodology, which supports cities in making the energy transition to sustainable lifestyles and carbon neutrality. As part of the project, so-called Roadshows are organised in cities that wish to take the first step toward zero-energy living. Each Roadshow is methodologically composed to allow sustainability experts from across Europe to co-create designs, strategies and timelines with local stakeholders in order to reach this vital goal. Following a precursory investigative student workshop (the SWAT Studio), Dubrovnik was the third city to host the Roadshow in November 2016. During these events the characteristics of Dubrovnik, and the district of Gruž in particular, were systematically analysed, leading to useful insights into the current problems and potentials of the city. In close collaboration with local stakeholders, the team proposed a series of interventions, validated by the calculation of carbon emission, to help make Gruž, and in its wake the whole city of Dubrovnik, net zero energy and zero carbon. The vision presented to the inhabitants and its key city decision makers encompassed a path towards an attainable sustainable future. The strategies and solutions proposed for the Dubrovnik district of Gruž were able to reduce the current carbon sequestration compensation of 1200 hectares of forestland to only 67 hectares, an area achievable by urban reforestation projects. This paper presents the City-zen methodology of urban energy transition and that of the City-zen Roadshow, the analysis of the city of Dubrovnik, proposed interventions and the carbon impact, as calculated by means of the carbon accounting method discussed in the paper.@en

The City-zen Roadshow travels with a team of internationally recognized experts, in the field of energy planning and design to help develop a sustainable agenda for cities and their neighbourhoods. It will visit 9 cities in total over a 5-year period who are seeking expert guidance on how to become more sustainable and wish to move towards energy neutrality. The overall aim of the Roadshow team is to work closely with people from the hosting city, whether they be city leaders, energy planners, local architect, professionals, academics, students and citizens. The Roadshow spends 5 days in each hosting city to deliver energy and urban design fun-shops in which all local stakeholders are welcome and encouraged to join and to take ownership of the final outcomes. Outcomes that will allow the cities recourses, both people and energy, to be directed effectively, by highlighting the energy challenges and potentials to be found in their neighbourhoods, and to finally present a sustainable ‘City Vision’.  The following report will describe the activities and outcomes of the Roeselare Roadshow that took place in Roeselare (Belgium), between the 23rd & 27th of April 2018.@en

A method of greenhouse gas inventory has been developed for evaluating the environmental implications of civilian life, in terms of carbon emission, according to citizens' behaviour and to the condition of buildings, local infrastructures and services. The assessment focuses on energy use for housing, mobility, impacts of waste and water management. All factors refer to different spatial scales, ranging from the regional, urban neighbourhood, right through to the single-family household. Based on site-specific data, carbon accounting has been performed in Seville, firstly focussing on the provincial scale, then on the urban neighbourhood of Barrio Tiro de Línea. Both quantitative information and a uniquely citizen-centred method of visual result representation have been provided and taken as a starting point for planning an energy transition and decarbonisation scenario. The graphical outcomes allow the selection of a series of carbon footprint mitigating measures to be potentially accomplished in the medium-long term. The procedure was tested during the City-Zen Roadshow, as part of the European Union FP7 City-Zen Project, and demonstrated a powerfully communicative and easily implementable method to inform policy makers and citizens, to raise awareness on real energy transition potentials and to address choices for decarbonisation.@en

The City-zen Roadshow travels with a team of internationally recognized experts, in the field of energy planning and design to help develop a sustainable agenda for cities and their neighbourhoods. The Roadshow team work closely with people from the hosting city, whether they be city leaders, energy planners, local architect, professionals, academics, students and of course the citizens themselves. The Roadshow typically spends 5 days in each hosting city to deliver energy and urban design workshops in which all local stakeholders are welcome and encouraged to join and to take ownership of the final outcomes. Outcomes that will allow the cities recourses, both people and energy, to be directed effectively, by highlighting the energy challenges and potentials to be found in their neighbourhoods, and to finally present a sustainable ‘City Vision’. The following report will describe the activities and outcomes of the Roadshow (Sustainable Island Menorca ‘Roadshow’) that took place at the Institut Menorquí d'Estudis (IME) in Mahón on the island of Menorca, between the 24th & 28th of April 2017.@en

The City-zen Roadshow travels with a team of internationally recognized experts, in the field of energy planning and design to help develop a sustainable agenda for cities and their neighbourhoods. The Roadshow team work closely with people from the hosting city, whether they be city leaders, energy planners, local architects, professionals, academics, students and of course the citizens themselves. The Roadshow spends 5 days in each hosting city to deliver energy and urban design workshops in which all local stakeholders are welcome and encouraged to join and to take ownership of the final outcomes. Outcomes that will allow the cities recourses, both people and energy, to be directed effectively, by highlighting the energy challenges and potentials to be found in their neighbourhoods, and to finally present a sustainable ‘City Vision’. The following report will describe the activities and outcomes of the City-zen ‘Sevilla’ Roadshow that took place in Sevilla, between the 20th & 24th of November 2017.@en

The City-zen Roadshow travels with a team of internationally recognized experts, in the field of energyplanning and design to help develop a sustainable agenda for cities and their neighbourhoods. It will visit 9 cities in total over a 5-year period who are seeking expert guidance on how to become more sustainable and wish to move towards energy neutrality. The overall aim of the Roadshow team, known as ‘Roadies’, is to work closely with people from the hosting city, whether they be city leaders, energy planners, local architects, professionals, academics, students and of course the citizens themselves. The Roadshow spends 5 days in each hosting city to deliver energy and urban design workshops in which all local stakeholders are welcome and encouraged to join and to take ownership of the final outcomes. Outcomes that will allow the cities recourses, both people and energy, to be directed effectively, by highlighting the energy challenges and potentials to be found in their neighbourhoods, and to finally present a sustainable ‘City Vision’.The following report will describe the activities and outcomes of the Roadshow that took place in Bornova, a municipality of the city of Izmir (Turkey) between the 4th & 8th of April 2016.@en

The City-zen Roadshow travels with a team of internationally recognized experts, in the field of energy planning and design to help develop a sustainable agenda for cities and their neighbourhoods. The overall aim of the Roadshow is to work closely with people from the hosting city, whetherthey be city leaders, entrepreneurs, energy planners, local architect, professionals, academics,students and of course the citizens themselves. The Roadshow devotes 5 days in each hosting city to deliver energy and urban design workshops in which all local stakeholders are welcome and encouraged to join and to take ownership of the final outcomes. Outcomes that will allow the cities resources, both people and energy, to be directed effectively, by highlighting the energy challenges and potentials to be found in their neighbourhoods, and to finally present a sustainable ‘City Vision’. The following report will describe the activities and outcomes of the Roadshow that took place at the DURA offices in Dubrovnik, Croatia, between the 31th Oct & 4th Nov 2016.@en

Climate change will lead to more warm and hot days in the Netherlands. Climate adaptation measures are needed to reduce the vulnerability of urban areas. Moreover, proven adaptation measures, such as increased vegetated areas or water surfaces, are not always possible due to a lack of space or undesired aesthetic effects. An alternative option is to make use of coloured façades to create drafts and accelerate wind speed in a street canyon or on a square to attract fresh air from cooler places. Differences in colour and material types already influence the air flow in street canyons in an uncontrolled manner. If this thermal comfort principle can be implemented, it will potentially have a significant impact on many cities throughout the world. This paper presents the results of a first exploratory research based on measurements on scale models and at full scale. This pilot study indicates success of the intended draft principle, advocating further research.

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A new public artwork is being installed in All Saints Grosvenor Square, thanks to European funding (ERDF) for public realm improvements on the Corridor. The public artwork commissioned for the Park promotes an environmental sustainability theme. Professor John Hyatt (Director of Miriad, MMU) and Dr Craig Martin of the Manchester School of Architecture have made a series of solar-powered sculptures based on the concept of the firefly which were briefly captured in jars briefly by children and informed by research into the insect and how it achieves its flashing light. ​ Powered by the sun, the Fireflies flash in four colours (red, green, white and yellow) whilst also emitting three notes tuned to F, C and G, the 12-bar basis of a million popular songs. They are totally green with components that can be used again and are activated by the light of their environment. ‘What is life? It is the flash of the firefly at night… it is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset’ (Chief Crowfoot, Blackfoot chief) @en

One of four perspectives on the city, (15 April – 15 May). Venue: Holden Gallery, Cavendish Street, Manchester, UK.@en