Following the launch of this pioneering national Circular City initiative last September, with the adhesion of 30 companies, a meeting was held with interested entities to explain the first initiatives to be implemented during this year.
Among the actions announced are the creation of a circular economy academy, the implementation of a car pooling service, the installation of the first local energy community and the deployment of the digitalisation of the park’s distribution network.
The eCityMalaga project has already defined the first actions to be developed during this year in order to become the first Circular City in 2027. To this end, the project’s working groups have defined, during its first months of life, the main strategic lines they will work on to achieve an eco-efficient environment in energy, water and materials, and based on eco-design, by extending the life cycles of its resources, which will become shared and 100% renewable, seeking the goal of zero emissions and zero waste.
In this sense, during the first assembly of the entities adhered to the project, which took place yesterday in The Green Lemon building, the main activities that will begin to be developed in the short and medium term were presented to the more than 50 entities present at the event, including those adhered to the project and those interested in collaborating.
Among the initiatives planned for this year are the creation of a Circular Economy Academy, with the aim of generating an ecosystem that promotes knowledge and the application of Circular Economy principles to interested companies and their economic activity, as well as the promotion of circular purchasing that promotes a more circular economic system.
In the field of mobility, the implementation of shared bus services and carpooling as measures to improve the circulation of vehicles and their environmental impact should be highlighted.
In the energy sector, the first local energy communities will be promoted during 2022 through the installation of photovoltaic plants in parking areas, which will offer charging points for electric vehicles. The roll-out of the digitalisation of the distribution grid will also begin in order to adapt it to the new uses of distributed generation.
On the other hand, in waste management it is planned, among other actions, to create ecological islands to promote waste separation at source by grouping together the different types of existing waste containers to avoid having to travel to different points.
The actions planned for the protection of the park’s biodiversity include the study of the native vs. invasive birds present in this environment.
In the digital layer of the project, the Malaga City Council’s Centesimal initiative will be launched in order to ascertain the structural health of 218 buildings in the municipality and improve their energy efficiency and monitor pollution and occupancy levels.
Open Innovation System
During the meeting, the companies attending the meeting stressed the need for their participation in the different working groups of the project through an open innovation system, in which the contribution of each of the members and networking are the basis of this initiative.
This open ecosystem of public-private collaboration, which has the clear impetus of the administration, with the original coverage of the Andalusian Regional Government, Malaga City Council, Malaga TechPark and Endesa, will ensure the deployment of the first basic elements to prepare the site and evolve into a benchmark space in circularity.
About eCity Malaga
The eCityMalaga project aims to turn Malaga TechPark into the first sustainable urban space with an efficient, 100% renewable and digital circular city model of the future.
Malaga TechPark will respond to the challenges posed by the Sustainable Development Goals, making this leading space in technological innovation also a benchmark in sustainability by 2027, and more than two decades ahead of the climate and energy targets set by the United Nations for the year 2050.
To make the eCityMalaga project a reality, numerous companies and entities from the park have joined the project, within an open ecosystem of public-private collaboration, promoted by Endesa, Malaga TechPark and Malaga City Council.