Workshop - SMART technologies and the municipal budget
In 2016 the Uraía Platform will focus its work on the impact of SMART technologies in the municipal budget, and more specifically how, through technological innovation, municipalities can increase their revenue by improving local tax collection, while reducing expenditure thanks to energy efficiency policies. A capacity building workshop will be organized on 19 and 20th of April 2016 in Nicosia (Cyprus) in the framework of the CEMR Congress. The activity will result in the collaborative production of a set of guidelines, summing up the experiences and point of views of participants.
Background
Once a year, the members of Uraía meet up to discuss a topic that is priority in their agenda and jointly elaborate guidelines, collect practices and assess projects with common elements of interest. In 2014, the Platform partners met in Santander (Spain) to exchange experiences, discuss needs and define the strategic priorities and activities of Uraía. In 2015, the Platform met in Oslo (Norway) to discuss partners’ experiences on SMART projects led in collaboration with private companies. Based on the experiences of the participants, the Platform elaborated a document on ‘Public-Private Partnerships for SMART City Management. Recommendations for local governments to prepare and implement SMART PPPs”.
In its 2016 upcoming gathering, Uraía aims to identify the trending topics and challenges regarding the current use of SMART technologies and its impacts on the municipal budget. In short, Uraía is interested in exploring how technological innovation can help cities to increase municipal revenue by improving tax collection and generate savings through energy efficient policies. But even more important, how these increased municipal resources are transformed into better, more efficient and inclusive public services.
Goals and topics
Goals
The objective of the workshop is to exchange experiences on initiatives that used SMART technologies to improve tax recovery and increase energy efficiency and how these experiences produce an impact on municipal budget and are transformed into better services to all citizens. The workshop will offer an opportunity for cities to discover available SMART solutions that can have a significant impact on the municipal budget and get inspired by their peers’ experiences.
The workshop will result in a document that will seek to capitalize on the exchanges, case studies, challenges, opportunities and views shared by decision makers who face similar situations regarding the pressing need to address the citizen’s demands in more innovative ways. Getting more resources yes, but also spending less, and better.
Topics
The sessions of the workshop will discuss the impact on the municipal budget of the introduction of SMART technologies. More specifically, the exchanges will focus on how SMART technologies can:
- Increase municipal revenue by improving tax collection (electronic payment, transparency, tackling informality, creating trust in the public sector...)
- Generate savings through energy efficiency policies (energy production, municipal buildings, public lighting, household energy provision and consumption, etc.)
Methodology
The workshop will combine plenary sessions and more in-depth debates in working groups, as well as a technical visit to SMART experiences of the Municipality of Nicosia.
The first day of the event will be for exclusive participation of Uraía partners and invitees, targeting a number of 40 experts and decision makers, with a spread of 50% European and 50% from outside of Europe. Participants will include representatives from local governments, network of cities, research centres, international organizations, and private sector companies. Participation is by invitation only and will have to be previously approved by the Secretariat. The activity has no costs for participation. Uraía will be able to finance the travel and three nights’ accommodation for 10 participants from developing countries.
The second day session will be opened to all the other participants in the CEMR Congress. Please note that participation at the CEMR Congress needs to be considered separately but that Uraía participants can have reductions regarding the Congress fees, to be considered in a separate basis. More than 30 sessions will be organized during the Congress on the 20th, 21st and 22nd, on the following topics: Governance & Leadership; Economy & Finance; Business, Technology & Innovation; Society & Culture; Environment, Climate & Energy; Cooperation & Partnerships; EU Integration. More information on the program of the Congress here: http://www.cemr2016.eu/.
8th European Conference on Sustainable Cities & Towns
The 8th European Conference on Sustainable Cities & Towns will be hosted by ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, the Basque Government, Bizkaia County Council and Bilbao City Council, with the involvement of Udalsarea 21 - Basque Network of Municipalities for Sustainability, and the support of Araba County Council, Gipuzkoa County Council, Donostia/San Sebastián City Council and Vitoria-Gasteiz City Council.
The flagship European conference on local sustainable development will bring together local and regional government representatives, European and international institutions, multilateral organisations, members of the research community, business leaders, and civil society. It will build on the legacy of the previous conferences in Aalborg (Denmark, 1994 and 2004), Lisbon (Portugal, 1996), Hannover (Germany, 2000), Seville (Spain, 2007), Dunkerque (France, 2010), and Geneva (Switzerland, 2013). The conference will demonstrate the urgent need for actions by local governments in shaping Europe’s future.
Through the Aalborg Charter and Commitments, thousands of local governments in Europe have committed to enhancing the sustainability of their urban areas. The 2016 conference will allow participants to capitalise on the growing momentum for actions that transform cities into truly sustainable areas. The Sustainable Development Goals and the results of COP 21 in Paris will be reflected in the discussions, as well as the emerging Urban Agenda for Europe and the upcoming UN Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development HABITAT III.
The Basque Country reflects the capacity of European cities to transform, having changed from being focused on industry to embracing a modern service-based economy. Its newly adopted Environmental Programme for 2020 shows a firm commitment to improving the environment and aligns with current European and international strategies on job creation, enhancing standards of living, and building a low-carbon economy.
More information: http://conferences.sustainablecities.eu/basquecountry2016/
Habitat III United Nations Conference
Habitat III is the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development to take place in 2016. The United Nations General Assembly decided to convene, the Habitat III Conference to reinvigorate the global commitment to sustainable urbanization, to focus on the implementation of a “New Urban Agenda”, building on the Habitat Agenda of Istanbul in 1996.
More information: unhabitat.org/habitat-iii
