SMURBS/ERA-PLANET Newsletter
  ISSUE #4, December 2019
Dear readers,

This year ends with SMURBS reaching its 28th month of life. The past 6-month period has kept us quite busy and productive by advancing and disseminating our products and solutions. Following the timeline of the project, we have directed our efforts to the high priority policy issues of health and migration, in collaboration with and support of the local authorities (see action in Brno), the UN (see action in Greece) and citizens (see action in Stockholm). A capstone of our health-relevant actions is an elegant portal for city stakeholders that addresses the UN SDG Target 11.6 ("Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable") for more than 800 European cities.

More than half of the items hosted in the smart urban portfolio of SMURBS are already implemented or maintain a high level of maturity, the highlights of which are now cited in a newly published article in SciTech Europa. These solutions are being developed and implemented neither autonomously nor in void. All partners worked diligently to map "what is out there" and understand "what the users want", now publicly available as 'The Urban State of Play'. Let me navigate you through the diverse and stimulating material you can find therein:

HZG, NOA and SRI processed and translated the needs - stated by 248 stakeholders - into Key Messages that trigger and inspire not only our consortium, but also a larger environmental community. Delving deeper, you are invited to dig into the assessment and data needs in order to deal with air pollution (incl. health), urban growth (incl. migration) and disaster issues within cities, as well as specific dissemination needs and public awareness activities, stemming from the online survey analysis I had the responsibility to perform. Dr. Karl (HZG) delivered the critical city issues, the needs in order to overcome them, and potential city-specific solutions from 38 interviews and for 14 cities. Our 4 workshops brought to light several challenges/obstacles and EO-based smart aspect/solutions to overcome targeted city problems. Specifically, Hamburg and Kyiv hosted our 2 milestone stakeholder events with insights from 124 participations, mainly from academia and the public sector. Air pollution stakeholders can retrieve useful tips on the state-of-the-art mid- and low-cost sensors resulting from the industry workshop, while specific needs for awareness of and accessibility to information on urban environmental issues emerged from the citizen workshop. In the meantime, Dr. Kocman (JSI) coordinated the compilation of existing smart-city solutions and projects into an inventory and Dr. Raudner (ISPRA), along with her colleagues, have performed a thorough documentation of legal frameworks on the UN, European, National and city level, both deliverables focusing on the issues targeted by SMURBS.

Being consistently extroverted, SMURBS partners had a strong physical presence in the big, international EO events of 2019 (e.g. ESA LPS19, AGU 2019, GEO week), while in turn organized and hosted 2 successful workshops with high attendance (Mid-term and Smart-city).

Warm wishes for a prosperous and peaceful 2020 for all!

Eleni Athanasopoulou, on behalf of the Core Coordination Team of SMURBS

 
In a nutshell
News
SMURBS@
@Press
Progress Dashboard
In a nutshell
The implementation of SMURBS risk assessment pilot      
 
for the biggest refugee camp in Greece has just started!
The implementation of our risk assessment pilot for the biggest mainland refugee camp in Greece has just started!
Following the approval of the Special Secretary of the Reception and Identification Service, under the Ministry of Citizen Protection, SMURBS representatives visited the accommodation facility in Ritsona, on the 27th of November 2019. A thorough briefing was given to the lead partner of SMURBS for disasters (NOA) by the IOM site management team and the construction company on the infrastructure, both existing and under construction, as well as on the so far endured and potential natural and anthropogenic hazards.
In the frame of the development of smart urban solutions for the migration issue, NOA experts will deliver a multiple natural hazards risk assessment mapping, first response (access & evacuation) and mitigation measures analysis for the accommodation facility in Ritsona.
SMURBS new online platform 
The United Nations is currently implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, comprising of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) defined into targets measured with Indicators. NOA has created an online platform utilizing earth observation data to assess a specific air quality and health-related indicator (11.6.2) for all of Europe – annual mean levels of fine particulate matter in cities (population-weighted).
The SDG 11.6.2 Platform utilizes Copernicus Services and the Joint Research Centre’s Global Human Settlement Layer to assess the air quality indicator across time and geographically, testing its sensitivity to the city definition, and producing a tool that goes beyond monitoring air quality to actually address the SDG goal and underlining policy implications.
News

ERA-PLANET Annual Meeting, 9-10 October 2019, Brussels
SMURBS participated in the ERA-PLANET Annual Meeting, held in Brussels on 09-10 October 2019, where the so far progress and major achievements of the four projects were presented.
In the throes of ERA-PLANET implementation, strategic decisions that will ensure the legacy of the program as well as the necessary transformation of its long term vision towards Digital Europe priority and the new Horizon Europe framework, were discussed.
Emphasis was placed on the necessary synergies between the projects to support the UN in SDG monitoring.
Along this line, SMURBS presented its EO-based, operational and freely available platform that monitors the population-weighted annual average concentration of fine particulate matter in more than 800 cities in Europe, tracking progress towards the SDG 11.6.2.
The platform operates at the city level, utilizing free, state-of-the-art EO data provided by the Copernicus Services and the Global Human Settlement Layer. Offering an elegant portal for city stakeholders to better perceive the policy implications and help in achieving the SDG Targets, it will be among the platforms selected by the European Commission to showcase the contribution of EuroGEO to GEO and GEOSS, in the GEO Ministerial in Canberra, Australia.

Meet And Code Student Training, October 2019, Kiev,

Ukraine
 
On October 5-6, 2019, SMURBS partner SRI and  Noosphere Engenering School organized  a 2-day workshop on satellite analysis of the Earth’s environmental situation for students. The educational events were part of a week of EU programming and Meet and Code initiative implemented by GURT Resource Center: a portal for socially active citizens in collaboration with TechSoup Europe and Haus des Stiftens gGmbH for SAP funding, and took place during World Space Week.
The workshop was dedicated to World Space Week and based on the scientific results of the H2020 ERA-PLANET project and the Copernicus Academy study materials. Participants get knowledge on land cover mapping for Kyiv city, as well as in water quality assessment and thermal monitoring. This event was awarded for best educational idea within World Space Week.
 

SMURBS Midterm Milestone Meeting,

3-4 June 2019, Kiev, Ukraine
SMURBS Midterm (MTR) Milestone Meeting, hosted by our partner SRI, was successfully held in the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (NASU), Kiev, on 3-4 June 2019! What have we achieved since our PM1 in Athens? What does it still take for the last mile of this journey? These key questions were answered during the workshop. Representatives from all, but a few, SMURBS participants attended this event, allowing for an enthusiastic and committed working group composed of more than 20 people!
We were keen to deliberate the progress of all SMURBS smart EO products and solutions, and all discussions gave rise to new synergies and replications. The portfolio includes integrated air quality monitoring systems engaging multiple EO platforms currently under construction, soon to be exporting targeted, real time and forecast information to policy makers and the public. Remote sensing and crowdsourcing are combined in order to optimize land use and land cover information for timely flood risk assessments. A set of city-scale indicators to detect land surface differences over time is already as a ‘beta’ product, envisaged to stand as a homogeneous classification system for Urban Growth metrics.
Stakeholder Training by SMURBS partner SRI,

May-June, 2019, Kiev, Ukraine
A stakeholders’ training set on satellite data usage and GIS technologies, organized  by SRI in terms of World Bank Land Transparency Program, were held in Kyiv, Mykolaiv and Lviv regions of Ukraine, during May and June 2019, along with a dedicated  to journalists event, illustrating satellite land cover mapping! 
SMURBS data as source for urban strategy planning in

Brno, Czech Republic
Smart City development was the main subject, of the Press Conference held by Brno Mayor, focusing on evironmental issues of the city and their colleration with health issues, analyzing also the value of sustainable energy buildings, and rainwater in the pipeline. In addition to the above, a subject of great concern in Brno is Air Quality control related to traffic, emissions from constructions and local heating. SMURBS project was mentioned as a source of the data set to be used in forthcoming strategies of such urban planning.
 
Health risk prognoses in Stockholm were tested,

in the context of  SMURBS!
The air quality health risk (AQHI) information system, part of the SMURBS activities in Stockholm, undertaken by our Partner STOCKHOLMS UNIVERSITET, has been tested. A group of 27 asthmatics received a mail with 4-day prognoses of the health risk associated with exposure to air pollution and pollen in Stockholm. Prognoses were updated once every day and the test group also answered in questions regarding their health status and the usefulness of this information. The risk index considered the sum of the health risks due to pollen, NOx, PM10, and O3. The final product will be a mobile phone app with high-resolution maps and a system for self-diagnoses in order for users to understand what type of pollutants or pollen that make them more or less sick.
New urban air quality model EPISODE-CityChem 

published!
A large part of the population living in cities is exposed to ozone levels above the EU air quality target value. The CityChem extension of the urban air quality model EPISODE enables a detailed treatment of the atmospheric chemistry in urban areas and the near-field dispersion close to industrial stacks and in street canyons. The application of the model in the city of Hamburg (Germany) shows good performance for ozone, nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter at air quality monitoring stations. Features of the model that facilitate its application to urban air quality in cities worldwide include integrated utilities for input preparation and output processing, moderate computational demand, photochemistry options (ozone formation studies), high spatial and temporal resolution, and demonstrated fitness for policy use.
SMURBS @
 AGU 2019, 9-13 December 2019, San Francisco, USA 
 
Two solutions from the SMURBS portfolio were highlighted at the AGU Fall Meeting in San Francisco from 9-13 December 2019. The intra-urban AQ modeling solution, a collaborative effort between HZG and NOA, was presented as a poster within the “Interactions of Air Quality and Meteorology on Local to Synoptic Scales” Session focusing on the replication and health-exposure mapping done in Athens and stimulated interest and discussions on the SMURBS approach with event attendees.
NOA also discussed the SMURBS SDG Indicator 11.6.2 Earth Observation Platform in the “Earth Observation & Artificial Intelligence Solutions to address the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals” Session in the form of an eLightning presentation and interactive poster. The presented research compared the SMURBS approach to officially reported values for the SDG indicator 11.6.2 and assesses the policy implications of differing approaches and city definitions.
GEO week 2019, 4-9 November 2019, Canberra,

Australia 
 
SMURBS presented it’s progress and applications in two targeted side events that took place at GEO Week 2019 in Canberra, Australia from 4-9 November. SMURBS and the European Commissions JRC displayed a jointly created video looking at EO approaches to addressing urban-related Sustainable Development Goal indicators in the “Showcasing European applications for policy support” targeted side event. SMURBS also discussed solutions, progress, and lessons learned during the “ERA-PLANET contributions to GEO and EuroGEO” side event.
 European Researchers Night, 27 September 2019,

Athens, Greece

 
SMURBS participated in the European Researchers Night 2019, held in Athens Greece, on the 27th of September.
Visitors at the stand of SMURBS/NOA were introduced to the newly developed web platform that is implemented in the framework of SMURBS, to raise awareness about the population exposure in the air pollution levels of around 800 European cities. The platform monitors the SDG indicator 11.6.2 at the city level, which is fully aligned to the ambition of ERA-PLANET to exploit the use of EO in the monitoring of SDGs.
This action is participating in a major Greek Campaign titled #17days17goalsgr (Coordinator: Hellenic platform for Development), part of the global movement ‘Global Week to #Act4SDGs‘.
 2nd Stakeholder workshop,“Smart City: State and

Prospects”, 4 June 2019, Kiev, Ukraine

 

As a back-to-back event with the Mid-term meeting of SMURBS held in Kyiv Ukraine on 4 March 2019, SMURBS partner SRI successfully organized the 2nd Stakeholder workshop, titled “Smart City: State and Prospects.”  More than 50 stakeholders, including 24 representatives from 15 state bodies, public organizations and Institutes of Ukraine, gathered in the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (NASU) to promote the smart city concept in order to address air quality, city planning, energy, green plantation and other timely urban issues.  The workshop illustrated a variety of ongoing smart projects in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, motivating lively discussions on IoT-based solutions at the service of both scientists and authorities, and in advancing resilient cities. Some of the needs expressed by stakeholders affirmed SMURBS approach and focus on producing tangible outputs. Further, this valuable information provided in the workshop offers the opportunity to further tailor the solutions which will ultimately be implemented in Kyiv, maximizing effectiveness and at the same time complementing the key messages on user needs so far gathered in the frame of the SMURBS project. 
 EIP-SCC General Assembly, 16-17 May 2019,

Brussels
 

SMURBS accepted the invitation to attend the European Innovation Partnership on Smart Cities and Communities (EIP-SCC) General Assembly (GA) 2019 during 16-17 May, in Brussels.
EIP-SCC is a major market-changing undertaking supported by the European Commission bringing together cities, industries, SMEs, investors, researchers and other smart city actors. It was one of the key liaison target of SMURBS, from early on, as it constitutes one of the few pan-european smart city undertakings, a bridge of sorts, opening the way for smaller initiatives to reach a Europe-wide audience, commercially and otherwise. On the other hand, SMURBS brings together two, currently relatively independent domains, Earth Observation (EO) and Smart City, therefore aspires to partly act as the “EO ambassador” in its liaison with the EIP-SCC. The linkage between the two materialized through the Space4Cities Initiative lead by EURISY.
During the GA, SMURBS had the opportunity to experience the European state-of-play of Smart Cities. The main interaction of SMURBS took place during the Space4Cities Shape table discussion. There, SMURBS presented a more wide definition of Earth Observation, beyond satellites that was the main topic of the table. It also showcased successful examples of EO-powered solutions, adopting Smart City aspects, that help cities today in diverse themes, ranging from urban heat island management, to floods and air quality. The table reached a clear consensus. The Earth Observation city potential and assets are there. The question is how to really reach the cities and how to convince them to tap this unambiguous potential. Showcasing benefits, curating the solutions available,  using the right language (as in the “10 things you didn’t know you should look to Space to solve for your City” Editorial that SMURBS co-wrote).
ESA LPS19,

13-17 May 2019, Milan, Italy
SMURBS participated in the European Space Agency (ESA) Living Planet Symposium (LPS19), held in Milan, 13-17 May, 2019. LPS is one of the biggest Earth Observation (EO) conferences in the world (more than 3 000 participants), focusing on how Earth observation and disruptive technologies contribute to science and society.
On behalf of SMURBS, Eleni Athanasopoulou described “The contribution of SMURBS/ERA-PLANET to advocate the role of Earth Observation in making cities and decisions smarter”, within the session “D2.04: EO for Resilient Cities“. After giving a short introduction of the project, Eleni focused on highlighting selected smart urban solutions of the SMURBS’ portfolio that exploit multiple EO platforms, to make policy makers and citizens resilient against air pollution, through robust, scientific solutions. Her 15-minute talk culminated in SMURBS ongoing efforts -in close collaboration with EO4SDG, GEO-Essential and National Statistics Offices (NSOs)- to monitor the relevant targets of the UN SDGs, putting the horizontal ERA-PLANET workflow (from data to UEVs to SDG indicators) under the urban perspective.
@ Press

SMURBS’ portfolio of solutions for smart cities is now hosted on the SciTech Europa December’s edition!
Advancing the SMURBS ’portfolio of solutions for smart cities is the new project’s article hosted on the SciΤech Europa Quarterly Magazine, December’s edition! Quarterly Issue 33 showcases the importance of sustainability and climate awareness, indispensable across all sectors.
Download SMURBS’ tribute by clicking here.

@ Pan European Networks 2019

ECOTEC, Greek Press, September 2019
Urban air quality degradation related to peri-urban wildfire events were thoroughly discussed during the interview of Dr. Evangelos Gerasopoulos, SMURBS’ coordinator, at the ECOTEC journal. The journal targets, among others, towards local administration, informing them about new tools to combat real world problems. SMURBS solutions on the prevention, monitoring, response and management of natural and human induced disasters were also examined under the prism of climate change and its impacts.

''Universe'', Ukrainian press
“Heat in a big city on thermal islands mapping'' paper is published in the science magazine “Universe”,  Vol. 5 2019.  The results of heat islands monitoring in Kyiv city with the use of satellite data and newly developed Urban Atlas are presented, in the framework  of SMURBS project.
 
Our mailing address is:
[email protected]
[email protected]

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.