The Triangulum project, funded from Horizon 2020, demonstrates how a systems innovation approach based around the European Commission’s SCC Strategic Implementation Plan can drive dynamic smart city development. This project will transform designated urban districts into smart quarters in three forerunner cities and then transfer the concepts to three further cities. It will implement pioneering concepts in the three cities Eindhoven (Netherlands), of Manchester (UK), and Stavanger (Norway). Subsequently, the concepts will be transferred to Leipzig (Germany), Prague (Czech Republic), and Sabadell (Spain). The project name Triangulum stands for the three points demonstrate, disseminate and reciprocate.
The consortium of 23 European partners was formed around 3 clusters of Triple Helix stakeholders in each of 3 cities representing e.g. urban municipalities, research institutes and industry are involved have been formed. TU/e, together with its local partners will work on the transformation of two districts in Eindhoven into sustainable living environments during the course of the project. The former Philips industrial complex in the “Strijp-S” neighborhood will become a creative smart district. An innovative concept to clean up contaminated land will double as a means of producing energy. A district-wide ICT solution will allow residents to access different kinds of infrastructure, such as booking electric vehicles from a district car sharing scheme or using smart parking concepts.
The project consortium combines interdisciplinary experience and expertise of 23 partners from industry, research and municipalities who share the same objective and commitment to develop and implement smart solutions in order to replicate them in the three follower cities Leipzig (D), Prague (CZ) and Sabadell (ES). The overall budget of Triangulum is 30 million Euros (2015-2020). The European Commission funding (Horizon 2020) totals 25 million Euros. The project is coordinated by Fraunhofer IAO in Stuttgart and supported by Steinbeis-Europa-Zentrum. The Triangulum impact for the City of is to transform the student quarter in Manchester known as the Corridor, which contains around 72,000 students, into a smart city district. This will entail renovating historical buildings and building up an autonomous energy grid to supply the entire district with heat and electricity. The grid will combine geothermal and district heating with two independently operating electricity grids and a fuel cell that can store excess energy. In addition, all conventional cars are to be banished from the district: according to the scientists’ vision, only electric vehicles, bicycles, and the city’s “Metrolink” electric tram will be allowed in the Corridor.
The three point Triangulum project is a is one of the currently nine European Smart Cities and Communities Lighthouse Projects, set to demonstrate, disseminate and replicate solutions and frameworks for Europe’s future smart cites. The flagships cities Manchester (UK), Eindhoven (NL) and Stavanger (NO) will serve as a testbed for innovative projects focusing on sustainable mobility, energy, ICT and business opportunities. An exceptional feature of the project is the ICT architecture and smart city framework that will be developed in the flagship cities and rolled out in the follower cities. A modular approach will enable flexible (business) solutions that address individual challenges and requirements of our cities and their stakeholders. - HEI: 25% - Government: 25% - Industry: 25% - Society: 25% - European Commission: sponsor
Consequently a secondary linchpin of the project is civic engagement and promoting citizen participation through workshops. “At the heart of our project is an ICT architecture that will be used in all three flagship cities. It is the foundation that enables the individual technologies in the city to be connected and coordinated with each other. This standardized architecture also ensures that it will be possible to subsequently transfer the concepts to other cities – as will be demonstrated when the project moves to its second phase in Leipzig, Prague, and Sabadell.
The consortium of 23 European partners was formed around 3 clusters of Triple Helix stakeholders in each of 3 cities representing e.g. urban municipalities, research institutes and industry are involved have been formed.