Aurora Velez
Smart Regions
Solar cells on roads, a new direction for Europe's energy transition
In partnership with the European Commission
Sound barriers on motorways are being equipped with solar cells generating energy for local households. Discover the European project 'Rolling Solar' promoting the use of roads in the energy transition.
Smart Regions
The city giving digital currency in exchange for saving energy
In partnership with the European Commission
In this episode, Smart Regions looks at a transformational European project saving huge amounts of energy. It's led to several buildings in a district of the Catalan city of Viladecans being renovated. Residents play an active role in managing energy. They also have their own digital currency.
Smart Regions
AlpInnoCT: the European project using intermodal transport to protect the Alps
In partnership with the European Commission
The Alps are an essential transit area for freight transport. But road traffic generates noise, pollution and traffic jams in this sensitive ecosystem. A European project has a solution: the transfer of goods from lorries to trains.
Smart Regions
ERMIS II - the project helping people with reduced mobility enjoy the beach
In partnership with the European Commission
Thanks to a European project, people with reduced mobility in Cyprus and in Greece can enjoy the sea as many beaches are now equipped with wheelchair ramps, devices to get them into the water and much more.
Smart Regions
The European project helping to reduce the impact of flooding in Slovenia
In partnership with the European Commission
In the last decade, Slovenia has experienced reoccurring floods. But since 2014, the basin of the Drava River and its tributaries have benefited from a European project involving the dredging, widening and containment of these rivers to protect and strengthen the surrounding areas.
Smart Regions
Eco-design, the way to make products greener before they've even been produced
In partnership with the European Commission
Before making a product like a kitchen, you have to design it. Eco-design is helping to better respect the environment by reducing the use of resources and by recycling. In Russia and in Baltic countries, a European project is promoting these environmental dimensions of design.
Smart Regions
Discover Italy's greenest campus and how it's saving money and energy
In partnership with the European Commission
The UNICAL in Calabria is the largest university campus in Italy and it is also one of Europe's "greenest". An ambitious energy project has allowed it to go green, lower CO2 emissions and save money.
Smart Regions
Fish and poultry try a new sustainable diet of larvae and insects
In partnership with the European Commission
In Poland, larvae and insects are used as a source of protein on fish and poultry farms. Organic waste is used to grow these larvae, thus contributing to the circular economy. Bio-recycling and technology go hand in hand in this project supported by the European Cohesion Policy.
Smart Regions
The European initiative helping tourists to discover nature in a sustainable way
In partnership with the European Commission
On the Spanish-Portuguese border, a sustainable tourism project is encouraging visitors to discover the natural and cultural heritage of this area with electric vehicles over a distance of more than 1000 kilometres.
Smart Regions
River'tri: the waterborne waste collection unit helping Lyon recycle waste
In partnership with the European Commission
River'Tri is a waterborne mobile waste collection point. The river Saône and the barge provide an ecological solution to waste in Lyon, France's third largest populated city.
Smart Regions
European software helps fight the pandemic by speeding up drug production
In partnership with the European Commission
A European software is enabling researchers to speed up drug production by interpreting chemical compounds and molecules on a range of laboratory machines. Pharmaceutical companies working on COVID-19 vaccines use it every day.
Smart Regions
This is Europe’s first cross-border mobile hospital
In partnership with the European Commission
The French and Spanish Pyrenees regions get help with medical emergencies from the European project EGALURG. Its self-reliant mobile hospital also brings COVID-19 vaccine relief to rural communities.
Smart Regions
Adrinet: an initiative exorcising the Mediterranean's 'ghost nets'
In partnership with the European Commission
Adrinet is a EU Cohesion Policy funded initiative that is helping to remove 'ghost nets' from seabeds in the Meditteranean. Its goal is to protect marine ecosystems and educate about the dangers of plastic pollution in the sea.
Smart Regions
This cross-border cycle path links Spain to the Atlantic Pyrenees
In partnership with the European Commission
The bicycle has no borders. That's the essence of Ederbidea, a cross-border cycle path, supported by the European Union's Cohesion Policy that aims to promote cycling, reduce traffic congestion and improve health for all.