C4C Opinion | Connect4Climate

Why Cities Need Youth Innovation for a Low Carbon Future

Given our increasingly complex and dynamic world, cities need to be continuously innovating in order to solve pressing social and environmental problems.

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Engaging Youth from London to Jakarta

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More than ever, we need young people involved in creating sustainable cities. This can be achieved by establishing and strengthening networks that provide opportunities for young aspiring entrepreneurs and innovators to get involved and learn from like-minded groups of individuals on a global scale.<o:p></o:p>

For example, the World Bank’s Connect4Climate partnered with the New Cities Foundation to host a youth innovation contest called the <a href="http://www.newcitiesfoundation.org/the-jakarta-urban-challenge/" target="_blank">Jakarta Urban Challenge</a>. The aim of the event was to challenge students and entrepreneurs from Indonesia to find tangible solutions that improve mobility in Jakarta while simultaneously lowering GHG emissions. Jakarta is one of the most heavily congested cities and is the largest urban area in the world not to have a metro or subway system in place. It’s estimated that the local economy loses around <a href="http://www.siemens.com/innovation/en/home/pictures-of-the-future/infras…; target="_blank">$3 billion USD a year</a> due to traffic congestion resulting from the city’s rapidly rising rate of vehicle ownership.<o:p></o:p>

The Jakarta Urban Challenge drew almost 250 submissions in just two months, with each entry offering a different approach to solving the issue. During an award ceremony, a panel of industry experts awarded the first place title to “Squee”—a mobile application that aims to unify pedestrians and cyclists to map the safest pathways around the city, encouraging more sustainable methods of transport.

Squee Mobile App won the Jakarta Urban Challenge, with Governor Ahok of Jakarta, Muhammad Yunus of Grameen Bank and John Rossant of New Cities Foundation.<o:p></o:p>

When used at a large scale, the app will encourage social interaction between pedestrians and, as a result, help form communities of travellers. The three finalists were awarded US $20,000 to help them develop their innovations.<o:p></o:p>

Additionally, hackathons can foster collaboration by bringing together creative designers, experts, and developers to produce innovative solutions. One example is <a href="http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2014/02/03/hackathons-tech-sav…; target="_blank">Code for Resilience</a>—a series of hackathons organized by the World Bank and civil society organizations that engage young people to build urban resilience in Asia by “hacking”.<o:p></o:p>

Over 1,000 software and hardware developers participated in 11 hackathon events across nine countries. The events resulted in prototypes and tools that address a series of disaster resilience challenges discussed during community workshops.  As simple as an app may seem, the collective effort required to develop these kinds of initiatives can help catalyse and leverage user-driven innovation on a larger scale.<o:p></o:p>

Similarly, the <a href="http://www.london.gov.uk/priorities/environment/mayors-low-carbon-entre…; target="_blank">Mayor of London’s Low Carbon Entrepreneur</a> competition challenges students to propose tangible ideas and concepts for lowering carbon emissions from buildings. A £20,000 development fund supports the winning proposals through implementation and provides finalists with training and mentorship. The challenge is now in its third year and has helped hundreds of students and recent graduates learn the basic principles of starting a business—giving students the opportunity to test their innovative ideas and produce real impact on the ground.<o:p></o:p>

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Scaling Up Local Solutions for Global Impact

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“Urban challenges” are becoming powerful tools for crowdsourcing solutions from young people on a range of pressing issues—from urban resilience to energy efficiency. However, the missing link is connecting all these aspiring entrepreneurs and social innovators on a single platform where they can share experiences and knowledge, and collaborate with one another.<o:p></o:p>

One example of this kind of platform is Rockefeller Foundation’s <a href="http://www.100resilientcities.org/" target="_blank">100 Resilient Cities</a> initiative—a network that provides cities with resources for improving resilience to physical, social, and economic challenges. Although the 100 Resilient Cities program focuses exclusively on city governments, replicating this type of network for young innovators can be a powerful tool for scaling solutions from the bottom up.<o:p></o:p>

The Connect4climate program and others like it can help bridge that gap by creating an umbrella campaign for innovation, leveraging partners’ knowledge and experience to give opportunities for young innovators to turn their ideas into reality.<o:p></o:p>

The need to establish universal green building standards

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What is meant by a “well-designed” building?

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It doesn’t mean architecture that is simply pleasing to the eye or a design that functions well, though both of these things are important. A well-designed building that is focused on energy efficiency must take into account such factors as the surrounding climate, the orientation of the building, and the behaviours of its inhabitants.<o:p></o:p>

Considerations such as energy-saving lighting, heating, cooling and ventilation are crucial during the building’s design phase.<o:p></o:p>

Additionally, <a href="http://www.awc.org/pdf/GBFactSheets/life_cycle.pdf" target="_blank">the life cycle approach</a> that analyses the environmental impacts of building materials is critical to sustainable outcomes.

Life Cycle Assessment & Green Buildings - Image from the <a href="http://www.awc.org/pdf/GBFactSheets/life_cycle.pdf" target="_blank">American Wood Council</a><o:p></o:p>

Clearly, including <a href="http://www.worldgbc.org/files/1513/6608/0674/Business_Case_For_Green_Bu…; target="_blank">green building strategies</a> from the initial concept design stage is of greater benefit than doing so in hindsight. <o:p></o:p>

Unfortunately many buildings were simply not built this way. But tearing down an inefficient building is more expensive, and exceedingly more wasteful, than retrofitting it to make it more energy efficient. In fact, many people have the misperception that it takes a considerable investment to improve the efficiency and sustainability of existing buildings.<o:p></o:p>

This is simply not true. Replacing inefficient lighting with <a href="http://energy.gov/energysaver/articles/led-lighting" target="_blank">LED lights</a> or replacing single-paned windows with more efficient double or triple-glazed window systems are just two examples of relatively simple upgrades that save significant utility costs.<o:p></o:p>

In order to maximize global and local environmental benefits along with financials savings, we need to communicate the benefits to building owners, developers, architects and the general population—and encourage them to take greater responsibility and action. We’re seeing examples of this happening, including the certification and modelling of buildings, the introduction of <a href="http://www.breeam.org/page.jsp?id=86" target="_blank">policy requirements</a> and energy standards for buildings, and the adoption of tax incentives for integrating renewable energy.<o:p></o:p>

Building certification and modelling systems such as <a href="http://www.usgbc.org/leed" target="_blank">LEED</a> and <a href="http://www.breeam.org/" target="_blank">BREEAM</a> are used and recognised mainly in the developed world, although there are examples of certified buildings in some developing countries, such as the <a href="http://www.usgbc.org/articles/little-leed-building-could-south-sudan%E2…; target="_blank">World Bank Group’s office in Southern Sudan</a>. These modelling systems are able to analyse the overall efficiency of a building’s performance, though it can be a lengthy and somewhat expensive process, and requires detailed and up-to-date data sets.<o:p></o:p>

The International Finance Corporation is aiming to mainstream green building growth in rapidly urbanizing emerging markets by aligning the interests of developers, banks, homebuyers, and building owners. The new certification system and software, called EDGE (<a href="http://www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/topics_ext_content/ifc_external_corp…; target="_blank">Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies</a>) suggests resource-efficient systems and solutions for new residential and commercial buildings. <o:p></o:p>

The objective is to take a metrics-based approach at the early design stage, to reduce energy, water, and materials consumption by a minimum standard of 20 percent. City Express was the first company worldwide to receive the EDGE certification for its <a href="http://www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/03aa600046a8db9d9afebb9916182e35/Sna…; target="_blank">hotel Villahermosa in Mexico.</a> Projects have been certified in Brazil, India, Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines.

Image of energy savings made for Villahermosa Hotel using the EDGE software<o:p></o:p>

The cost advantages that EDGE provides helps to alleviate poverty while protecting the environment through a universal green buildings standard.<o:p></o:p>

The importance of a certification process that is simple, fast, and affordable is vital in the developing world to avoid what is called ‘energy lock-in,’ where poorly designed buildings end up wasteful and inefficient for the duration of their lifespans.<o:p></o:p>

We’re also finding examples of communities gathering together to improve energy efficiency in their homes, workplaces and public buildings. In the recent <a href="http://www.action4climate.org/" target="_blank">Action4Climate</a> documentary competition, filmmaker Matt Dunne started a peculiar activity to paint roofs in his neighbourhood white -- and <a href="http://www.whiteroofproject.org/" target="_blank">The White Roof Project NYC</a> was born. (Before you think that Matt is the unmasked <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banksy" target="_blank">Bansky</a>, this was not an art or graffiti project!) His reasoning was simple—white reflects light. Many roofing materials are black or grey, which absorb more heat that lighter colours, and increase the internal temperature of the building.<o:p></o:p>

Occupants respond by turning down their cooling system and using more energy.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIkjhY7Fi1w]

Another example is <a href="http://www.brixtonenergy.co.uk/" target="_blank">Brixton Energy,</a> a not-for-profit organisation (NGO) in Brixton, London, UK that has funded community-owned solar power. The project started with a shared vision of creating real social and environmental outcomes on a housing estate in London. Community-owned solar panels now generate enough energy to power the elevators and many of the community spaces—while creating additional income for the community.

The potential for energy savings in buildings is tremendous if green building methods are applied.  With professionals and communities taking more ownership, hopefully policy makers and governments will take greater action to adopt more robust sustainable building codes and policies to achieve their low carbon goals. While environmental pressures are a strong driver, positive financial benefits can create a win-win for all.

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Cycling for a green planet

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For many years, the world has produced over 100 million bicycles per year

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Carbon Footprint of different transport types from <a href="http://vimeo.com/95884609" target="_blank">Action4Climate film Bikes</a> Credit: João Diogo Marques and Daniel Marques

In comparison, global production of cars is around 60 million per year. Bikes are used every day and on every inhabited continent, in the most affluent nations as well as developing and the least developed countries. And cycling is often the fastest, most flexible, and eco-friendly way of getting around cities. Bicycling does not only <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/nov/12/europes-cycling-eco…; target="_blank">provide economic benefits</a>: shifting trips from car use to cycling helps reduce congestion, air pollution, and CO2 emissions, as well as improves riders' health.

The <a href="http://www.ecf.com/" target="_blank">European Cyclists' Federation</a> has a very simple message for governments and local authorities: “You know that investing in cycling is justified from your transport, climate change, and health budgets.” According to the European Trade Union Confederation, the cycling industry is another example of the way that, with the appropriate investment, a transformation to a green, low-carbon economy can create jobs.

According to the <a href="http://www.worldbicyclerelief.org/" target="_blank">World Bicycle Relief </a>(WBR), when children and adults bike, as opposed to walk, they are able to reduce their commute times by up to 75 percent. As a result, they have more time to study, increase productivity (children’s school marks improve by an average of 25 percent), and experience less fatigue. With a bicycle, entrepreneurs can now travel four times further, carry more goods (carrying capacity is increased five-fold), and increase profits up to 50 percent. In schools where students were given bikes, attendance rates rose by an average of 28 percent, and grades increased by up to 59 percent. Healthcare workers on bikes have also been able to visit more than twice the number of patients per day.

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Global leaders are taking note

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"Cycle at least once a week" <a href="https://vimeo.com/95884609" target="_blank">Action4Climate film message</a>. Credit: João Diogo Marques and Daniel Marques

Just two weeks ago, at one of the world’s most exclusive gatherings in Davos Switzerland, a group of attendees issued a challenge :  Bring the barrier of distance to the forefront of global development, and present the bicycle as a solution. WBR, together with UBS, The UBS Optimus Foundation and the World Economic Forum, hosted The <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/20/davos-challenge-education_n_64…; target="_blank">Davos Challenge: Walk for Education</a>.

Industry and political leaders were challenged to walk the same distance as a typical child walks to school each day in rural South Africa. For every six kilometers walked, UBS and UBS Optimus Foundation agreed to donate a bicycle through World Bicycle Relief to a young student in South Africa. Global leaders walked 15,000 kilometers and, as a result, WBR will distribute more than 2,500 bicycles. The impact on these students, their families, and the surrounding community will be powerful and long lasting. 
  
When the people of Copenhagen were asked why they choose to ride their bikes rather than ride in a car or on public transportation they answered simply “because it’s the fastest way of getting around in the city.” The bicycle offers an economic, comfortable, easy, and sustainable way of transportation, for everyone. Problems related to congestion in the cities of the emerging world continue to grow, and will grow faster than any investment in new roads could match. India’s motor vehicle fleet is forecast to grow from 73 million in 2005 to 364 million by 2025. Investing in facilities for cycling as a clean, healthy alternative to motorbikes and cars, will help <a href="http://books.google.com/books/about/Urban_Transport_in_the_Developing_W…; target="_blank">reduce congestion and pollution</a>.

It's time to find a way to help people out of extreme poverty and into green and shared prosperity … by partnering with the global cycling community.

“When people cycle, great things happen.” 
 - Tim Blumenthal, President of People for Bikes