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22 global cities, including London, Barcelona, Paris, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, Lagos and Fukuoka have announced the 23 innovative solutions they selected to solve their most pressing urban and social challenges. In a unique global effort, these 22 forward-thinking cities opened their challenges to innovators worldwide via the LLGA | Cities Pilot the Future Programme. Out of 2,500 candidates, a total of 456 solutions competed for the opportunity to implement their solution in real-life, responding to challenges in areas such as as social exclusion, energy management, urban dereliction, tourism, ageing and health. Each of the 23 winning solutions announced during the LLGA | Cities Summit in San Francisco have committed to co-invest in the participating cities to help improve the lives of 121 million citizens. 

The Big Empty Shop Experiment by Centre for Policy & Enterprise in Creative Industries, University of Glamorgan. Location: 3Space Cardiff space. Photo by: Andy Pearsall

In the first LLGA | Cities Summit held in a North American City, public leaders from 22 global cities revealed the innovative solutions that best meet strategic challenges in a variety of fields like Making outside Seating Areas More Sustainable in Paris; a Storm Response Coordinating Tool for San Francisco; a Transformational lighting System in post-earthquake Christchurch (New Zealand); Digital Tools For Better Healthier Ageing in Mexico City; Sustainable Urban Mobility in Maringá (Brasil); and Regenerating Neighbourhoods Using Vacant Spaces in Barcelona. The coming 12 months will see the cities and solution providers join forces to implement the innovations that will help improve the quality of lives of citizens and shape the future of their cities.

On 14 May 2013, leaders of the 22 partner cities and the 120 nominated solution providers came together at the LLGA | Cities Summit in San Francisco to deepen their partnerships, announce the 23 most promising solutions, debate their challenges, and kick-start implementation.   Continue reading →

120 global companies and organizations have pledged their commitment to implementing their high impact solutions to challenges such as social exclusion, energy management, urban dereliction, mobility and health. In a unique global effort 22 forward-thinking cities including London, Barcelona, Paris, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, Lagos and Fukuoka opened a competition for innovators to win the opportunity to implement their solutions in a real environment. After a selection process covering 2,535 candidates, 120 providers were invited to present their commitment to partner with cities and help improve the lives of 121 million citizens.

Nominees from LLGA2012 at the LLGA | Cities Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

In November 2012 the fourth edition of LLGA | Cities Pilot the Future programme was launched by Citymart.com in partnership with Oracle, the UN Global Compact Cities Programme and The Climate Group. In this one-of-a-kind initiative 22 cities publicly published their most pressing urban and social challenges in areas such as social inclusion, health & well-being, economic development, urban management, mobility, lighting, energy and sustainable lifestyles. Over a 3-month period, Citymart.com researchers identified 2,535 solutions that responded to those challenges. A total of 456 solutions entered a first round of evaluation with the help of 159 expert jurors chosen by the cities. The full list of nominees can be seen here. Continue reading →

 Blog by Kirsten Jack, Acting Head of Smart Technologies, The Climate Group.

In this post I take a look at solutions to promote economic development.

LLGA has a strong history of tackling economic development challenges, and examples from past LLGA editions can be found in Lagos, Cape Town, Sant Cugat and Kristiansand. All these cities found  – and are piloting — solutions through LLGA to promote economic development and growth.

Finding solutions to Economic Development challenges are central to transitioning cities to a green growth pathway because:

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Blog by Kirsten Jack, Acting Head of Smart Technologies, The Climate Group.

LLGA has an history of tackling transport and movement challenges. Good examples include Santiago de Chile, Lavasa (India) and Barcelona, three cities that both found — and are piloting — solutions to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of city transport through LLGA. I explore these cities further below.

Transport challenges are also central to the work of Agile Cities, the initiative which aims to connect cities, citizens and innovators to drive accessibility, efficiency and growth. This is because:

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Blog by Kirsten Jack, Acting Head of Smart Technologies, The Climate Group.

LLGA has a history of information product challenges. Inspiring examples include San Francisco, Barcelona, Londonderry, Rio de Janeiro and Sant Cugat, all of which have found and are piloting smart data solutions through LLGA, as will be explored later.

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Blog by Kirsten Jack, Acting Head of Smart Technologies, The Climate Group.

LLGA has a history of solving energy and resource challenges. As you’ll see in a moment, great examples include San Francisco and Barcelona, two cities that both found — and are piloting — solutions to improve resource efficiency through LLGA.

Energy and resource challenges are central to the work of our Agile Cities program for the following reasons:

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LONDON: The Climate Group is chairing an LLGA panel to judge over 1,000 innovative city solutions from across the world.

As part of The Climate Group’s work on driving urban innovation, for the last two years we have supported the LLGA-Cities Pilot the Future program, which brings global cities together to implement solutions that will improve the lives of citizens. Continue reading →

By Kirsten Jack, Acting Head of Smart Technologies, The Climate Group.

Over the next week or so, I will be writing a short series of posts that sets out to profile some of the LLGA | Cities Pilot the Future (previously the Living Labs Global Award) success stories, as well as current open challenges for LLGA 2013. 

LLGA is a global call for solutions that brings together cities to implement solutions that will improve the lives of their citizens. The Climate Group chairs the panel of experts that assess the sustainability of each solution that is submitted. Our work with LLGA is part of the Agile Cities program, which aims to connect cities, citizens and innovators to drive accessibility, efficiency and growth. 

In the blog series I explore how innovative solutions for economic development, energy efficiency, mobility and information products can each play a role in supporting cities that are at the forefront of the clean revolution.

You can submit solutions for LLGA 2013 current challenges until January 31.