The meeting that marked the formal start of “PAB_LivingLab – Lives the decarbonization in Parque Adão Barata” took place in May, and brought together, in an online session, all the entities involved in its development. The project is funded by the EEA Grants Environment Programme, a multi-annual financial mechanism established through the European Economic Area Agreement.

Concerned not only with reducing Greenhouse Gas emissions and carbon intensity, PAB_LivingLab also wants to promote energy efficiency and the use of resources, improve the urban logistics system, through the promotion of sustainable mobility, and increase community involvement around the Park, creating the foundations for a sustainable urban environment. 

From 2021 to 2024, the project's duration, initiatives will be organized and activities implemented capable of responding to environmental problems that have been discussed, in the national and international contexts, and which are intrinsically associated with the Sustainable Development Goals foreseen in the Agenda 2030.

From the installation of an intelligent irrigation system, to the creation of a plan for waste management or a sensing system that will make it possible to manage air quality, there are several initiatives planned to ensure compliance with the goals proposed in the project.

Susana Damasceno, Founder and President of AIDGLOBAL, recognizes the ambitious nature of PAB_LivingLab, but considers it a necessary and inevitable step when thinking about the life and the world that we want the next generations to come to know. “This project represents a contribution to the fight against climate change and to ensure that Portugal is on the path to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. It is also an invitation to Portuguese society to be part of this laboratory and to live it with us. PAB_LivingLab is for those who want to make the world a more sustainable and inclusive place, capable of safeguarding the quality of life of populations, their health, education and well-being”, says Susana Damasceno.

Paulo Piteira, Vice-President of the Loures Chamber, highlights the Municipality's policies at the forefront of climate action, which has been actively working through mitigation and adaptation projects. Examples of this are the investment in energy efficiency, the promotion of the use of public transport, with the conquest of the single pass, and the primacy of soft modes through the creation of new cycle paths, allied to a strong environmental awareness strategy.

“PAB_LivingLab will be another milestone in the governance strategy in view of this global and emerging issue, which arises to make the territory more resilient and serve those who benefit from it. It will be a project that will allow the search for carbon neutrality in the Adão Barata Park. Thus, we propose our territory as a test site for innovative solutions that promote decarbonisation. Among other solutions, we will have the first public building in the country to use the BIM diagnosis and sensing methodology to help reduce the impact of its maintenance.

With PAB_LivingLab, we intend not only to take a step on the right path towards the issue of climate change, as well as to involve the population of Loures in this process, people are the key element for the future of our municipality”, stresses the Vice-President of the City Council of Loures.

Marta Almeida, Researcher Responsible for the project at the Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), reinforces that “the decarbonization of society is only possible if there is the commitment of everyone, from the authorities, the scientific community, companies, non-governmental organizations, to the citizen. The PAB_LivingLab project brings together all stakeholders in this value chain, in a project that considers decarbonisation a top priority. The Instituto Superior Técnico, as a scientific partner, will place, at the service of the project, basic knowledge to face the complex challenges that climate change imposes on humanity. On the other hand, for IST, this project is an opportunity to acquire new skills, essential for updated and experimental teaching, which it considers essential to train professionals and citizens who, in the future, will deal with the various dimensions of sustainable development.

Raul Junqueiro, responsible for MOSAIC, which is the Innovation Hub of the dstgroup created with the objective of approaching, in an integrated way, the smartcities market, highlights the future convergence between technology, environment and active citizenship, in a project that promotes ambitiously innovative solutions to combat climate change and the decarbonisation of cities, centered on people.

“We know that it is in cities that the future of the Planet will be designed and built. dstgroup, through bim+, dstsolar and innovationpoint, under the coordination of MOSAIC, will be an active part of this path, in partnership with the municipality of Loures and other partners. We believe that, through the implementation of new technologies such as: “industry 4.0” tools such as “BIM” for the digitalization of buildings and the expected impact on reducing the carbon footprint of buildings; “new energy grids” based on innovative models of energy production, consumption and sharing communities; Convergent IoT solutions for mobility and efficient use of natural resources, as well as the use of platforms that allow real-time IoT data analytics, will create a sustainable and scalable value proposition together with other partners. territory”, he says.

“We reiterate that this project is a good opportunity to test a value proposition, which we believe is a formula for success, through the knowledge and intervention of all project partners. We know that PAB_LivingLab will be the stage for the creation of a new ecosystem of innovative solutions involving the community in all phases of the project, as we believe that truly “smart” cities are sustainable cities, are built in a modular way and are people-centered ”, concludes Raul Junqueiro.

“Working together for a green Europe” ― in Portuguese “Together we build a greener Europe” ― is the slogan of PAB_LivingLab, for being a project framed in the area of ​​the Environment and for having as a financing entity the EEA Grants, which translate into a multiannual financial mechanism established through the European Economic Area Agreement. Through the EEA Grants, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway provide financial support to the Member States of the European Union with the largest deviations from the European average of GDP per capita, among which Portugal is included.