Lighting Nanogrids

Solution lead(s): Andrei Blinov, Toivo Varjas and Tarmo Korõtko from TalTech; Dmitrii Ingi from Aalto University.

Pilot cities: Tallinn and Kuressaare, Estonia; Jablonec nad Nisou, Czech Republic.

Urban challenge: Efficient street lighting

Potential commercialisation partners: Huna srl, Solintel OÜ

This solution addresses the challenges of street lighting to transform its traditional on/off model into a highly versatile, flexible concept — a street lighting nanogrid.

To deliver optimal level of performance both in terms of energy consumption and citizen comfort, the public lighting needs to be able to adapt to various outdoor conditions in a more flexible way than simple toggling operation.

Dimming and adjustment of colour temperature made through informed, automated decisions can increase both safety and power consumption of the public lighting.

Since street lighting infrastructure typically experiences long periods of inactivity, creating an opportunity to repurpose these assets for additional services, e.g. charging stations for various mobility devices. Implementing these changes would require the development of advanced control and management systems to efficiently monitor and allocate resources.

Additionally, with energy efficiency being a top priority for municipalities, transitioning to DC-powered feeders could be a key strategy for reducing energy consumption, while also improving energy quality.

Natural Hazard Resilience Toolkit for Cities

Solution lead(s): Luiza Schuch de Azambuja and Wolfgang Dieter Gerstlberger from TalTech; Edimara M. Luciano from PUCRS in Brazil.

Pilot cities: Haapsalu and Kuressaare, Estonia; Porto Alegre, Brazil.

Potential commercialisation partner: CogniCity OSS

Urban challenge: Smart communities’ toolkit for enhanced flood resilience

Natural Hazard Resilience Toolkit for Cities will be collaboratively developed to support timely crisis management decision-making based on collective intelligence principles.

As information is the most important resource, our solution integrates locally generated data from both sensors (e.g. in case of flood, detecting the changes in water level and direction), and the information provided by citizens experiencing the situation. Both technical and non-technical elements will be developed for the toolbox.

The CCI platform helps to bridge the bottom and top–level information flows, allowing to analyse locally produced data on the evolving situation on a larger scale and thus, gain better situational awareness for more efficient decisions on all levels.

Through empowering citizens in both, analysing the situation with the data at their disposal, and simultaneously being the provider of data, the issue of timely communication and decision-making in severe natural hazard caused crisis such as floods can be better managed by cities.

Tree City

Solution lead(s): Henna Fabritius from TalTech.

Pilot cities: Tallinn, Estonia; Helsinki, Finland; Brussels, Belgium.

Potential commercialisation partner: Herbarium.ai OÜ

Urban challenge: Urban underground infrastructure and tree roots

TreeCity will produce algorithmic 3D models of tree roots for urban digital twins, together with data collection and model updating procedures, root growth prediction models and solutions for city data formats and interoperability.

The models will complement aboveground algorithmic 3D tree models, help to model the life and well-being of trees, and allow city stakeholders to view, use and study tree root systems and their needs via 3D city models, digital twins and VR/AR applications.

Next steps with proposals

Selected teams will be given the opportunity to thoroughly consider the project implementation plan within four months, validate the need with at least 3 cities in Estonia and at least 3 cities from elsewhere, and the initial suitability of the solution idea in the partner cities, understand whether the current team is the best for implementing this pilot and, if necessary, change some team members or a partner. In addition, it is important to involve citizens throughout this process.

Teams will create a full pilot project plan and budgets by April 30, 2025.

Members of the evaluation committee evaluate the applications based on the evaluation criteria within their competence by May 31, 2025. The winning pilot projects will launch on September 1, 2025.

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