Date of label : 29/10/2024
The overall design is clean and modern, emphasizing technology and innovation in rural settings.
Summary
The Smart Village strategy encompasses efforts put in place by Vila Boa do Bispo to become a smarter, greener and more inclusive community. The document gathers diverse approaches and initiatives, leveraging local strengths and engaging all community stakeholders. This approach is based on the TriCYcLe tripartite tool for smart community development across Europe, whose essential pillars are Climate Action, Long-Term Impacts, and Youth Engagement. Actions include youth volunteer projects, partnerships for green energy solutions, and the creation of advisory councils to ensure inclusive, long-term community development.
The solutions offered by the Good Practice
Vila Boa do Bispo’s comprehensive Smart Village strategy integrates sustainable governance, circular economy and community-building to address local and global challenges. It is part of a local strategic document, #VBB_ZERO, which outlines the community's approach to becoming greener, smarter and more inclusive.
Key initiatives brought together under #VBB_ZERO since 2020:
- #VBB_ZERO: Water – Environmental awareness and river preservation;
- #VBB_ZERO: Forests – Natural resource preservation and forest trail development;
- Green Grease Partnership – Circular economy initiative for cooking oil recycling;
- Collection of old and damaged home appliances;
- Sustainability education at local schools;
- RURENER Partnership (Rural Energy for Europe) – Collaboration with European rural communities for energy transition;
- OMNIA Erasmus+ Key Action 2 Youth project – Green and circular economy training for young people Not in Education, Employment or Training;
- YWIS (Youth Workers in Sustainability) Erasmus KA2 YOU project – Promoting youth work in educational environments;
- Languages of Welcome Erasmus KA2 YOU project: Inclusion of migrants through artistic methodologies and approaches.
The Smart Village strategy aims to keep preserving Vila Boa do Bispo’s common values while cultivating citizen engagement and environmental education. These two baseline values should be added to the local organic working and development process to ensure long-lasting smart growth.
Building on the sustainable and integrated urban approach
This practice brings together climate action, long-term impacts, and youth engagement. All essential pillars of the green, smart transition towards a more participative, innovative and sustainable future that the TriCYcLe tool promotes.
The Smart Village strategy grew from lessons learned during the implementation of the #VBB_ZERO strategy, while integrating experience gathered by the stakeholders involved in its building process. Reflecting the value of this concept, local representatives were invited to carry out a participatory lab at the European Week of Regions and Cities 2022, organised by the European Committee of the Regions.
Sustainable and integrated approaches run through the projects involved. For example #VBB_ZERO focuses on environmental awareness and natural resource conservation; the Eco-Escolas Programme (or Eco-Schools Programme) educates on sustainability, promoting long-term environmental stewardship; Green Grease and Geração Depositrão encourage recycling and sustainable resource use, reducing waste and creating economic opportunities; and the RURENER partnership works towards energy transition and sustainability.
Meanwhile, active citizenship is promoted through initiatives like youth volunteer projects and advisory councils. In addition, efforts to preserve and promote cultural heritage, such as the Energia de Gerações project, strengthen community identity and social cohesion.
Based on participatory approach
A participatory approach is central to the Smart Village strategy and the projects it brings together. These range from environmental volunteering initiatives like #VBB_ZERO for young people, to participatory budgeting projects like D. Sisnando Park where citizens propose and vote on community projects.
Participation takes place at several levels. For example, the VBB Youth Council and Sustainability Council consist of representatives from diverse community groups and stakeholders, ensuring their voices are considered in the planning process.
VBB works closely with local public bodies, non-profit organisations, and community groups like the Cultural and Sports Association and the Animal Protection Association.
There are also partnerships with schools, for example through the Eco-Escolas Programme, and links with the University of Aveiro, involving educational stakeholders in promoting sustainability education and research initiatives.
Local connections are further enriched by wider European cooperation, for example through Erasmus and other EU programmes that facilitate knowledge exchange and the adoption of best practices. Since 2021, VBB has been a partner in RURENER, a European network of rural communities engaged in the energy transition. The vision is to build a European Union aware of the potential of its territories, especially its rural territories.
What difference has it made?
A series of projects and partnerships has improved – and continues to improve – daily life for Vila Boa do Bispo's 3 050 inhabitants. It all started in 2020 with a #VBB_ZERO youth volunteering project involving +60 young people. Everyone came together with a shared purpose: to promote the preservation of VBB’s natural resources.
A community development cooperative was also created, named QUORUM. With the support of the specialised Cooperative, Coopérnico CRL, VBB brought together the local Fire-fighters Association, Social and Sports Associations, and the social NGO Casa do Povo – with the shared goal of creating and managing a self-sufficient energy system, powering the Council's social infrastructures and equipment. QUOROM Sustainable Development promotes the creation of a Renewable Energy Community among public entities and public service entities. With the savings generated, VBB intends to promote the expansion of the network, not only in the village but also to other locations in the Municipality of Marco de Canaveses.
Thanks to the TriCYcLe approach, VBB has created a well-established web of efforts leading to a more conscious and green community. The sum of all these projects and those yet to be implemented result in two ultimate goals that #VBB_ZERO set out:
- Becoming the first carbon-neutral Freguesia, or community, in Portugal;
- Creating a system where everything, from clothes to construction goods, can be integrated into a circular cycle.
Why this Good Practice should be transferred to other cities
Fostering sustainable governance, circular economy and community-building, the Smart Village strategy offers a comprehensive model that can be adapted to needs and resources of various urban-rural contexts. The emphasis on participatory and innovative approaches, like the circular economy initiatives and the use of technology, provides a blueprint for other towns and cities looking to integrate modern solutions into their traditional frameworks.
Activities are based on the TriCYcLe approach’s transferable framework for small rural communities to engage citizens and organisations in collaborative projects, which serves as a benchmarking tool and method source.
Through targeting local issues, this model contributes to the global Sustainable Development Goals, promoting sustainable communities (SDG 11), climate action (SDG 13), quality education (SDG 4) and partnerships (SDG 17). It also supports the EU Green Deal's goals of achieving a carbon-neutral economy and enhancing biodiversity.
Transferring Vila Boa do Bispo's Smart Village strategy to other towns and cities, will involve certain crucial steps: engaging stakeholders, providing training, and securing funding for sustainable projects. Knowledge-sharing networks, and robust monitoring and evaluation, are vital. It is also important to use digital tools – and advocate for supportive policies.
So far, Vila Boa do Bispo has shared its practice through various international projects and networks, such as the RURENER Partnership for energy transition, Erasmus Projects OMNIA and YWIS, and Town-Twinning initiatives. It has also joined events such as Green Fest to help disseminate best practices and promote the strategy's adoption in other regions.