SME4SMARTCITIES raises awareness on the climate crisis

On the 21st of November 2022, the Sustainability and Innovation Division of Kfar Saba municipality held a conference to raise awareness on the climate crisis and the urban preparation of Kfar Saba and also expose and demonstrate SME4SMARTCITIES project and the winning pilots for the Israel urban challenge. The conference took place at the “Kipod” center which is the sustainability center of the city of Kfar Saba. Residents of the city,  environmental activists, and the winning companies from the pilot, BIPV and Keren Energy, were invited to the conference. Mr. Avigdor Sharon, representative of the Tel Aviv University, another partner in the SME4SMARTCITIES project, also participated in the conference.

Mrs. Orit Marshal from the environmental unit in the Sharon spoke about the regional climate conference and the amazing project of planting wild flowers while Mrs. Shlomit Kitaro, director of urban preparedness for the climate crisis and director of the sustainability department , presented the master plan for the urban preparation for climate change in the Kfar Saba municipality. The manager of the SME4SMARTCITIES project, Mrs. Lihi Koren, presented the project and reviewed the barriers and the solutions that are in between the local authority and small businesses. Furthermore she also presented the winners of the pilot: BIPV and Keren Energy.

Mrs. Yonat Schwartz and Mr. Ofer Keren, from Keren Energy, presented their solution: a project involving residents and municipal employees to learn about urban “heat island “, in an interesting and playful way and the dangers and the ways to deal with it personally. The representative of BIPV Israel, Mr. David Torgeman, presented their solution on cooling the city with the addition of shade, solar panels and water mists. The agenda of the conference can be found here.

The conference was a very successful one as all the participats were engaged and asked a lot of questions.