Systems Thinking for comprehensive city Efficient Energy Planning (STEEP) is a project funded by the EU FP7 Energy - Smart Cities programme involving San Sebastián, Bristol and Florence.
The project is using a systemic problem structuring approach to developing a district energy master plan for the three city districts
- Bristol – Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone
- San Sebastián – Urumea Riverside
- Florence – Cascine Park
The purpose is to better understand how to intervene to improve energy use – including energy supply/distribution, buildings, transport, street lighting, digital infrastructure and waste – in order to meet the ambitious European 20-20-20 targets.
Existing initiatives and measures to reduce energy inefficiency are already in place. However, these have been largely targeted at specific sector objectives, while overlooking the impact and ramifications that may be experienced in other sectors. This has driven the cities to recognize the importance of considering all the stakeholders and city systems when undertaking measures aimed at improving sustainability to make this an integral part of their urban planning.
In December the project partners held a one-day training workshop on the use of systemic problem structuring methods for energy planning based on the use of hierarchical process modelling, which was developed by researchers at the University of Bristol. In this video Dr Mike Yearworth, Reader in Engineering Systems, provides a short introduction on the purpose of the workshop and its outcomes. Further details and the full training material will be available from the STEEP project website in February 2014.
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