On Tuesday, April 13, the first SARIO Diversification Services webinar of this year called "Green Technologies in Slovak Cities" took place. SARIO followed up on successful series of webinars from recent months, but this time we decided to open topics of Green Tech and Eco-innovations.The online discussion was mainly focused on the topic of the application of green technologies, especially in cities that in general play a key role as major customers and users of green technologies. Cities process and sort waste, regulate urban transport, take care of environmental infrastructure, urban greenery, and other areas. The main intention of the event was to bring the topic of green technologies closer to companies working in related fields (energy, IT, agriculture, waste management, mobility, and others) and to point out the possibilities by which they can use their experience and technological potential in the field of eco-innovation.The first speaker of the webinar was Jan Kurka from the consulting company Sustainability Tools (SUSTO), which aims to help companies and local governments to be oriented in ongoing environmental challenges and trends. One of the main topics of his speech was the so-called urban sustainability management. In his presentation, Mr. Kurka also focused on the European framework of the sustainability issue, specifics and motivations for solving the topic of sustainability in cities as well as a new map of eco-innovative support tools in the Slovak Republic, created by SUSTO.The second guest of SARIO webinar was Igor Žáček, whose company NiceVisions, a creative design studio has been dedicated to a sustainable future in cities. Mr. Žáček can be considered a pioneer in the topic of the deep interconnectedness of urbanism on the one hand and sustainability on the other. In his contribution, he presented several concepts and real products, which can be described as timeless due to their innovation and quality, while many of them resonated or resonate especially abroad.But what would it be like to discuss cities without a local government representative?The third speaker was Zuzana Čachová, the Environmental Officer of the City of Trenčín. Mrs. Čachová presented a unique SMART solution for the collection of biodegradable municipal bio-waste in the city. It is known that Trenčín is one of the progressive local governments in these topics. Recently issued Strategy for the implementation of SMART technologies in the City of Trenčín, where there are several specific existing projects or future plans that want to make from Trenčín the so-called smart city, is only proving it. Many of these plans relate to green topics, not only waste management, but also SMART public lighting poles, better energy management of the city, the deployment of smart water meters, or several other elements of the Internet of Things (IoT).The whole webinar was moderated by Marek Kopanický, a consultant of the investment projects department and Innovation services lead of SARIO.-------The activity was implemented within the Diversification Services, within which SARIO focuses on supporting the diversification of Slovak companies towards promising high-tech areas and other sectors with significant growth potential. For more information about upcoming events and possibilities of SARIO diversification services, please contact: diverzifikacia@sario.sk
