The notion of “smart city” has grown in popularity during the last twenty years. Digital revolution fans believe that communication technologies will radically transform our cities, offering a vast range of new services that will simplify our daily life.

Would you enjoy a city full of parks, where streets were tree-lined, where cycling and walking were pleasant, a city with grass-insulated roofs on houses and public buildings to keep you warm in winter? According to a Eurobarometer study , there is an 84 per cent chance that your answer is yes.

If energy-saving measures came knocking at the door, wouldn't it be reassuring to have someone on hand to help you navigate the benefits and inconvenience, someone to help dispel your doubts? This is what is happening in Zaragoza, Spain, where social workers are helping the dwellers of a block of council flats.

In most EU countries, half of the residential stock was built before the introduction of thermal regulations. But building renovation is particularly challenging for multi-family dwellings , where socio-economic conditions often represent a barrier.

Urban green spaces provide several benefits beyond aesthetics. They offer shade, help to reduce pollution, offer habitat for birds and insects, a space to meet and socialise or for kids to play.

Global transport accounts for almost one quarter of energy-related carbon dioxide emissions, and the proportion is rising.

It is one of the most famous museums in the world, with more than one million visitors every year. If you happen to visit Bilbao, Spain, you can’t miss the Guggenheim .

Playing games could be a solution to saving energy. Using energy more efficiently is, of course, a crucial part of fighting climate change, since oil and fossil fuels continue to be the most important energy source in the world, including Europe .

Today´s liberalised markets are focused on short-term return on capital, but energy infrastructure planning should be driven by the objective of climate protection.

Door locks that open with fingerprints, networked security cameras, smart light bulbs, smart washing machines: technology is transforming our homes, turning the tech dreams of yesterday into the reality of today.

Soil is much more than just the dirt beneath our feet. Essential for agriculture, a source of undiscovered pharmaceuticals and a filtering system for ecosystems, it’s surprising that the automotive research vehicles, which cruise through air or water, have not yet penetrated the ground.

Building with wood, straw, and hemp. Biobased materials are seeing ever more use in the construction sector, which needs to become more sustainable as it is one of the major sources of soil, air and water pollution.

Thirty-one apartment buildings comprising 140,000 m 2 of floor space: Europe’s most ambitious energy-saving renovation project is transforming Torrelago, a residential district of Valladolid in central Spain.

As the number of smart cities increases, the heavier are their responsibilities towards citizens.

  In the suburbs of Valladolid, a city in central Spain, a district is at the forefront of Europe's energy transition.

Identifying healthy from diseased tissue poses a unique problem for cancer surgeons. Even the smallest bits of a tumour left behind during surgery can regrow and spread to other organs, a deadly phenomenon called metastasising.

Low-carbon mobility is essential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In Valladolid, Spain, hybrid buses use electricity in the city centre and are connected to a smart city platform which monitors how often they charge and how much.

Greenhouse gases decreased by 23% between 1990 and 2016, said the third report on the state of the “Energy Union”, which tracks the EU's transition to a low-carbon society.

Biomimicry , also called bionics, uses structures found in nature to solve everyday problems. A well-known example is the Velcro strip , which a Swiss engineer, Georges de Mestral copied from the burdocks that stuck to his dog and clothes on a walk through the fields.

Spain is known as a land of sun and heat. But even here there are regions that have to face icy winter temperatures. In Valladolid , in the north of the country, many of the almost 300,000 inhabitants are in poorly isolated buildings built in the 1960s.