The EPN Consulting Newsletter - 065 - January 2016
Editorial
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Dear Colleague,

First of all, EPN Consulting would like to congratulate the Netherlands on holding the Presidency of the EU Council until 30 June 2016.

Secondly, I am pleased to inform you the EPN Consulting Membership rates in GBP will stay the same also for 2016. Those in EUR may be revised quarterly, however in Jan 2016 we didn't increase them.

In Dec 2015 issue I talked you about the COP21 on Climate Change where crucial decisions have to be taken by crucial institutions: central governments. While waiting for this to happens, local institutions (e.g. city councils) must act promptly and quickly. This Winter is proving to be quite strange, hotter than usual, very dry, with unusual weather events.

During the Christmas period, when private traffic increases, particulate matter of any size (PM10, PM5, PM2.5) polluted cities and not only in the EU, but also in China and India that decided to stop traffic for a number of hours per day for some days, up to two weeks.
In Italy many cities adopted solutions without any general coordination. Rome, Milan and some other cities partially banned vehicle circulation in accordance with their numberplate's final number. Milan then banned private traffic from 10am to 4pm for three consecutive days; Turin offered free public transport for three days and in other days, same as Milan, one bus ticket would entitle to use public transport for the entire day. In some days bike sharing service was free for the entire day, etc.. Naples adopted a mix of several solutions and then, thank God, it rained and all problems were - temporarily - washed away.
No strategy, no planning, no studies. When there are peaks of pollution cities react emotionally to lower the PMx levels (for EU cities: also to avoid being fined). Measurements in Milan showed that these solutions didn't bring any added value: in fact, PMx concentration increased also when private traffic was banned.

Solutions to pollution caused by traffic must be studied, analysed and planned. They must take into account the economic and logistic impacts of adopting certain measures whilst ensuring the citizens'  mobility freedom.

Signing the Covenant of Mayors is a good first step for cities to be committed to sustainable solutions, but their implementation in relation to traffic must be properly designed with a multi-annual vision; it must be independent from local/national elections and it cannot be quickly carried out under emotional pressure.
The respect of Environment depends on each of us but as some don't have enough sensitivity, sensible laws & regulations must be enforced to preserve scenarios such as the one pictured below.


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Kind Regards,

EPN Consulting Ltd.
Founder, CEO


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EU
Horizon 2020 & other calls close to deadline

19 Jan 2016 - Deadline of No.  7  H2020 calls
20 Jan 2016 - Deadline of No. 12 H2020 calls
21 Jan 2016 - Deadline of No. 22 H2020 calls
26 Jan 2016 - Deadline of No. 14 H2020 calls
03 Feb 2016 - Deadline to submit proposals to the SME Instrument (Phase 2)
04 Feb 2016
- Deadline of No.   6 H2020 calls
16 Feb 2016 -
Deadline of No. 20 H2020 calls
16 Feb 2016
- Deadline to submit proposals to the 2015 CEF Transport calls
17 Feb 2016 - Deadline of No. 36 H2020 calls
18 Feb 2016 - Deadline to submit proposals to the EUROSTARS call - 5th cut-off date
19 Feb 2016 - Deadline to submit proposals to the EUROGIA 2020 call
24 Feb 2016 - Deadline to submit proposals to the H2020 SME Instrument 2016 - Phase 1

Go to the Events Section
Why do you make bad decisions?

03 Dec 2015 - Do you pride yourself on being a good decision-maker? Well, chances are you aren't one, and don't even know it.

Like everyone else, you are subject to cognitive bias, a limitation in your thinking brought about by errors of memory, miscalculation or social attribution. Not all biases are negative, however...

 Read more
38 countries launched Global Geothermal Alliance

08 Dec 2015 - A coalition of 38 countries and over 20 development and industry partners have joined forces to increase the share of geothermal energy in the global energy mix.

Launched at a high-level event at the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris (COP21), the Global Geothermal Alliance, an initiative facilitated by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) aspires to achieve a 500% increase in global installed capacity for geothermal power generation and a 200% increase in geothermal heating by 2030.

Read more
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Engaging your employees is good, but don't stop there

09 Dec 2015 - Genius, as Thomas A. Edison famously declared, may be 1%  inspiration and 99% perspiration. But building a company employees truly love reverses the equation: it's almost all inspiration and sweat has only a little to do with it.

The foundational elements, call them employee satisfaction, are fundamentals such as having a safe work environment and the tools necessary to do the job.

Read more
EU
Shift2Rail launched first calls for projects worth 170 million EUR

17 Dec 2015 - Shift2Rail, the Joint Undertaking backed by the Commission and the rail industry, published its first calls for proposals, endowed with €170 million to support innovation in railways.
The Commission will contribute €90 million, with the other €80 million being brought by the members of Shift2Rail.
In order to be funded, projects will have to demonstrate their ability to increase the quality, reliability and punctuality of rail services while cutting its costs and facilitating cross-border travel.

An Info Day will be organised on 20 Jan 2016 in Brussels, whereas the submission deadline is on 17 Mar 2016.

Read more
How the "Internet of Things" will affect the world

04 Jan 2016 - The Internet of Things (IoT) has been called the next Industrial Revolution as it will change the way all businesses, governments, and consumers interact with the physical world.

In a new report from BI Intelligence, all of the components of the IoT ecosystem, including its devices, analytics, networks, and security are discussed. There are also estimates and forecasts on the burgeoning IoT market, including device growth, amount invested, and potential Return On Investment.

Read more
EU
12.7 billion EUR on the way to support 263 EU Transport Infrastructure projects

07 Jan 2016 - The Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA) signed the final grant agreements for the last batch of Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) projects, finishing a process which started over a year ago with the publication of the 2014 CEF Transport Calls for Proposals.

A total of €12.7 billion of EU investment will support 263 transport infrastructure projects which will deliver faster, safer and greener mobility for the entire Union.

The 263 projects are primarily located on the core trans-European transport network and 43 of these, worth nearly €4.6 billion, take place wholly in EU countries eligible for support from the Cohesion Fund.

Read more
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Upcoming Professional Events in Europe

20 Jan 2016 - Brussels (BE) - EUP+TRA - SHIFT2RAIL INFO DAY for non-JU members

21 Jan 2016 - Barcelona (ES) - FIN+TRA - 2nd Meeting on TRANSPORT ECONOMICS AND INFRASTRUCTURE

25 Jan 2016 - Brussels (BE) - EUP+INN - FET OPEN and FET PROACTIVE INFO DAY (FET = Future and Emerging Technologies)

25-28 Jan 2016 - Mainz (DE) - TEC+TRA - AABC 2016 - Advanced Automotive & Industrial Battery Conference

26-27 Jan 2016 - Istanbul (TR) - TRA - SMART RAIL & METRO EURASIA 2016

27-29 Jan 2016 - Brussels (BE) - ICT+LEG - CPDP 2016 - 9th International Conference on Computers, Privacy & Data Protection - INVISIBILITY & INFRASTRUCTURES

28 Jan 2016 - Brussels (BE) - TRA - TRANSPORT FOR SMART CITIES 2016 - Scaling Innovation in Europe

Go to the Events Section
The Website of the Month:
Ljubljana, EU Green Capital 2016

Ljubljana (SLO) was awarded the 2016 European Green Capital  awarded by the European Commission after a competition that took some months.

Ljubljana is the political, administrative, cultural and economic centre of Slovenia and is home to over 280,000 inhabitants.
From being a city which was previously dominated by car transport the focus is now on public transport and on pedestrian and cycling networks.
The most significant measure that has been taken has been the modification of the traffic regime on the main traffic artery (Slovenska Street). Progress has also been made in preserving and protecting the green areas which characterise the city and in the revitalisation and transformation of brownfield spaces.

Go to the Website of the Month
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