A study visit was held in the city of Halden, where the Norwegian partner Smart Innovation Norway AS is headquartered
The study visit took place in the period 28.06.2023 – 02.07.2023 and aimed, through familiarization with good practices from Norway, to increase the knowledge of municipal employees from the municipalities of Kavarna, Byala, Dulgopol, Dolni Chiflik, Nessebar and Primorsko for the development and implementation of innovative measures for adaptation to climate change at the local level, with an emphasis on measures in the field of transport. No other country in the world has more electric vehicles per capita than Norway – in recent years 54% of new cars sold in the country were electric cars, hybrids not being part of that number. The built infrastructure includes more than 16,000 charging stations, including 3,300 fast chargers across the country. The policy goal is for the entire Norwegian car fleet to be zero-emission (electric or hydrogen) by 2025.
The host of the study visit, Smart Innovation Norway AS (SIN), is a leading applied research and business development company within sustainable energy, applied artificial intelligence, digital entrepreneurship, smart cities and communities, social and behavioral innovation. In recent years, it has oriented itself to the international market in Europe by implementing a number of activities and initiatives in the field of engineering, research and information technology. The participants in the working visit got acquainted with the ecological and innovative practices already in place in the settlements and saw the achieved benefits and results of the applied measures for mitigation and adaptation to climate change in the field of transport of the municipalities of Halden and Fredrikstad, including from the use of electric cars. The work program of the visit included both a theoretical presentation of climate change mitigation and adaptation measures with an emphasis on transport, as well as on-site working visits:
- Getting to know Smart Innovation Norway (SIN) and Norwegian electromobility policies and initiatives
- Presentation of electromobility projects implemented by Smart Innovation Norway (SIN)
- Presentation of electromobility initiatives in the Norwegian maritime sector (Port of Borg)
- Introducing ASKO – All-Electric Transport Chain (Drone Ferries + Electric Trucks)
- Visit to Halden Municipality and get acquainted with the Smart City Halden electromobility initiative
- Getting to know a Fredrikstad Municipality good practice – visiting the Fredrikstad passenger terminal and traveling on an electric passenger ferry
The Smart City Halden solution includes electric vehicles available for use by municipal staff during working hours and for citizens after 4pm and on weekends.
In Fredrikstad, electric and free ferries are part of public transport. They sail along the river Glomma and connect several areas of the city. From 2012 to 2019, the number of passengers increased from 350,000 to almost 1.5 million people.
Smart Innovation Norway is among Norway’s leaders in EU research and has a dedicated department that works to create sustainable community development in cooperation with municipalities and other organizations.
GALLERY Study visit
