A large portion of households in EU countries continue using sold fuels (coal and wood) for space heating. In Poland alone the number of single family houses using coal and wood for heating exceeds 4 million buildings. Low quality coal and wood remain the cheapest source of heat energy. They are often mixed with waste, which significantly aggravates the problem and health effects. As the problem of air pollution concerns all EU countries it required applying a transnational approach including, cooperation between the countries, experience sharing and development of joint measures. Not only because the sources of air pollution and required solutions to the problem are similar, but also because air pollution has a strong transboundary character. Project partners came mainly from one of the most serious European hot spots, i.e. CEE area. Participation of Spain allowed dissemination of project products and results to other parts of the EU, beyond CEE. The objective of this project was to raise awareness of rural communities in the countries covered by the project about the problem of air pollution, its reasons, health effects and possible solutions that can be taken by inhabitants in order to mitigate the problem and reduce local air pollution. This objective was achieved by providing training for teachers from rural areas in the topic of air pollution and equipping them with education materials that they will use to teach their pupils and students about the problem. The project focused on rural areas due to the fact that public awareness of the problem is much lower among rural communities compared with inhabitants of larger cities. Therefore, the project responded to awareness and education gap that is the most serious within rural areas.

POCITYF supports the Lighthouse cities of Evora (PT) and Alkmaar (NL) and their Fellow cities Granada (ES), Bari (ΙΤ), Celje (SI), Ujpest (HU), Ioannina (GR) and Hvidovre (DK) to address their urgent need to deliver positive energy blocks and districts in their cities, towards rendering their mixed urban environment (also including the case of cultural protected buildings) into cheaper, better accessible, healthier and more reliable. By demonstrating in overall 10 integrated solutions (ISs), comprising 73 individual innovative elements (technologies, tools, methods), rooted under existing City Information Platforms (CIPs), POCITYF quantifies their value, and connects interests of many different stakeholders in innovative business models, allowing for upscale and replication of those solutions in a form of a validated roadmap for sustainable cities across Europe and world-wide. To achieve this, POCITYF works along 4 Energy Transition Tracks (ETTs), encompassing the ISs according to the role each one serves for. ETT#1 focuses on the examination and application of ISs transforming existing and new building stock into Energy Positive, while ETT#2 focuses on the application of a) grid flexibility strategies and b) storage systems, supported by DSM platforms for optimizing energy flows to maximize self-consumption and reduce grid stress. ETT#3 with its merit of innovation offers the integration of e-Mobility to as well promote the decarbonisation of the mobility sector. The 3 ETTs under the coordination of ETT#4, which links existing CIPs with innovative apps and other instruments, offers inclusive and holistic services for interdisciplinary citizen engagement and co-creation of them with the city stakeholders and industry, towards the development of each city’s own bold city-vision up to 2050. Through POCITYF the two LHs will achieve a local RES penetration of 16.2 GWh/y, energy savings of 2.32 GWh/y and an emission reduction of 9,743 tons CO2eq/y within their districts.