On September 20-21, SPARCS partners gathered in Leipzig to visit the Lighthouse cities demo sites. After more than two years of the pandemic, it was very helpful to see each other again in person. Technical partners, city representatives and researchers were among the 40 people who came to see the progress of Leipzig demo sites: Baumwollspinnerei and Duncker Demo District.

During the first day, workshops on the “Transformation of the energy system”, “Virtual energy districts”, and “Involving citizens in the transformation” were held simultaneously in SpinLab in the west of Leipzig. The SPARCS partners visited the demo site Baumwollspinnerei, a former cotton spinning mill, where Cenero presented and explained how the control with load and energy management works. The visit continued at a mobility hub by the Leipzig transport utilities (Leipziger Verkehrsbetriebe, LVB); and to the bus depot with e-bus charging infrastructure. The tour ended with a short walk through the Duncker district.

On the second day, Franziska Löffler from the Office for Urban Green and Water presented the “Urban Green Eye” project, in which satellite data is used to monitor urban green areas and detect heat islands. Benjamin Schwarze from the Digital City department presented an application for an urban twin as part of an urban data platform: the planning of new locations for daycare centres (KiTa network planning).

The visit was co-organised by the City of Leipzig and Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering and Organization.