Summary of project results

Through effective project measures worth almost one and a half million euros, which Brezno has managed to implement over a period of three years, the city is striving to ensure sustainable climate conditions for the life of current and future generations of inhabitants.

On your own skin
Unbearable heat, extreme drought, torrential rains and devastating floods. Climate change is being felt more and more frequently and intensively by the inhabitants of Brezno. In an effort to minimise these negative phenomena, the town decided to participate in the call of the Ministry of the Environment called SK-Climate and received a grant of 1.4 million euros from the Norwegian Financial Mechanism and the state budget. Thanks to these funds, it has managed to implement a total of 19 investment activities over three years, based on the strategic document Action Plan for Mitigation and Adaptation to Climate Change in the Territory of the City of Brezno, which aims to increase resilience to the negative impacts of climate change.

The measures taken have contributed to improving the energy efficiency of public buildings, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by investing in electromobility and means of non-motorised transport, saving energy through the use of intelligent public lighting, cooling the environment by expanding green and blue infrastructure, capturing rainwater for reuse, and creating the conditions for a thorough separation of biodegradable waste.

Milada Šimkovičová, Head of the Project Management Department in Brezno, added after the final conference: "I rate three years of work as excellent. Together with the teams of the Project Management Department and the Investment Department, we have managed to complete a very nice and beneficial thing, thanks to which our city will be ready to adapt to the rapidly changing climate. I believe that Brezno will be able to withstand these changes and the results of our work will lead to an improvement of the environment for all the inhabitants of Brezno."

On April 11, 2024, the final conference of the project took place at the Municipal Hotel Ďumbier.

The aim was to summarize and evaluate the results of the successful project in the form of expert presentations, but also through a travelling exhibition called Brezno and Climate Change.

The invitation to the final symposium was accepted by environmental specialists, analysts of meteorological monitoring, developers of technology companies, as representatives of the Smart Cities Club and contractors.

The opening words belonged to the Mayor of Brezno Tomáš Abel, who highlighted the active cooperation of the city with the individual partners of the project and expressed his gratitude to all those who participated in its successful implementation. "The whole project started on the basis of our cooperation with Smart Cities Slovakia club, in the framework of which I took part in the initial conference in Oslo, Norway. Subsequently, we found a Norwegian partner, thanks to which we were able to obtain resources and start the project. It is not quite usual for small towns like Brezno to get involved in similar projects, but I believe that we will
be an inspiration for other municipalities in Slovakia. The measures we have taken to mitigate the negative consequences of climate change in the urban environment can undoubtedly be described as very necessary, even indispensable," the mayor said.

The list of Activities is long
After a presentation by Tatiana Babalova from the Ministry of the Environment of the Slovak Republic, who briefly introduced the SK-Climate Grant Programme, there followed a contribution by Milada Šimkovičová, Head of the Project Management Department in
Brezno, in which she summarized the results of the completed project plan of the city. Thanks to the project, the municipality managed to implement the planned investments to increase the energy efficiency of kindergartens on Hradby Street and Božena Němcová Street, where rainwater collection containers were also placed. The city streets saw the addition of 560 smart sensors for air quality monitoring, as well as 28 energy-saving solar lights. The Brezno town hall has also bought another electric car and ten bicycles, including stands for use by employees of the municipal office and the Technical Services. In the near future, town it plans
to change the surfaces of asphalt playgrounds to light-colored areas to prevent overheating. Gradually, measures related to the massive planting of greenery will become visible, including blooming meadow communities, mobile trees, a plant statue of a cyclist, and functional vertical vegetation in various parts of the city.

Hope for improvement
After the analytical contribution of Jan Matouš, the processor of the Action Plan, in which he named the main climatic threats for Brezno based on the collected data and proposed effective and targeted solutions, Peter Kočalka, the representative of the contractor for the installation of air quality sensors, took the floor and presented the process of online monitoring of environmental pollution applied in the city. Martin Kremler, Head of the Air Quality Monitoring Department of the Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute, also shared his expertise and practical experience and informed the audience about the alarming results of the measurements of the mobile monitoring station located on the main square in the city during the six-month control period. According to these finding, Brezno is one of the three most at-risk areas in Slovakia with a high concentration of dust particles in the air, and their source is mainly local heating.

Chairman of the Smart Cities club Miloslav Jurík presented positive inspiration in relation to the environment was brought in short documentary from Sweden and Denmark by the and the last presentation was made by the head of the investment department in Brezno Ivan Kamenský, who presented other activities of the city aimed at eliminating the negative impacts of climate change.
We would like to thank all presenters and participants for taking the time to attend the conference.

Several hundred smart sensors already monitor air quality and other important meteorological parameters throughout the city. The aim of the project, for which Brezno has received funding from Norwegian grants, is to protect and improve public health.

A dense network of special sensors currently generates an extremely accurate map of the status of measurable indicators, which provides management with will help the city plan preventive measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Data for informed decisions
At the end of last year, the Brezno municipal government implemented measures aimed at online monitoring of environmental pollution. A total of 560 special sensors were installed in the streets of the city, which are able to evaluate the air quality, in addition to temperature, relative humidity and barometric pressure. Brezno secured nearly 150 thousand euros in external funding from the Norwegian Financial Mechanism for this purpose. "Since air pollution in the city and its surroundings poses a significant threat to human health and the quality of life of the inhabitants, based on the measured data it will be possible to make qualified decisions, for example, in terms of the need for planting greenery, changing the organisation of transport or targeted search for sources of pollution in specific parts of the city," said Mayor Tomáš Abel, highlighting the benefits of the project.

Available 24/7
The individual sensors are mounted on streetlight poles at distances no greater than 100 meters apart, creating an exceptionally accurate map of measured parameters. "These sensors allow us to objectively and thoroughly process a list of high-risk areas, such as heat islands, provide information on the relative air quality within the city, predict environmental improvement or deterioration, more accurately determine traffic and road maintenance plans, and generate alerts in case of sudden environmental degradation," added Milada Šimkovičová, head of the project management department. The smart sensors operate continuously, recording data 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The data is automatically transferred at regular intervals to a central server and into the application, which now allows the general public to monitor the information.

Brezno Smart City Sensors
At the end of January, the city launched a new mobile application called Brezno Smart City Sensors, which allows its users to control the state of the environment in Brezno. Once downloaded, a map of all the sensors installed in the city is displayed on the phone, from which it is possible to select a specific sensor and monitor its data on measured temperature, relative humidity and air pressure in real time. The user can choose a time span of measurements from 6 hours to five years and compare the current situation with the past or with other parts of the city. The municipal government's goal is to gradually expand the monitoring network to 1,000 sensors, thanks to which it will be able to evaluate the current state and quality of the environment even more comprehensively, and to take timely preventive measures suitable for specific locations in its territory.

As part of a large-scale environmental project, for which Brezno received funds from Norwegian grants, nearly three dozen energy-saving solar lamps were installed in selected parts of the town last year. As they are not connected to the electricity grid, they save both money and nature.

Among other things, the new lighting improves the safety and quality of life of residents.

Mitigation of Climate Change Consequences
Last year, the city once again expanded the public lighting network with additional light points. Over the course of two months, a total of 28 energy-efficient solar lights were added in three revitalized courtyards that previously lacked street lighting. Sixteen were installed in the ČSA – Malinovského area, and six each in the Štvrť Ladislav Novomeský and on 9. máj Street.

The project, worth more than 53 thousand euros, was financed from Norwegian grants, the state budget and the city's own resources, and was implemented as one of the activities within the project Action Plan and Measures of the City of Brezno aimed at mitigating the effects of climate change.

Energy from the sun
The excavation works, the installation of the masts and the installation of the solar system in the selected city districts were carried out by the tendered contractor in the last quarter of last year. As the technology used uses energy-saving LED luminaires with appropriate photovoltaics and adjustable luminous flux intensity, the new lighting is classified as green and intelligent. "The individual lamps have their own solar panel, which absorbs energy from the sun during the day, then converts it into electricity, which is then accumulates it in batteries with high efficiency. As soon as it starts to get dark, the lamp lights up," said Silvia Bubelínyová from the investment department. The excavation works, the installation of the poles and the installation of the solar system in the selected city districts were carried out by the tendered contractor in the last quarter of last year. As the technology used uses energy-saving LED luminaires with appropriate photovoltaics and adjustable luminous flux intensity, the new lighting is classified as green and intelligent. "The individual lamps have their own solar panel, which absorbs energy from the sun during the day, then converts it into electricity,
which is then stored in batteries with high efficiency. As soon as it starts to get dark, the lamp lights up," explains Silvia Bubelínyová from the investment department.

Increased savings and safety
Since the individual light points are not connected to the power grid and do not consume any energy from the distribution network, there is not only a financial saving for the town of Brezno, but also a reduction in CO2 emissions, which is the primary objective of the Action Plan. "With the measures aimed at saving electricity, we have contributed to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and at the same time to the improvement of light-technical conditions for the lighting of the inner blocks, thus increasing both the safety and the quality of life of their inhabitants," said Mayor Tomáš Abel, highlighting the benefits of the implemented project.