Let’s Talk to Our Citizens for a Greener City, Say Business Officials

Cities and business officials turn to improving communication to better tackle climate change – highlighting that residents’ participation will significantly aid in advancing the implementation of high-tech strategies to make cities greener.

They’ve expressed the need to invest on communicating how the innovative efforts to fight climate issues will benefit citizens, while at an international conference on “smart cities” in Barcelona, Spain.

“I think it’s very important to involve people, and to give them the opportunity, the possibility to really do something,” says Anna Schindler, director of urban development for the Swiss city of Zurich, adding that the city aims to use technology to “solve real problems for real people”.

Karine Dognin-Sauze, vice-president of smart city initiatives for Lyon, France, also emphasizes that in order to achieve their cutting-edge goals towards green choices, there is “a need to break the concept that we have politicians on one side, business on another and citizens on another”.