IMPLEMENTING SMART CITY TECHNOLOGY
Smart street furniture has been an integral part of innovation and tech development in the last decade. Local governments, brands, corporations and environmental NGOs identified the need to enhance functionality, benefits and attractiveness of open public spaces through digital innovation.
Smart solar Benches today are an integral part of changes and digital transformation that are shaping the environmental initiatives throughout European cities. Why are they a convenient improvement for European cities and their open spaces?
– They do not disrupt the urban setup, like landmark parks or architectural beauty of old squares, in the sense of changing the landscape or “modernizing” the surroundings. Solar Smart Benches are the new form of traditional meeting points, but now with features that serve the 21st century lifestyles.
– Smart Bench Minis are very affordable and thus, ideal for small cities with fairly limited budgets for urban planning of open spaces and investment in smart city solutions.
– By installing the Smart Bench network, a city becomes a part of “Smart City club” and joins the efforts for promoting sustainable solutions, gets better visitors’ reviews and media attention
Strawberry energy has formed a reliable and long-term partnership with over 30 companies in Europe, Australia and North America that distribute smart city technology. Through those successful partnerships we are able to connect with local governments, commercial brands, property developers and make sure that Strawberry solar Smart Benches are present all over the world.
Strawberry App is mapping every single Smart Bench, anywhere in the world, and here are some of our latest additions:
- Recklinghausen, Germany (in partnership with Grein SMART Energy )
The city government wanted to promote clean energy resources and enhance the open public spaces by installing smart sustainable solutions. Recklinghausen’s solar Smart Bench is part of broader efforts to implement concepts for the expansion of solar energy and climate protection in the region.
“It sends general environmental and consumption data that we as a city can call up, for example, data on air quality, general weather data or the amount of stored electricity and how often it was charged.” says the city’s climate protection manager Lara Wahrmann.
- Tanagra, Greece (in partnership with Elite Areas):
Several solar Smart Bench Minis were installed in Tanagra province, near Athens in Greece. They are a cool addition to the beauty of this area that receives a lot of sun during the year, and Smart Benches really feel at home there. Tanagra is now officially on the smart city map!
- Risor, Norway:
Risor is a city in the south of Norway. It got its first Smart Bench Mini in January 2021. Smart Bench is sponsored by Tekna, The Norwegian Society of Graduate Technical and Scientific Professionals. Winters in Risor are harsh, but there was no doubt that Smart Bench Mini would be up for the task. Investing in the quality and durability of our benches has proven once again to be the best policy. If you’d like to see how our Smart Bench Mini is successfully handling the freezing temperatures in Risor, check out this post!
- The City of Yarra, Melbourne (in partnership with Eco Renewable Energy)
Eco Renewable Energy, Strawberry energy partner for Australian market, has done some amazing work in The City of Yarra, a local government area in Melbourne. They partnered with Yarra City Council to provide and install three new smart solar benches. The goal of Yarra City Council was to assure better sustainability of open public spaces and encourage locals and visitors to sit, relax and recharge in nature, using 100% clean solar energy.
Activation of public spaces using sustainable smart city solutions has become increasingly important ever since the pandemic started. Smart street furniture can be viewed as the multi-function social hubs in the open that work to increase connections between business, community and visitors, while raising awareness of the urban impact on climate change through environmental measurement and reporting.
Our Partner Program is an ever-growing network of companies and organizations looking to expand their portfolio with top quality smart city products and enable a fresh revenue stream for their business. For all the details about Strawberry energy Partnership program and products, visit our website.