Urbasofia

On the second day of the SET-PED annual consortium meeting in Eskilstuna, our URBASOFIA team continued working on one of the key questions of the project: how can circular urban furniture be adapted, replicated and scaled in different local contexts?

The visit to the AMA Center, where the first SET-PED prototype for Eskilstuna was built, was especially valuable for our work. Seeing the material preparation, construction process and local collaboration behind the prototype helped us better understand what needs to be considered when developing the future prototype in Bucharest.

In Bucharest, Urbasofia is working together with Primăria Sectorului 6 al Municipiului Bucuresti, Între Vecini, ADP Sector 6 and to bring Sector 6 Urban Innovation and Design Center SRL the SET-PED concept into the local context and adapt it to the needs of the city, its public spaces and communities.

Later in the day, Giorgia Romagnoli and Miruna Cioaca facilitated a local stakeholder workshop focused on use-case scenarios. The session explored how smart and circular urban furniture could respond to different needs, locations and target users, and how this concept can support both new public spaces and the improvement of existing ones.

The inputs collected during the workshop will contribute to URBASOFIA’s work on the SET-PED strategy for replicating and scaling the urban furniture concept at city level. These use-case scenarios will serve as practical examples for municipalities and other relevant stakeholders interested in integrating circular, co-created and energy-positive solutions into urban regeneration processes.

We are grateful for the exchange in Eskilstuna and look forward to applying these lessons in the Bucharest pilot.

🔗 Learn more about SET-PED: https://lnkd.in/djF86BZJ

Yesterday in Eskilstuna, Sweden, our Urbasofia team, represented by Miruna-Mihaela Cioacă and Giorgia Romagnoli, joined the SET-PED annual consortium meeting, hosted by Eskilstuna kommun at the Energy Evolution Center.

The meeting was a valuable opportunity to reconnect with project partners, share progress, and discuss the next steps for SET-PED’s work on circular, co-created and energy-positive urban solutions.

During Day 1, Giorgia Romagnoli presented URBASOFIA’s work on use-case scenarios and replication logic, while Miruna-Mihaela Cioacă shared updates on the Bucharest pilot progress and the project’s dissemination and communication efforts.

The day also included an inspiring visit to ReTuna Återbruksgalleria Recycling Mall, the world’s first recycling mall and a strong example of circular economy in practice.

We are happy to contribute to this collaborative process and look forward to the next steps of the project.

🔗 Learn more about SET-PED: https://setpedproject.wixsite.com/set-ped

🌍 Another inspiring discussion at the World Urban Forum 13 in Baku on “Rethinking how we build in cities. Sustainable and circular construction with wood”, together with Marion Mienert and Lars Loebner from the Senatsverwaltung Stadtentwicklung, Bauen & Wohnen, in Berlin.

The discussion highlighted Berlin’s experience in advancing timber construction through initiatives such as the School Building Initiative — a modular serial building program launched in 2018, through which 89 timber projects have already been realized in just 8 years — and the Schumacher Quartier, one of the 24 new urban neighborhoods the city is currently developing.

A key takeaway was the importance of collaboration between state-owned housing companies, cooperatives, private developers, the Senate, and Berlin’s 12 districts in delivering affordable, climate-friendly, high-quality housing. For these new urban neighborhoods, faster approval procedures and coordinated action are seen as important to accelerate implementation.

The discussion also addressed current challenges, including costs for construction with timber, the need to further develop the market, and encouraging more the private sector in the field to build in wood. At the same time, modular timber construction was recognized for benefits such as easier logistics and reduced noise and disturbance for residents during construction.

Timberhaus