Kraków: dream city
A visit to Kraków is a must on any traveler’s bucket list. The city’s medieval architecture and deeply traditional culture makes the experience of walking through its center like a journey in time.
This unique historical city decided to embark on a transformative journey through its ambitious vision of becoming a climate neutral, green, inclusive city, close to its citizens.
There are good reasons for this momentum: in the last few years, Kraków experienced strong community activation asking for an improvement in the city’s air quality. Local activists and NGOs, who have a robust network in Poland, have engaged citizens in public consultations to learn about different levers for action in this field.
The city sees the urgent need to shift from coal to renewable energy generation for both its power and heating supply. Kraków has an extensive (almost 850 km) district heating network, powered by coal. Coal is also the main energy source for electricity. Though in decline, the Polish coal sector still currently employs around 80,000 people — a large decrease from 390,000 in 1990.
A breakthrough for this shift would be to develop a strategy for how to do so while bypassing other replacement fuels, such as natural gas. This is not impossible: for example, through deep geothermal district heating, like those planned in Malmö, Sweden.
The peer to peer learning is crucial. Trusted environments where municipalities and other stakeholders can engage in an open and honest conversation about the need and strategies for change are key. It is essential to bring to the table things that work well, but also those that aren’t going so well. City officials have mentioned that a pivoting point has been their exchange with Leuven2030, who leads the journey to carbon neutrality in Leuven, Belgium. One of Kraków’s deputy majors reported being inspired by these conversations on the need to develop a city’s vision and a holistic approach to achieving it.
A strategic tool the city is keen to explore in is the Business Case for Decarbonisation, an area of work led by Material Economics. In close collaboration, the team gathers, analyzes and processes data to build insight on where to act to reach large scale environmental impact in a financially and socially sustainable way.
The analysis revealed that Krakow emits an estimated 6.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide every year from its transport, buildings and heating, electricity and waste sectors. Heating and electricity, both of which are largely fuelled by coal, account for 64 % of emissions (though emissions from passenger cars are under review).
The city was not surprised by the results of Material Economics’ analysis. It shed light on its initial estimate of sectors to target and budget needed for the interventions. The aim now is to broaden the scope of existing initiatives, to connect them, and to fill strategic gaps in order to build a portfolio of large-scale experiments.
Strategic portfolio experiments will focus on the supply of clean energy, but other ‘urban missions’ are foreseen as well, connecting areas of work around mobility, district renewal, decentralised renewable energy, climate adaptation through urban nature, and citizen engagement.
Kraków’s leaders are bustling with ideas and initiative. We are working with high ranking city officials, two of the four deputy majors of Kraków are central supporters of the transition. Anchoring at the highest levels of leadership sends a strong message that the process is seen as critical for the city.
The next municipal budget, drafted in September 2020, will have funds dedicated to the implementation of strategic experiments. The Kraków Development Strategy This Is Where I Want To Live. Krakow 2030 is also going to be evaluated soon, creating a perfect opportunity for alignment and embedment with a portfolio approach.
There is a manifest need, in Krakow and other cities of the cohort, for a ‘system orchestrator’ — a role I explore in this story.
This story has been co-authored with Sean Lockie and Joanna Kiernicka-Allavena.
