How did it all start?
Six members of our team met at the IdeaLab workshop held in early 2020 at the initiative of the National Centre for Research and Development and the Norwegian Research Council.
The organizers invited representatives of science, business and non-governmental organizations from Poland and Norway to Otwock to answer the question – what can be done to make future cities better?
It quickly became apparent that there was no shortage of sustainable technologies in the world. However, a dissonance was felt between the level of technology and its presence in everyday life.
Cities evolve slowly and ecology is not recognized as a value in the dominant economic model. Consequently, there is a deficit of incentives to drive positive change.
In addition, people determined to change their behavior for sustainability reach a certain ceiling in changing their habits, but then they hit organizational, financial obstacles, and barriers related to the unavailability of technology, lack of inclusiveness in accessing modern solutions.
Our diagnosis
The problem of modern cities is not in the lack of green solutions and technologies.
The problem lies in their accessibility for citizens and the lack of incentives to change behavior.
Greencoin concept
What if…?
If a person who behaves green were given resources to spend on more green solutions (products, services, technologies), then there would be a self-perpetuating mechanism to support sustainable behavior.
This is the idea behind the Greencoin system.
Greencoin model assumptions
ECOLOGY
the priority objective of the project is to support pro-environmental behaviour
INCLUSIVENESS
the system is to be open
and increase the accessibility of
to green solutions
MODERNITY
the system will be a digital currency using modern technologies
UNIVERSITY
after testing the currency can be implemented in other cities
NETWORKING
the system is to bring together actors and people involved in environmental and climate protection
OPENNESS
From 2024, the software developed by the team will be open and freely available to the public
Research challenges
We have identified three areas in which detailed research and development work should be carried out before introducing the system to Gdansk – the city that will be our living research laboratory.
SOCIAL
How to create a Greencoin community?
TECHNOLOGICAL
How to ensure optimal system performance?
ENVIRONMENTAL
How to estimate the value of Greencoin?
Project timeline
At this stage, we will conduct research and development.
We will establish cooperation with stakeholders willing to participate in the testing phase.
We will test the currency model in Gdansk in cooperation with the city authorities.
We will evaluate the system, summarize the testing phase, and identify assumptions about the model's potential for development.
The Greencoin system will become an open source program. The currency will be able to be introduced to other cities.
Want to know more?
We look forward to your comment.
We will be happy to tell you about our activities.
We are open for cooperation.