The 10th Valencia Innovation Capital Innovation Awards and Grants have recognized Kiwa Spain's Innovation team with an accolade in the Smart Cities & GovTech category for developing the project “Valencia: a green, healthy and sustainable city”, which aims to measure and verify the real impact of urban policies on citizens' health and well-being. The award ceremony took place on Wednesday February 25th at La Mutant and brought together representatives from the city's innovation ecosystem.

“Valencia: Green, Healthy and Sustainable City”, an initiative promoted by Kiwa Spain and carried out in collaboration with the Institute on Robotics and Information and Communication Technologies (IRTIC) at the University of Valencia, has enabled the design of an innovative model capable of measuring, quantifying and verifying large volumes of data. The initiative is part of the actions of Valencia European Green Capital 2024 and represents a step forward in the application of innovation and health to urban sustainability.

In this way, a structured assessment of the impact of urban sustainability policies on population health has been provided for the first time. By correlating environmental variables such as air quality, noise levels, mobility and the availability of green spaces with health indicators, the project provides a more comprehensive and evidence-based view of sustainable cities.

The event was attended by Paula Llobet, Councillor for Tourism, Innovation and Investment Attraction at Valencia City Council, who highlighted the role of innovation in driving urban transformation and sustainable development. The award was collected by the Director of Innovation at Kiwa Spain, Rosa Valenzuela, and the Technical Director, David Torres, on behalf of the team responsible for the project.

During her speech, Rosa Valenzuela emphasised the human dimension of technology applied to the territory. “We are not just measuring silence”, she said, “we are measuring the space we have reclaimed so that people can hear each other again”. She added that the most advanced technology is that which “is used to provide smoke-free walks, safe squares and longer lives”.

The recognition also comes with a double distinction, as the project was the highest-rated among the Artificial Intelligence and Data Spaces initiatives focused on analysing information on sustainability, innovation and urban health, within the framework of the call for demonstrators and use cases from the Ministry for Digital Transformation and Public Administration, co-financed by the European Union – NextGenerationEU.