Water collection on Valletta's roofs, PV-powered air-conditioning by pumping cool air from wells, green roofs, solar-powered water taxis, city bike sharing and community gardens created through civic waste management initiatives were some of the ideas presented during the recent Climathon event held at the Valletta University Campus.

Climathon forms part of Climate-KIC, the EU's largest public private partnership addressing climate change through innovation to build a zero carbon economy. Education is at the heart of these themes to inspire and empower the next generation of climate leaders.

The global climate change event took place simultaneously in major cities around the world, including Valletta where it was organised by Paragon Europe. In Malta, the event's theme was, How best to be prepared for Green Valletta Capital of Culture 2018 and saw a number of individuals and businesses presenting their ideas and innovative solutions for greener initiatives - be they architecture, transport or business-related.

Participants were divided into three seperate workshops namely a sustainable architecture workshop, a mobility workshop and a waste management workshop and asked to present ideas related to their respective assigned workshop.

The winning idea came out from the Mobility workshop and considered the creation of a Last Mile System - a system for the delivery of goods to Valletta that is centralised and outsourced. The system foresees the use of the old power station site just out of Valletta reconverted into a central hub for the collection and distribution of goods to retailers, businesses and citizens in the city centre using electric or low emission vans thus reducing congestion, pollution and inconvenience.

Dr Anton Theuma, CEO of Paragon Europe expressed his satisfaction at the turnout of the event and pointed out the importance for Malta to start thinking more seriously in terms of green initiatives that will lead to greater sustainability and efficiencies.

"The ideas proposed by the three workshops were ideas aimed at making Valletta a greener and more sustainable city by reducing carbon emissions in order to help our capital city face the realities of new environmental challenges. However, really and truly, most of the ideas presented during this 12-hour marathon of meetings and discussions may be applied in most localities across Malta and Gozo. These ideas could easily serve as a basis for a truly nationwide green masterplan for our country," said Dr Theuma.

Climathon was also addressed by Alexiei Dingli, mayor of Valletta who explained how this event was happening at a very exciting time for a city whose local council has already outlined a strategy for a greener Valletta based on 10 distinct initiatives in a bid to make the city the European Green Capital.

"Besides the introduction of plants, planters and other green elements with the direct involvement of the business community as well as the access to a number of green lungs such as monasteries' gardens and the garden at the Archbishop's palace, the local council is actively looking at how it can support the use of pedelecs and ebikes inside the city through the installation of bike racks and ebike charging stations. The Council is also planning a 5km pathway and cycle path by the sea round Valletta."

Dr Dingli also referred to other initiatives being planned for Valletta with regards to improving mobility namely the introduction of the VATIS app (Valletta Accessibility Transport Information System) providing live data of the traffic situation round and inside Valletta to reduce congestion, the installation of parking sensors that indicate available parking and reducing cruising inside the city, new parking areas, electric cabs and self-driving cars, waste management technology, urban roof gardens and initiatives that monitor pollution and promote more social inclusion to help citizens adopt healthier living patterns.

Entrepreneur Angelo Xuereb also addressed the Climathon event and presented his most recent masterplan for Valletta based on a direct correlation between a decrease in access by cars and an increase in commercial and social activity.

"Although Valletta was never planned to accommodate vehicular traffic, every year the city sees over a million cars through its streets. We have also witnessed a constant decrease in commercial activity and a decrease in the city's population. In 1939, Valletta's population was approximately 24,000 whereas in 2011, the city's population stood at 5,785. Whereas in 1995 there were 833 vacant properties, in 2011 these vacant properties went up to 1,363."

"Valletta needs to be revived. This can be done by reducing traffic inside the city and encouraging a wide pedestrianisation project with a gradual move of cars to dedicated parking areas in Floriana. This will involve a wide traffic management plan that sees the use of free electric buses in and round Valletta, more use of maritime links between the inner harbour areas through a sealink beneath Valletta and directing traffic underground from the north towards Sa Maison directly leading to a huge underground carpark in Floriana."

Mr Xuereb also emphasised the importance of continuous restoration and upkeep and proposed incentives by government to encourage people to come and live in Valletta by helping them in the restoration and upkeep of their buildings and common areas.

The Climathon will be followed by a series of Ideation Events during this month and December where respective individuals, companies and experts can further develop ideas. The full list of ideas will be gathered together in a publication.