The Kfar Saba Municipality's Sustainability and Innovation Department is a partner in the SME4SMARTCITIES project, designed to bridge small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) and municipalities in the Mediterranean. In the course of this project, a co-creation endeavor of an Israeli SME and an Italian SME is about to win funding for a pilot, following an open call for co-developing solutions to the urban heat island, reducing the effects of climate warming.

The project is funded by the European Union and in collaboration with partners in Spain, Italy and Tel Aviv University in Israel. The winning initiative will be granted 40,000 euros assistance for the co-creation process and pilot..

The winning initiative is called ‘Urban Oasis’ and is a collaboration of BIPV Israel and SIT Technology from Genoa, Italy. The goal is to provide cool spots in the city for the public, which are much needed because of the accumulating and increasing heat, caused by the urban heat island effect.

BIPV Israel and SIT Technology's solution is to cool the city by adding shade in the form of a solar pergola which generated solar electricity while providing shade. The pergola incorporates a water mist system that will cool the shaded space. “Urban oasis” pergolas can be placed in public areas with no need to connect to electric power, as they generate the power they need.