The development of the sustainable outdoor light plan on the island of Texel (NL) started with a graduation project in 2008 by a MSc student from the Faculty of Industrial Design at Delft University of Technology, in assignment of the Engineering Department of the Municipality.
Instead of “inventing the wheel again” the student built on the outcomes of previous, ground- breaking work of colleague students in the City of Rotterdam.In Rotterdam, not only flexible LEDlights had been applied for thefirst time in public squares and onmain roads, but also “new” light reduction principles, like “no light WHERE not needed” and “no light WHEN not needed.” In the meantime, new, more efficient and attractive lighting frame designs became available, including LED markers fixed at the ground level on roads, as a replacement for old-fashioned and inefficient standard light posts.
Together with new power management systems and a special solar PV-park, the Texel light project built upon and integrated these elements into a fully integrated smart public light system on the island, which was ready in 2015. Using only 35% of the electrical energy needed for the old system, the new solar parkhas sufficient power to make theTexel public light system “energy neutral.”
Example of strategy 4B:
Formulate “Next Practice” Project Proposals
Innovation projects require appropriate project proposals; either aimedat direct industrial financing, or co-financed by local, regional, (inter-)national or other special funds. A way for local governments to gain the best results from these projects, is to demand that -part of- the content in such proposals be built upon best practices, and thereby include the so called “next practices” as the logical follow-up. This approach is very much in line with the step-by-step “probing and learning” theory and practice, which for instance has made the Danish wind industry a world leader. By stimulating researchers and their innovation funnel partners to include next practice elements in their project proposals, innovation on and via islands can be fostered and accelerated in a cumulative way.