News from PROBONO Porto Living Lab

In February 2026, the Porto Living Lab took part in the PROBONO Review Meeting at Sonae Campus, in Portugal. The meeting was part of the project’s formal review process and focused on presenting implementation progress, reviewing deviations, discussing risks and contingency measures, and aligning the next steps with the Project Officer and the PROBONO coordination team.

Held at the Belmiro de Azevedo Learning Centre, the meeting brought together representatives from the PROBONO consortium, including the Project Officer, project coordination and technical management teams, Work Package leaders and Living Lab representatives from different European cities. The Porto Living Lab was represented by Sonae, MC, Elergone and Capwatt, reflecting the collaborative role of Sonae Campus as one of the project’s real-life demonstration sites.

As a project review meeting, the session was mainly focused on reporting and accountability. Partners presented the work carried out during the review period, shared the status of implementation activities, identified deviations from the planned work and discussed the measures being taken to address challenges. This format supported a shared and evidence-based understanding of the project’s progress, risks, mitigation actions and priorities for the next stages of implementation.

The agenda included an overview of project progress, technical management updates, Work Package presentations, Living Lab overviews and monitoring activities. It also included a dedicated moment to consolidate the progress of Living Lab implementation activities and the contingency measures to be presented to the European Commission. This helped ensure that the information shared during the review was aligned across the consortium and supported by the teams directly involved in implementation.

At the Porto Living Lab, Sonae Campus provides a real operational environment suited for sustainable solutions related to energy, mobility, biodiversity, digital monitoring and community engagement. The campus covers around 325,000 m² and brings together a community of more than 4,000 employees and partners, making it a relevant setting to assess how different solutions perform in a working corporate environment.

The Porto Living Lab is focused on reducing CO₂ emissions and increasing the use of clean energy, multiplying biodiversity across the campus and strengthening engagement with the campus community. Several solutions are being implemented and monitored on site, including Cool Roof and BIPV systems, Solar-to-Vehicle charging, second-life batteries, collective self-consumption, the Campus Dashboard for energy awareness, Smart EV Hub activities, Phase Change Materials and social innovation initiatives such as biodiversity projects, the Open Community Lab, workshops and community engagement actions.

During the review process, the Porto Living Lab shared progress achieved so far, as well as remaining challenges and next steps. These include continued monitoring of technical performance, further integration of data and digital tools, progress in collective self-consumption scenarios, development of smart charging activities and continued collaboration around social innovation initiatives.

By hosting and contributing to the PROBONO Review Meeting, Sonae Campus reinforced its role as a demonstration site where solutions can be tested under real operational conditions. The meeting also provided an important opportunity to align evidence, clarify implementation priorities and support the consortium’s reporting to the European Commission.

As the project moves forward, the Porto Living Lab will continue to contribute to PROBONO by demonstrating how corporate campuses can support the development, testing and monitoring of solutions for greener, more energy-efficient and more connected neighbourhoods.

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