Webinar on municipal integrated actions involving citizens
We are glad to invite you to the webinar on municipal integrated actions involving citizens in energy saving and energy production from RES. The webinar will take place on the 3rd of March 2016, from 11:00-12:30 CET, and is organised within the Mayors in Action project supporting European cities in implementation of their Sustainable Energy Action Plans.
Mobilization of civil society is crucial for the success of energy-related initiatives undertaken by local authorities. Municipalities are well aware of this, as well as of the fact that involving citizens in the SEAP development process will help in achieving its objectives. There are many examples of successful local initiatives aiming at changing users' behaviours and promotion of energy efficiency and RES use. Selected good practices from Greece and Spain will be presented during the webinar. Full agenda of the event may be downloaded below.
The webinar will be held in English. The participants will have an opportunity to ask questions and take part in the discussion. To participate in the event it is enough to have headphones or speakers.
Low carbon economy begins in the municipality
On August 25, 2015, the City Council of Bielsko-Biała unanimously approved a document entitled "The Low Carbon Economy Plan and the Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP) for the City of Bielsko-Biała."
Bielsko-Biała thus confirmed the direction of consistent development - energy-conscious urban society, from companies to residents.
Transnational Agreement of Cooperation between Energy competence centres
One of the core outputs of the VIS NOVA project is a Transnational Agreement of Cooperation between Energy competences centres. The agreement is based on activities of Energy competence centres established in regions participating in VIS NOVA project (energieZENTRUM, South Transdanubien Area and Economic Development Nonprofit Ltd, Agricultural Technical School Tulln, School Complex nr 1 named after Ignacy Łukasiewicz, Technische Werke Delitzsch GmbH). The purpose of this agreement is to create a common projects platform and exchange the technologies and the experience of transnational partner regions' actors beyond VIS NOVA project lifetime. To achieve these goals Energy competence centres are obliged to maintain the contact between each other via common IT platform and promote institutional exchanges by inviting staff of the partner institutions to participate in a variety of activities, study tours, seminars and conferences. The obligations under the agreement include the exchange information and achievements, providing consultations and financial guidance at each institution as well as working on common proposals and projects in the most suitable cooperation fields.
The heat is on: district energy in Poland
As sustainable energy moves up the political agenda, low carbon solutions for heating and cooling are coming to the fore. Every year, almost 50% of the total energy consumed in Europe is used for the generation of heat for domestic or industrial purposes. There is an emerging consensus on what could be a big part of the solution here, with the International Energy Agency recently citing co-generation and district heating as ‘an essential part of strategies for greenhouse gas emissions mitigation and energy security.’
Close to 16 million Polish citizens are served by district heating, representing 41 % of the population. However, rehabilitation of the existing transmission and distribution network is urgently required (as almost half of the distribution network is older than 20 years). More than half the heat supplied to the network is produced through traditional installations, consequently there is potential for 25-30% fuel savings by developing heat production in combined heat and power plants.
Transnational Sustainable Energy Strategy
The VIS NOVA project, which started in May 2011, is part of the Central Europe program and has the objective of strengthening the energy independence of local authorities. Rising energy prices cause, that security of supply and affordable energy as well as its efficient use became a key competitive advantage and location factor. At this point VIS NOVA starts off with an integrated approach which includes enterprises, municipalities and households. Feasibility studies will be developed for each area, investments will be prepared and demonstration projects realised . The transnational cooperation enables transfer of good approaches and the exchange of experiences. During international congresses the results will be communicated and transferred. Through the outputs from the project, the value creation in rural areas and thus employment shall be promoted. Five partner regions from four EU countries came together to jointly implement this project (Saxony - Düben Heath / DE, Schwäbisch-Hall / DE, Micro-region Tullnerfeld West / AT, Małopolska / PL, South-Transdanubia / HU).