SECTION: Our articles
"IMAGINE energy for the future of European cities!"
To achieve this goal, Energie-Cités is launching a prospective activity...
Because:
- issues relating to climate change and energy resources are closely linked and in the future will take on dimensions which are completely unpredictable today,
- the type of society we will be living in tomorrow will be strongly influenced by the energy model we are responsible for building on our territories,
- we need to invent a future energy model that is compatible with what the planet can cope with and reduce the energy vulnerability of the territories and their inhabitants,
... and proposes sharing it with a number of partners.
This activity will bring together a range of various partners: local authorities, motivated stakeholders, professional associations (architects, town planners, transport and housing managers, foresters, businesses, artisans, etc.), industrial and service companies, banks and insurance companies, universities, research centres and institutes, information specialists, methodologists, NGOs, artists, philosophers, sociologists, prospective analysts and various institutions.
This project will be known as ”IMAGINE” energy for the future of European cities [1].
First activities to take place... As early as 2006, this will include:
- an exhibition of exemplary territorial practices, accessible from a virtual location and reproducible across Europe,
- a first prospective seminar which will take place in France in a symbolic venue, the former Royal Salt Works, whose eginnings were linked to energy reasons (availability of wood) and whose demise in the late 18th century was precipitated due to an inability to adapt to a new energy context (coal).
Energie-Cités calls all interested public, private and community organisations to embark on this partnership venture!
49 Energie-Cités members in the Mobility Week!
The central theme of the 2007 edition is "Streets for people". This is the opportunity to raise the issue about sharing street between the different means of urban transport, encouraging citizens to change their mobility and comunicate about the transport policy implemented in your city.
49 members of Energie-Cités take part in the European Mobility Week 2007 :
Germany : Frankfurt am Main, München
Belgium : Liège, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale
Bulgaria : Pazardjik
Spain : Barcelona, Gijón, Pamplona, Sevilla, Zaragoza
France : Angers, Bordeaux - Communauté Urbaine, Brest métropole océane - Communauté urbaine, Echirolles, Dole, Dunkerque Grand Littoral - Communauté urbaine, Lille, Montreuil, Mulhouse, Nantes Métropole, Paris, Rennes Métropole
Greece : Thessaloniki
Hungary : Nyíregyháza
Ireland : Cork City Council, Waterford
Italy : Napoli, Parma, Roma, Venezia
Lithuania : Kaunas
The Netherlands : Apeldoorn, Delft, Eindhoven, Heerlen, Utrecht, Zoetermeer
Portugal : Agueda, Almada, Cascais, Oeiras, Vila Nova de Gaia
Switzerland : Genève, Lausanne
United Kingdom : London Borough of Southwark
61 Energie-Cités members in the Mobility Week!
The central theme of the 2008 edition is "Clean air for all". This is the opportunity to raise the issue about the relationship between transport and air quality in city, encouraging citizens to change their mobility and communicate about the transport policy implemented in your city.
61 members of Energie-Cités take part in the European Mobility Week 2008 :
Germany : Frankfurt am Main, Freiburg-im-Brisgau, München, Stuttgart
Belgium : Région de Bruxelles-Capitale
Croatia : Ivanic Grad, Rijeka
Spain : Barcelona, Gijón, Pamplona, Sevilla, Zaragoza
France : Angers, Besançon, Brest métropole océane - Communauté urbaine, Chalon-sur-Saône, Clermont-Ferrand, Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, Dole, Les Mureaux, Lille, Marseille, Metz, Montpellier, Mulhouse, Nantes Métropole, Paris, Rennes Métropole
Greece : Thessaloniki
Hungary : Nyíregyháza, Tata
Ireland : Cork City Council, Dublin
Italy : Napoli, Padova, Pordenone, Salerno, Udine
Lithuania : Kaunas
The Netherlands : Utrecht, Zoetermeer
Portugal : Agueda, Almada, Aveiro, Barreiro, Cascais, Oeiras, Sintra, Vila Nova de Gaia
Romania : Bucuresti, Constanta, Bistrita, Braşov
Slovakia : Presov
Switzerland : Lausanne
United Kingdom : Leicester, London Borough of Southwark, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
A group of French local stakeholders visit Stuttgart
During this visit the delegation has had the opportunity to exchange their views with the head of the energy department about the city’s energy policy and to visit some of the major realisations:
Visit of the nursing home “Filderhof” a home for elderly people that was completely renovated and extended with a large set of energy efficient measures (insulation, solar panels, cogeneration unit, condensing boiler…) The Filderhof is one out of eight demonstration building of the BRITA in PuBs project.
Presentation of 3 passive buildings with 12 flats each and of a refurbished school in entirely and ecologically renovated district of Burgholzhof
Visit of a technical school equipped with one of the 3 municipal boilers that work with wood waste
On the following day, the participants had the opportunity to attend a conference dedicated to passive houses and buildings in Europe and to visit the "Clean Energy Power 2008" international trade fair.
Contact: Peter SCHILKEN
Almada in the Mobility Week!
The broad and diverse programme includes activities such as organized walks and cycle rides, participation forums, exhibition of videos and documentaries on mobility and climate change, presentation of school travel plans and the popular “Trips for Trash”. The Car Free Day will be a day packed with activities taking place in the streets, which in this day are really ‘streets for people’.
There will be street artists and performers, workshops, sport, traditional games, health check-ups, a handicraft and regional products sale, a ‘street train’ ensuring a fun and alternative means of transportation in and around the car free area, inflatable games for children, a “Soup Festival” organized by the local neighbourhood and even the chance to try a ride in a hot air balloon!
In 2007 the permanent measures in Almada include the creation of a pedestrian area, the conception of a cycle route in the borough, segways and electrical bikes for park maintenance staff and traffic calming measures around two local schools.
For further information:
Local Energy Agency of Almada - www.ageneal.pt
Become a "European Green Capital"!
Cities will be invited to apply via an online application form by the deadline on 1 October 2008 for the competition 2010 or 2011.
In the applications, the cities are asked to outline their programme of activities and events to disseminate experience and best practice on environmental matters.
Ten indicator areas have been defined for the purpose of evaluating the applications: local contribution to global climate change, mobility, noise pollution, quality of air, waste management, water etc.
A jury is composed of representatives from: European Commission, European Environment Agency, ICLEI, T&E, Union of Capitals of the European Union and Committee of the Regions
Further information will be available from www.europeangreencapital.eu.
Bidding Started: Hosting the 6th European Conference on Sustainable Cities and Towns
The core event of a maximum 3 day would welcome approximately 1000 participants.
Former conferences held in Aalborg 1994, Lisbon 1996, Hannover 2000, Aalborg 2004, and Sevilla 2007 mark milestones for the progress and achievements in local sustainability in Europe, made through the implementation of the Aalborg Charter Aalborg Commitments.
For information on the European Sustainable Cities and Towns Campaign, please visit: www.sustainable-cities.eu
For more information on the bidding process and documents
Brest visited Bedzed
Besides Bedzed - the famous eco-community and flagship project of the municipality whose multicolour chimneys are known throughout the world - the delegation from Brest (FR) was given the opportunity to discover many other environmental projects of the first green city in Greater London.
Useful links
Bioregional
http://www.bioregional.com
More information on Sutton’s environmental projects
http://www.sutton.gov.uk/environment
Energie-Cités’ studytours ...
This visit was supported by ADEME.
Brussels-Capital in the European Mobility Week!
Car Free Sunday, which will take place on September 23rd, will be the highlight of the week. That day, the inhabitants of Brussels will wake up in a city free of motorized traffic. No cars, no lorries, no motorbikes in any of the 19 municipalities, making thus more space (160 km2) for bikers, roller-bikers and pedestrians. On top of that, public transport will be free and a broad range of activities will brighten up the atmosphere in the capital even more. This is definitely a unique opportunity for residents and visitors to experience Brussels from a different angle.
This year, the Mobility Week will be longer than usual. We will kick off the festivities on September 15th with a unique musical event called “Musikometro - Busking Brussels” which will be held in various metro stations. September 16th will be dedicated to Cambio, the successful car-sharing system. And on September 22nd, the shopkeepers of Brussels will give a warm welcome to their customers who do their shopping by bike.
Of course, the Mobility Week and Car Free Sunday owe a big part of their success to the enthusiasm of the many schools and neighbourhood committees and the activities they set up.
Public space is not designed for cars and traffic solely. It belongs to everyone. In that respect, the Mobility Week and Car Free Sunday are great opportunities to reclaim public space.
More information: www.dimanchesansvoiture.irisnet.be
Citizens’ Agora on Climate Change
…this is how Professor Jeremy Rifkin – President of Foundation on Economic Trends and author of several visionary books – opened his keynote speech in front of 500 representatives of the civil society in the European Parliament’s Hemicycle in Brussels.
At the sunset of the petrol era, ‘we are at the threshold of the third industrial revolution’ – shares his vision Professor Rifkin – where energy will be produced from renewables; collected on buildings as power plants and stored in forms of hydrogen that can be used for fuelling our cars or fed into distributed smart-grids. Similarly to the Internet revolution, in a post-carbon era a radical decentralisation would take place and energy would be produced locally and shared ‘peer-to-peer’ in distributed networks.
First commitments in the EU towards a low carbon, sustainable future were made in March 2007. Commission President, Jose-Manuel Barroso stressed that the musical ‘20-20-20 goals by 2020’ represent a unique political consensus in the EU and go well beyond CO2 emission reductions and burden sharing.’ One year on, when it comes to delivering on these sound goals though, political leaders – pressured by largest emitter heavy industries – loose of their enthusiasm. However, ‘when Australia ratified Kyoto and US election candidates give the right signals acting on climate change, the EU should not give a signal of weakness of its determination’ – urged Barroso.
The European Parliament has shown its determination and established last year a Temporary Committee on Climate Change. ‘We should not miss the boat when it comes to this third industrial revolution’ argued Hans-Gert Pöttering, President of the European Parliament…’Solidarity is not a one way street: it is not only about sharing economic burdens, but preparing the future for all of us.’
Indeed, we should radically change our rhetoric both on the local, EU and International levels. Professor Rifkin stressed, if we do not manage to reorient the climate change and energy agenda from burden-sharing to commercial opportunities, it is most likely that the Copenhagen Climate Summit will fail – with untold consequences to civilization…
Ultimately, this is a question of the human nature: could we enjoy today great inventions such as light-bulbs, if Edison would have been discouraged by his thought: ‘Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.’ /Thomas A. Edison/
Let’s get inspired by today’s opportunity and IMAGINE a brighter future together!
Cogeneration on the rise!
As the 500th cogeneration unit is registered in the on-line database, the COGEN Challenge project team claims that cogeneration in Europe is more reliable and widely applied than previously assumed. The use of small-scale cogeneration in homes, swimming pools and hotels is better accepted than people may think. Policy-makers should therefore be more confident in the promotion of cogeneration and include it as a central part of their energy planning.
COGEN Challenge is the European information campaign on small-scale cogeneration. The project, which is financed by the Intelligent Energy Programme of the European Union, aims to have a database of 1,000 existing small-scale cogeneration units (<1MWe) by the end of 2007. In addition, the project partners offer guidance with the development of small-scale cogeneration projects through a complete set of tools and support materials.
The 500th installation to register with COGEN Challenge is a new small-scale cogeneration plant in Liège (Belgium). Verlac, the host company, needs both the electricity and the heat from the 50kWe for the production of plastic covers for brochures and magazines. The installation runs on rapeseed oil and receives a bonus of 150 Euros for each MWh of electricity, based on the green certificates mechanism in place in Wallonia – instead of about 30 Euros for a cogeneration system running on natural gas. In addition the micro-cogeneration saves 156,000 kilograms of CO2 emissions per year.
“Cogeneration is a very efficient way to produce energy”, COGEN Challenge project manager Stefan Craenen points out. “If you generate electricity and heat together the primary energy is used to the fullest. In the current move towards energy efficiency and CO2 reduction, cogeneration is a mature technology which can contribute significantly to EU aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 20 percent until 2020. On the basis of the findings of COGEN Challenge the EU should be more assertive in promoting and accelerating its pro-cogeneration policy.”
Download the press release
More information on the COGENChallenge campaign website
Contact: Blandine Pidoux
Covenant of Mayors: European Mayors step up!
The idea to create a Covenant of Mayors was set out by the Energy Efficiency Action Plan (2006) in order to reinforce and acknowledge actions taken by cities, as well as to leverage on a better dialogue between the local and European level. Energy efficiency, being primarily a local issue, political commitments taken by leaders of cities and towns are essential to achieve the European Union’s energy and climate goals.
Nine Cities, all representatives of CEMR, Climate Alliance, Eurocities and Energie-Cités, were invited to take part to the launch of this initiative.
Brussels - Belgium - 29 January 2008 - European Union Sustainable Energy Week 2008 - © EC
Berlin (DE), Bonn (DE), Heidelberg (DE), Helsinki (FI), London (UK), Milan (IT), Munich (DE), Nantes (FR), Riga LV) have participated to the round table providing a short description on their local actions.
Covenant of Mayors core text and all other documents in all languages at this address: http://ec.europa.eu/energy/climate_actions/mayors/index_en.htm
An e-mail address has also been created to collect all expressions of interested about Covenant of Mayors TREN-COVENANT ec.europa eu
The video recording during the EUSEW is now available in 6 languages english, french, german, italian, polish and spanish on the Managenergy website
For more information: Kristina Dely
Covenant of Mayors: text finalised
Once a formal decision to sign the Covenant of Mayors is made, local authorities are required to notify the Commission of their intention, by signing the following expression of interest.
The first group of cities, ready to undertake the Covenant of Mayors’ commitments notifying the Commission of their interest this way by 15th of January 2009, will be signing the Covenant of Mayors in early February 2009 in a prestigious event in Brussels.
However, the Covenant of Mayors remains open to all European local authorities and new opportunities for signature will occur annually.
For more information:
- contact Krisitina Dely
- visit the site of the European Commission
Discover the new sustainable district of Grenoble - example of new urbanism in France
De Bonne is situated near the city centre and is meant to provide 850 apartments out of which 35%-40 % represent social housing; 15 000 m2 of commerce, leisure and services consisting of 30 new shops, 6000 m² of new and refurbished office buildings and a 3 stars hotel. De Bonne includes a primary school and a school restaurant, a student hostel and a home for elderly people. At the heart of this new district there is a 5 hectares green area consisting of lovely parks and gardens.
The project started in 2001 and included from the very beginning close cooperation with all stakeholders: urban planners, constructors, district unions and associations as well as inhabitants of Grenoble. In 2010, the whole area will be a lively new neighbourhood and will be part of Grenoble city center.
De Bonne is a well-planned area including highly efficient dwellings (bio climatic construction materials and methods, integrated solar panels and optimised building envelope) and 8 mini natural gas co-generation plants located in the residential area. The aim is to reach 30-40% less energy consumption than the applicable building standards and far below the current French regulation. Furthermore, a 1600m² tertiary building will be constructed as a positive energy building (producing more energy than it consumes).
De Bonne is part of the European CONCERTO Sesac project.
For more information: www.debonne-grenoble.fr
Contact: Perrine Flouret or Kinga Kovacs
Display: a successful past and a promising future
Do you want to know which cities are so courageous...
They had an opportunity to see “live” mayors, vice-mayors and councilors of 7 enthusiast European municipalities who came to Brussels to say why they have made energy and climate one of the priorities on their city’s agenda.
HEIDELBERG (DE), KÖTSCHACH-MAUTHEN (AT), PRAGUE (CZ), DELFT (NL), VÄXJÖ (SE), PREŠOV (SK) and LEICESTER (UK) will be, for sure, followed by many others.
Why have we made energy and climate one of the priorities on our city’s agenda?
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| Bo Frank, Mayor, Växjö (SE) | Eckart Würzner, Lord Mayor of Heidelberg (DE) and President of Energie-Cités | Petr Stepanek, Councillor, Prague (CZ) | Pavel Hagyari, Mayor, Presov (SK) |
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| Lian Merkx, Deputy Mayor, Delft (NL) | Walter Hartlieb, Mayor, Kötschach Mauthen (AT) | Michael Cooke, Councillor, Leicester (GB) |
Representatives of the European Commission and the European Parliament expressed during the event their support to the cities determined to become leaders in fighting climate change through the initiative “Covenant of Mayors” that was officially announced at the Open Days event.
How can the EU institutions support and encourage local authorities?
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| Alfonso Gonzalez-Finat, Director, DG TREN, European Commission | Michel Delebarre, President of Committee of the Regions | Claude Turmes, MEP and Vice-President of the Green Group in the European Parliament |
European associatons of cities, such as Energie-Cités, Climate Alliance, Eurocities and FEDARENE and CEMR have been working together and closely with the European Commission on the initiative "Covenant of Mayors" and also encourage and support the European cities to join this initiative.
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| Gérard Magnin, Executive Director, Energie-Cités |
eea® Gold for Neuchatel
Neuchâtel is the 11th European municipality to receive this European distinction (6 municipalities in Switzerland, 3 in Austria and 2 in Germany have already received it). The eea® label is awarded to local authorities who have achieved 50% of the objectives set by the eea® process; those achieving 75% are awarded the Gold label. This award has become a benchmark instrument for assessing and improving the performance of local energy policies in Europe. Its application in France is currently being tested with the support of the French Energy Management and Environment Agency (ADEME) in eight local authorities as part of the Franco-Swiss Interreg cross-border project “REVE Jura-Léman”.Energie-Cités in Wikipedia
As Wikipédia runs an open source wiki software, any of you can make changes on that page using a browser as Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox.
You are very welcome to:
- translate the Energie-Cités presentation in other languages in Wikipedia.
- publish new articles about your realisations in the field of energy efficiency.
All you need to do to contribute to Wikipedia is a browser. For updating the Energie-Cités presentation, please go to that page and click on «Edit this page ». To create an article about your realisations in your cities or to upload documents and pictures, you will need to create an account. For any questions about editing in Wikipedia, please refer to the Help Content of the free encyclopedia.
We encourage all of you to become Wikipedians and participate to this great project.
Energie-Cités is launching a call to local authorities
During the last European Council, the ministers committed to:
- cut the Greenhouse Gas emissions by 20%,
- reduce our energy consumption by 20%,
- increase the part of renewable energy by 20% by 2020.
To reach these objectifs, Energie-Cités is launching a call to local authorities to create a voluntary movement with all local stakeholders within their territories to imagine their energy future in this new context.
This call is also addressed to the European Union Presidency, member States and european Institutions to take into account the strong involvement of local and regional authorities and all actors of society.
Brasov resolution - April 2007 (en) - PDF
Résolution de Brasov - Avril 2007 (fr) - PDF
For more information : Gérard Magnin
Energie-Cités signs a cooperation agreement with the Association « Energy Efficient Cities of Ukraine (EECU)
The energy situation in Ukraine is a crucial question: the economy in general and the buildings in particular were conceived on the basis of a low energy price. This period is over.
Some municipalities want to be one step forward and therefore wish to benefit from the experience of the European Union. Several cities like Ivano-Frankivsk have already participated in the Display® Campaign and Lviv has recently decided to commit as well.
The signatories, Gérard Magnin for Energie-Cités and Anatoly Kopets for EECU intend to associate whenever possible the EECU network and Cities of Ukraine to European projects, in particular those that imply New Member states of the EU, such as MODEL.
The agreement in english - in ukrainian
Energie-Cités’ opinion on the Green Paper “Towards a new culture for urban mobility”
This is why Energie-Cités took part in the public debate, informed its members and prepared an opinion paper based on the Board’s contributions.
Amongst the main points put forward, Energie-Cités highlighted the following:
- the necessary alignment of the Green Paper’s objectives with the “3x20”, based on the fact that transport issues are the most critical in terms of influencing consumption and emissions,
- spatial and urban planning must also be taken into account as they greatly determine mobility and transportation needs,
- technological solutions should not be overestimated as they will never produce the expected effects if we do not change our urban planning and mobility approach.
As to whether Local Mobility Plans should become compulsory or just be encouraged, Energie-Cités has opted for the second solution.
But, we recommend that integrated Territorial Energy and Climate Plans aimed at achieving “factor 4” by 2050 be systematically developed.
This would improve local policy coherence in all areas, especially transport.
Green paper available in all languages: http://ec.europa.eu/transport/clean...
(en français)
For more information: Jean-Pierre Vallar
Energy Efficiency: Priority measure for Security of Supply
What is the relation between energy efficiency and security of supply? What support is needed to overcome barriers? Does financing really help? Why awareness raising is not working? Do we need more regulation? – these were the principal questions discussed jointly by hosts and contributing National Ministries, industry lobbyists and NGOs. Local authorities were represented by Energie-Cités in the debates.
Indeed, Fiona Hall, MEP summarized as the ‘hassle factor’ why energy efficiency comes at the end of priorities of any decision makers – be it a family, a municipality or the industry. High transaction costs compared to ’low’ visibility; considerable upfront costs versus long term payback feature such investments. The lack of clear responsibilities as well as missing dedicated personnel at different governmental levels only slow down progress, and thus no wonder why even the Commission remains hesitant to propose more radical measures...
...and better adapted ones to the ’users’! European regulations must be helpful and desired by those applying it - underlined Energie-Cités in the debate - considering our mission to render energy issues more ’user-friendly’ and prepare local authorities for their energy future. The Display Campaign was designed for example to prepare municipalities for the implementation of the Buildings Directive .
The Commission would propose new measures in 2008: the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) is on the ‘recasting table’, green public procurement guidelines will be proposed and within the 2nd Strategic Energy Review the National Energy Efficiency Action Plans are undergoing an in-depth analysis, among others. Referring to this latter Mr. Fabrizio Barbaso, Deputy Director General at the DGTREN remarked with a slight disappointment: ’Member States have not shown an extraordinary degree of enthusiasm’...
Even so, energy efficiency should come first and must be taken seriously at all levels. The well-known analysis by the IEA proved that ‘Negawatts’ (i.e. energy saved due to more efficiency compared to a ‘business as usual’ scenario) have accounted for the same amount as petrol in the world’s final consumption since 1970.
So what is the question left – apart from ‘what time do we have left…’?
EU Energy Commissioner Piebalgs awards MODEL project!
This special prize has been handed over by the EU Energy Commissioner, Mr. Andris Piebalgs, to the MODEL partners.
The project which is coordinated by the European cities’ network Energie-Cités aims at helping 41 pilot local authorities to become models for both citizens and other municipalities in terms of sustainable energy use and management. It is aimed at ten New Member States of the European Union and Croatia.
To achieve this goal, MODEL will, among other activities, assist these municipalities in planning, implementing and evaluating activities in order to:
- improve local energy efficiency, focusing on their overall process management;
- increase their practical capacities at both individual (municipalities) and collective (networks) levels;
- prepare the ground for Sustainable Energy Communities.
Energie-Cités is very proud to share this European recognition with all MODEL partners and pilot cities. It will of course continue to promote and act in favour of local sustainable energy policies!
Europe in the World Championships: The big match!
Surprisingly, instead of the expected cooperation and good team spirit, tensions appeared within Team Europe. The match between Europe and the rest of the world suddenly became Team Sweden versus Team Portugal and the rest of the world was left to watch from the sidelines...
Read more to know the results of the match!
European mayors sign on a more active climate policy in Europe
The Mayors urge the European Union to take action on a more active climate policy.
The cities want the European Union to:
- strongly emphasise the more efficient use of currently-used energy sources and encourage the extensive production of renewable energy,
- subscribe to the principle of a climate tax on energy,
- invest in and stimulate sustainable energy measures at local level using the funds generated from above mentioned point,
- motivate actors in the construction and building management sector to apply energy efficient measures in the whole building process, from a sustainable life cycle perspective.
European Mobility Week: A change for the better!
More than 1300 cities from 38 countries were involved in the 2006 European Mobility Week Campaign. European Mobility Week is an awareness-raising campaign which promotes sustainable commuting to workplaces and schools by encouraging cycling, walking, public transport and car-pooling.
Is your city, organisation or company interested in taking part in the European Mobility Week campaign? Would you like to learn more about how it works? Has your city been involved in the campaign for a while but would like new input and inspiration? Would you like to be updated on upcoming EU actions? Would you like to share experiences with people from all over Europe in an innovative, creative and process-oriented setting?
The workshop will take place at the Committee of the Regions. Please send your registration to the European Commission, DG Environment.
Welcome to Brussels on 7-8 February 2007!
For further information (programme, practical information, etc):
www.mobilityweek.eu
European Sustainable Energy Week and Local Authorities
Local energy management represented a key dimension during the week. On Monday in the ManagEnergy Reflection Group, representatives of local energy agencies revealed that the recently published Energy Package is weak on the demand side, contains only reference to former directives and the Energy Efficiency Action Plan. Implementation of the Buildings Directive and Energy Services Directive also lag behind in several member states.
On Wednesday, 31st January, in the conference ‘Save Energy, Save the Climate’, organized by the CEMR, Alan Coleman, Councillor of Cork County Council and Member of the Board of Energie-Cites shared his view on roles and means of local governments to achieve European energy objectives. Mr. Coleman highlighted that subsidiarity should be not used as an excuse, but as an opportunity to empower local decision makers in energy: public procurement and energy efficiency integrated in local policies play key roles here.
In the ManagEnergy Conference on Thursday, 1st February a video conference took place between Grenoble, l’Assises Nationales de l’Energie` and Brussels. Commissioner Andris Piebalgs highlighted the need for a European Energy Policy, where Member States need to take real commitments, not just promises, and also stressed that without the local players Europe cannot achieve any objectives set.
On Thursday, Michel Delebarre President of the Committee of the Regions and MEP Mechtild Rothe visited and acknowledged our exhibition IMAGINE, that took place throughout the whole week.
Presentations and video recordings of the week are available on the ManagEnergy website.
Finance your energy project from the Structural Funds
You will find there detailed information on:
Overview of the European Funds and the European priorities in the field of sustainable energy in 2007-2013 .
List of Operational Programmes that will support sustainable energy projects in Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Romania and Slovenia in 2007-2013.
Concrete examples of the projects co-financed from the European Funds in the years 2000-2006.
Advises on project design.
Overview of other financial sources.
Useful contacts and documents.
The publication was prepared under the INTERREG III C operation RUSE.
First Croatian Display poster unveiled
The mayor of Ivanic-Grad was proud to present the Display results for 6 municipal buildings and the largest poster was placed on the municipal headquarters currently undergoing renovation (external insulation) and rated G. The event even made it into the Croatian business newspaper and television.Gijón (ES) increases the number of bicycles for hire
There are eight stations located in different parts of the city and bicycles can be used free for a limited period of two hours by means of a personal identification system of the Citizens’Card.
Bicycles are a healthy, ecological, sustainable and very cheap means of transport, both to move through the city and rural areas. Although most of the population of the municipality lives in the city, Gijón has a wide and rich rural area, where the bicycle, due to its special characteristics, could become a regular means of transport.
More info:
Municipality of Gijón
FAEN
Green encounters and hopes in New York
Invited by the Columbia University, he presented the experience of European cities at several occasions. Mr. Magnin has also met the energy efficiency team of NY City whose actions are part of the city’s strategic plan “PlaNYC2030 - A Greener, Greater NY », published in April 2007.
During his visit, he could discover that the civil society is very much mobilized
- for a greener city, such as the Sallan Foundation, established after 9/11 or
- for the creation of jobs in the field of energy savings such as the NGO “Urban Agenda” with the initiative "Apollo Alliance Urban Habitat" developing a "Vision for a green economy and equitable development".
With Obama, the post-Kyoto negotiations will be given new wind: we are looking forward to the results of December’s UN climate summit in Poznan, Poland. Read here how the Climate Group predicts the actions of Obama’s new administration at this summit.
Click here for information on the Poznan Local Government Climate Sessions that all Energie-Cités members are more than welcome to join!
Green Hydrogen Stakeholder Meeting
Members of the European Parliament, Vittorio PRODI, Jo LEINEN, Claude TURMES among others agreed with participants on the evidence, that our current economic model, fuelled by fossils is not sustainable and we need a new, decentralised, sustainable and affordable energy model!
The vision for a new economic model - based on green hydrogen used as a form of storage for energy produced from renewables – was presented by US keynote speaker Mr. Jeremy Rifkin, author of the book titled ’The Hydrogen Economy’. Mr. Rifkin highlighted the four crises linked to oil: climate change, peak oil production, escalating Third World debt and an increasing geopolitical crisis around the Middle East that urge us today for a new industrial revolution.
The Commission’s ’Energy Package’ has been criticized for being weak on CO2 and renewables targets, such as demand side actions. Today, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, there is a momentum for the EU to create a new economic model, creating new energy partnerships producing energy decentralised, from local resources in a sustainable and affordable manner.
Energie-Cités will be partner supporting such an Energy Future!
Green Paper on Adaptation to climate change in Europe: Opinion of Energie-Cités
This Green paper examines climate change impacts in Europe, the case for action and policy responses in the EU.
Read the opinion of Energie-Cités in response to the Green paper
Growing Regions, Growing Europe - Energie-Cités’ opinion
The public consultation was launched by DG Regional Policy on how the EU cohesion policy should adapt to new challenges and how its delivery can be improved in order to maximise its impact in the future.
Energie-Cités expresses its opinion on to what extent climate change is a challenge for cohesion policy.
Have fun with the new Structural Funds
Heerlen involved in ECOLISH
District Vrieheide - situated in the north-east part of Heerlen - has been chosen as pilote for this project.
The municipality of Heerlen has a responsibility to find a solution for lowering the energy consumption and CO2 emission of this descript despite the fact that the house owners have no financial means for investments in energy saving measures, even if there would be a possible benefit on the long term.
For more information: Hans van der Logt - Municipality of Heerlen
www.ecolish.com
Heerlen: Energy City
Riet de Wit, Deputy Mayor of Heerlen (NL), explains in a interview, the involvement of her city in this project. She discusses about team, partners, political background etc.
Heidelberg, Hannover and Freiburg champions of Nature conservation
Lord Mayor Dr. Eckart Würzner confirmed at the award ceremony: „Heidelberg wants to set an example in nature protection. Our city has committed itself for years, and in an exemplary way, to nature and environmental protection. We accept the responsibility at the local level to implement the agreements on the protection of biodiversity signed in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. A particular thank you goes especially to the nature and environment protection associations and groups in Heidelberg who have committed themselves for years to active nature protection – be it in the protection of amphibians, in securing winter abodes for bats or in the creation of nesting places for our peregrine falcons. Securing natural resources for future generations is our commonly declared goal. We should always start from this basis.
The DUH project „Federal Capital for Nature Protection” is a project
promoted by the Federal Agency for Nature Protection (BfN) and is supported by funds from the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety.
Through the competition „Federal Capital for Nature Protection” Deutsche Umwelthilfe wants to compare various nature protection measures in cities and towns. Assessed were the subjects of nature protection planning, species and biotope protection, local green spaces, waters, agriculture and forestry, public relations, environmental education, citizens’ advice and the cooperation between local authorities, citizens and interest groups.
Source: Stadt Heidelberg website
More information for Hannover and Freiburg on the Deutsche UmweltHilfe website: http://www.duh.de/1713.html
HOW MUNICIPALITIES CAN BECOME MODELS FOR CITIZENS? (Krakow, 24-26.10.2007)
The Draft Programme and the Registration Form for the 4th BISE Forum: HOW MUNICIPALITIES CAN BECOME MODELS FOR CITIZENS? are published online on the BISE website: www.bise-europe.org
National Delegations to the 4th European BISE Forum in Krakow (PL), 24-26 October 2007
You are invited to be part of your National Delegation. Currently the BISE National Coordinators from 17 countries are preparing the BISE National Delegations to the 4th BISE Forum.
The National Delegation should comprise 5 to 10 persons. Therefore, please sign up for your National Delegation, should you represent:
- The National Association of Municipalities
- The National “Energy-Cities” Network
- The National Energy Agency / Ministry
- Municipalities
- Relevant NGOs
- Interested persons (representatives of companies etc.)
As member of the National Delegation you will then be a relay in your own country. Therefore, you will have to:
- Be committed to sustainable energy activities at national or municipal level in your country,
- Deliver specific inputs at the Forum according to the items,
- Speak English (or Polish) as translation will be available only from/to these languages.
Interested in joining the BISE National Delegation from your own country?
Please fill in the registration form as soon as possible.
How will your country invest in sustainable energy and transport in 2007-2013? Compare with other EU Member States!
The Central and Eastern European Bankwatch Network and Friends of the Earth Europe published two reports where they compared planned allocations for sustainable energy and public transport in the operational programmes of CEE-10 countries.
The report says that these allocations are very low comparing to the total budget of the new Member States. Considering that the priorities and Operational Programmes will be set for next 7 years, it is very important that the Member States take the opportunity and finance the projects that bring benefits to the environment, economy and that improve quality of life of their citizens.
Operational Programmes are being negotiated at this time. Commission has already requested several Member States to strengthen support for sustainable energy or public transport. However, local actors should also press on their national governments to do so.
The up-to-date versions of the reports will be always available for download from: http://www.foeeurope.org/billions/allocations.htm
In Heidelberg, hundreds of citizens involving for climate protection!
The campaign calls on all individuals to contribute more actively to climate protection with the aim to achieve a 20% reduction of CO2 emissions in the city by 2015. The posters show citizens advising their fellow citizens on how their individual contributions can help to achieve this goal. The ongoing climate protection campaign entitled “Climate looking for protection in Heidelberg - also with you” [2]is carried out together with partners from craft, industry and environmental associations and aims to inform as many citizens as possible about possibilities of climate protection by showing them possible types of actions and encouraging them to participate. Everybody can become a protector of Heidelberg’s climate, regardless of sex, age, nationality or party affiliation. Being a Heidelberg climate protector means:
- Acting in order to save CO2.
- Breaking free from old prejudices such as the one which claims that climate protection necessarily means confinement and loss of quality of life.
- Reducing CO2 emissions by taking small measures in everyday life: replacing light bulbs by energy-saving lamps, going shopping on foot more often, switching PC screens off while taking a break, refraining from permanently using the stand-by mode, organising carpools to get to the office - acting more simply and more conscientiously!
So far 236 posters have been designed with over 450 people all of whom have publicly come out of the closet on climate protection by contributing a quote.
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You can view the poster gallery of the climate protectors on the website: http://klimasuchtschutz.heidelberg.de
The first one hundred posters were displayed on the Neckar meadow during the action day “Living Neckar” on 17 June 2007. Further exhibitions will follow on the 20th of August in the foyer of the City Hall.
Interreg IV B +C programmes: calls for proposals open very soon!
Supported activites: Exchange of experiences resulting in development and testing of joint tools and methodologies, preparations of joint action plans, preparation for small-scale investments and pilot investments.
Co-financing rates vary from 50% up to 85%, depending on the region.
See the presentation of the programmes that will open their calls this autumn.
Interreg IV B: Calls for proposals open now!
Sustainable energy projects will be supported under all of these programmes.
Supported activites: Exchange of experiences resulting in development and testing of joint tools and methodologies, preparations of joint action plans, preparation for investments and pilot investments.
Co-financing rates vary from 50% up to 85%, depending on the region.
The first calls for proposals for some of the programmes are already closed, many of them are open right now with deadlines mostly at the end of April - May, few of them are still under preparation.
Do not waste your time and check the Summary of the programmes and the deadlines of the calls for proposals.
Invitation to Energie-Cités member municipalities - Site visit to De Bonne eco-district (Grenoble, FR), 21 May 2008
We will visit the works that have been achieved so far in the framework of the CONCERTO-SESAC project:
De Bonne
Viscose
De Bonne
De Bonne is the new eco-neighbourhood of Grenoble built on 8,5 hectares of land previously occupied by barracks. It is situated near the city centre and is meant to provide 850 apartments out of which 35%-40 % represent social housing; 15 000 m2 of commerce, leisure and services consisting of 30 new shops, 6000 m² of new and refurbished office buildings and a 3 stars hotel. De Bonne includes a primary school and a school restaurant, a student hostel and a home for elderly people.
At the heart of this new district there is a 5 hectares green area consisting of lovely parks and gardens.
The project started in 2001 and included from the very beginning close cooperation with all stakeholders: urban planners, constructors, district unions and associations as well as inhabitants of Grenoble. In 2010, the whole area will be a lively new neighbourhood and will be part of Grenoble city center.
De Bonne is a well-planned area including highly efficient dwellings (bio climatic construction materials and methods, integrated solar panels and optimised building envelope) and 8 mini natural gas co-generation plants located in the residential area. The aim is to reach 30-40% less energy consumption than the applicable building standards and far below the current French regulation. Furthermore, a 1600m² tertiary building will be constructed as a positive energy building (producing more energy than it consumes).
Viscose
60 new social homes are being built at Viscose, fitted with external insulation and solar collectors covering 45% of hot water needs. This will enable savings of 292 MWh/year and a 46 tonnes CO2 reduction.
Furthermore, 280 dwelling fitted with electric heating systems are connecting to the urban biomass heating network. This will enable savings of 5000 MWh/year and a 264 tonnes CO2 reduction.
For more information: www.debonne-grenoble.fr
Contact: Ms Perrine Flouret
Programme:
Please download the programme of the site visit.
Registration:
Please download and send back the registration form to Ms Perrine Flouret.
Practical Information:
Please download the practical information document as well as the tramway map.
Koprivnica, Croatia, winner of the EMW Award 2008
The city launched a three year programme ‘Streets for People’ (2007-2009) that will work towards making the city totally accessible, promoting new alternative fuels for public transport vehicles and reallocating road space to non-motorised traffic. The Town Councillor of the city received the Award from the Commissioner in charge of the Environment, Mr. Stavros Dimas, who thanked Helena Hecimovic for its commitment and work.
The City of Koprivnica has been active in EMW since 2002. This year again, the city showed its great commitment to achieving sustainable mobility by launching a three year programme ‘Streets for People’ (2007-2009) that aims to make the city 100% accessible for all, to reallocate 1.5 km of roads in the centre to non-motorised traffic and to promote walking and public transport running on bio-diesel. The city also aims to engage the national and regional networks into more ambitious projects towards sustainable urban traffic.
The jury members were impressed by the comprehensive action plan developed by the city, including activities on all key transport themes: bicycle, responsible car use, public transport, green spaces and mobility and health. The bicycle trainings, the road safety promotion and the educational activities were attended by many citizens with an active participation of youngsters who took out the challenge to relay the information received to their parents and to influence their travel behaviours.
The city of Koprivnica achieved a number of its sustainable public traffic aims thanks to the six editions of EMW: run a traffic sustainability programme called ‘Town on the Move’, build 64 km of cycle tracks as well as 84.5 km of long cycle tourist tracks, enlarge green spaces by 20%, involve several dozens of partners in the year-long promotion of cycling and walking. Thanks to its long-term efforts, cycling has become a brand in the city. EMW helped the city in showcasing its achievements in sustainable mobility in its wider international region and Koprivnica has become an example for its neighbouring cities that are now following the same path.
Background information
The European Mobility Week started in 2002 and aims at encouraging citizens to change their travel behaviour and shift to more sustainable modes of transport. From 16 to 22 September, local authorities all over Europe and beyond are organising activities and launching permanent measures which will continue to exist after the Week is over. The European Mobility Week, therefore, provides a unique opportunity to test and launch new sustainable transport measures that become permanent after the Week has ended. This ensures long-term effects of the campaign, going beyond the duration of the Week.
Year after year, step-by-step, sustainable mobility will secure its place in cities and towns. This year, the local authorities participating in the initiative are strongly encouraged to reallocate some road space to non-motorised traffic as well as to create and enlarge social spaces where people can meet, shop, do sports and enjoy other outdoor activities.
European Mobility Week (EMW) is an initiative coordinated by the three European city networks, Eurocities, Energie-Cités and Climate Alliance, with the support of the European Commission (DG Environment).
León (ES), winner of the European Mobility Week Award!
Second prize went to Budapest (HU) and third prize to Bologna (IT). European Mobility Week (EMW), supported by the European Commission and held annually, promotes sustainable mobility in towns and cities by encouraging use of low- or non-polluting alternatives to private cars, such as walking, cycling, public transport and car-sharing.
The introduction of permanent measures to facilitate these alternatives is a condition of participation. The awards were given for the best contribution to last year’s EMW, focused on combating climate change, which attracted 1,322 participating cities with a combined population of over 200 million.
León (ES) was chosen as the winner by an independent jury of experts for both the breadth of its EMW activities and its strong communications strategy on sustainable mobility. Commissioner Dimas presented the awards at a workshop held at the Committee of the Regions in Brussels to prepare European Mobility Week 2007, which will take place from 16 to 22 September.
Further information:
www.mobilityweek.eu
Leicester City Council - Display® shining example
Leicester City Council is committed to halving the amount of energy it was using in 1990 by 2025 and aims to get 20% of all its energy from renewable systems by 2020. The Council has since adopted a number of ‘green’ policies, ensuring that its own services and activities meet the high standards it encourages others to adopt.
Braunstone Leisure Centre was opened on Monday, 6th December 2004. The Centre includes two community swimming pools - a main pool and a teaching pool. An energy survey of the motors that drive pumps and fans within the Leisure Centre was carried out in June 2005. The survey found that swimming pool motors would normally run flat out for at least 15 hours a day, 7 days a week consuming increasingly expensive electricity. Consequently, the use of variable speed drives to control the poolwater circulation pumps was investigated. This energy efficiency measure would allow the Leisure Centre to slow down or speed up the motors according to demand, rather than running them constantly, at full power. It was decided that variable speed drives should be installed, and this took place in August 2005.
The variable speed drives have contributed to reducing CO2 emissions through the reduction in electricity consumed. In the first year, 240,000 kWh of electricity was saved.
For more information please click here.
LIFE+ workshops for potential applicants
LIFE+, the financial instrument supporting the development and implementation of Community environmental policy and legislation, is open now for the 2008 call for proposals.
- Available budget: €207,5 million
- Deadline: 21 November 2008
For local authorities, the LIFE+ component "Environment Policy and Governance" could be of particular relevance.
To coincide with this call, the European Commission is organising LIFE+ information workshops in each Member State. The aim of the workshops is to inform potential applicants about the LIFE+ programme and the requirements for submitting a proposal.
Enjoy the workshop and good luck with your application!
Further information: LIFE+ website
Local authorities are first in line
Measures taken by the European Union over the last few years are being implemented in Member States with difficulty. Transposition into national law has been delayed and no impact is apparent as yet. These measures dealing with energy efficiency, renewable energy, cogeneration, buildings, urban transport, energy services, public procurement and so on, will only become fully effective if they are implemented by local authorities. Local authorities must therefore be supported in their initiatives and those who have not yet taken action, encouraged to do so.
Local authorities have to be placed at the centre of European sustainable energy policy, failing which none of the objectives set by the European Union will be achieved
A large part of the energy consumption of buildings as well as transportation is decided at local level, in the field. This is also where citizens, companies, shops, banks, etc. can be involved in genuine action.
These facts are not denied and documents from the Commission make regular reference to them. But, in reality, the role that local and regional authorities play- and are able to play- is still thought to be marginal at both EU and national levels. Member States often refer to the well-known principle of subsidiarity. But, this is perhaps more of a pretext to maintain the status quo. No institution, whether at Community or national level, has issued an official document dealing with the role of local authorities in the energy policy. Member States are to draw up National Action Plans for Energy Efficiency but how many will spontaneously include the local level?
According to the principle of subsidiarity, solutions to problems must be designed and implemented by the most appropriate government (and actor) level. Legislation and technological research comes within the remit of the Community and national levels.
But considering the energy paradigm for the 21st century, where priority must be given to the saving of energy (our main resource) and to the massive use of renewable and recovery energies, who better than local authorities and local actors to qualify as the most appropriate decision-making level?
We must break out of this situation by opening up a large debate throughout the various levels of decision.
This is why Energie-Cités wants the Commission to prepare a Communication concerning the role of the regional and local levels in the implementation of Community policies on energy efficiency, renewable and decentralised energy sources as well as sustainable transportation. Such a political signal would increase local authority action capacities tenfold.
This issue will be Energie-Cités’ priority over the coming months. Contacts have already been made with networks of towns and cities, the European Commission, the Committee of the Regions, the European Parliament, Member States, business associations, NGOs, etc.
Please let us know about your reactions, ideas and suggestions!
For further information Gérard MAGNIN, Energie-Cités
Montpellier even more energetic
This "Maison de l’Energie de Montpellier" (House of energies) is situated in the heart of the city.
Its main missions are to:
* Disseminate information on efficient energy/water use and renewable energies * Give preliminary technical advice * Bring together different partners * Carry out energy audits
Energie-Cités has played an active role in the creation of this new agency by helping the City of Montpellier to find European partners, prepare the project proposal and develop the European co-operation element.
It is mainly financed through the EU Commission’s executive agency (EACI), authorities and the French national energy agency, ADEME.
Contact:: www.ale-montpellier.org
Nantes Métropole for a new mobility!
A village, une caravan and exhibitions, games, stands, rides, movies and workshops to present sustainable means of transport, developement of public transport and the last innovations in the field of mobility, such as travel plans.
Nantes Métropole invests in a sustainable mobility plan by:
giving an access to cyclists to a train bridge, Pont de Pornic, with secure cycling facilities,
opening a new bus line, Bus express de Couéron,
rearranging Boulevard Becquerel giving more space to pedestrians, cyclists, buses ans reducing speed limits,
creating a park and ride system at gare de Rezé Pont Rousseau,
increasing the Tram line at Pont Rousseau.
A week to discover sustainable mobility for all inhabitants: drivers, pedestrians, cyclists, car-sharers and users of public transport.
For further information: www.nantesmetropole.fr
New MODEL project is launched at the 4th European BISE Forum!
This was also the opportunity to launch Energie-Cités’ new project called MODEL and all partners including some foreseen pilot cities met together at this occasion.
MODEL is indeed a major project that will help at least 34 pilot local authorities from Central and Eastern Europe to become models for citizens and to improve their practical capacities to better deal with intelligent energy issues at both individual (municipalities) and collective (national networks or embryos of networks) levels.
This first event was an excellent opportunity to start working together and explaining the concept of MODEL to a wide audience of 120 stakeholders representing 23 European countries.
To find out more about MODEL contact Christophe Fréring or Jana Cicmanova
Photo-gallery 4th BISE Forum in Krakow (PL)
On the eve of the French Presidency - Put the citizen in the depths of the european energy policy
Infused with that spirit, Energie-Cités has adopted several resolutions all designed to offer a link between regulatory and technical issues and society’s expectations, to make EU policies more comprehensible to citizens, to the point of being wanted, and to motivate policy makers:
- A Declaration entitled "Increase in energy prices: Old cures won’t do!’’ that recalls the 3x20 agreement must become the road map at every level of society: only the local expression of those targets will make them more comprehensible to citizens and offer them the opportunity of being involved through their domestic, professional or associative responsibilities.
It follows that Energie-Cités wholeheartedly supports the «Covenant of Mayors» by which local and regional authorities would make a voluntary engagement with EU targets and even exceed them.
- Building Directive (EPBD): the recasting of that directive must clearly show that its aim is to tackle energy precariousness and overall to shelter European citizens from energy vulnerability in an uncertain world and to create jobs unlikely to be relocated through housing rehabilitation projects.
- « Renewable energies » Directive Project: targets must clearly set out that it involves the stimulation of local economies, job creation and the security of energy supplies not only in the EU but across Europe as a whole.
It is often said that the EU is short on inspiration and projects.
Energy and climatic conditions are forcing us to take another look at all our policies and invent a sustainable Europe.
That represents a great opportunity to make Europe more humane!
Poznan Climate Conference: Energie-Cités’ mayors should be present!
The objective of this initiative is to give higher visibility to local authorities in this worldwide process and to promote the huge potential and responsibility they have in meeting the goals set up by the international community. Energie-Cités intends to link the Covenant of Mayors commitment very closely with the UN process and is, therefore, encouraging its members to attend the Local Government Climate Sessions due to take place on 9th-11th December in Konin and Poznan.
Energie-Cités, in close cooperation with the Polish Association of Local authorities (ZMP) and the Municipality of Bielsko-Biala, has actively contributed to the ZMP Congress that was held in Bielsko-Biala (25th-26th September) including a special session on energy and climate change.
For further information, please download the first announcement of the Local Government Climate Sessions in Poznan and fill in the registration form if you wish to participate.
Public lighting workshop at the Open Days (Brussels), 7th October 2008
The workshop will address the potential contribution of lighting solutions in public buildings and for street lighting. Best practices from various cities and regions that have already made the switch will be presented. The session will deal with technical, political as well as communication issues.
In the event that your municipality has been carrying out “bright” measures concerning lighting, we would be pleased to present them at the workshop!
Interpretation: English - French - German
To register, go to the Open Days website
Re-imagining our cities’ futures to give Europe a new lease of life
Transforming our cities to improve our lives
Historically, people settled close to energy sources (water, wood and, later, coal deposits) until the electricity revolution, and subsequently oil and gas, changed the order of things.
"Freed" from the constraints of local energy supplies, regions embarked on "above ground" development programmes, without regard to energy supply constraints and environmental consequences. Energy sources, though vital, became remote and anonymous. Cheap energy took care of the rest. Construction proceeded with no thought for energy consumption. Cities sprawled unimpeded, relying on inexpensive private transport. Long-term town planning decisions disregarded energy considerations.
Long-distance travel for work, leisure, shopping, and educational purposes, for instance, became the be all and end all of urban development; often at the cost of quality of life.
With oil prices at $100 a barrel – and likely to rise much higher in the future – and the consequences of its unrestrained use for social cohesion and world stability, on account of climate change and the financial and human costs, the balance of nature has forced itself on our attention - our approach to development is unsustainable because it cannot be replicated throughout the planet. And yet, it is being applied right round the world.
In taking this approach, we have gradually transformed the "freedom" referred to above into "dependence"; all major decisions about energy supplies are taken very far from where we live.
Little by little, we are making ourselves vulnerable but our addiction prevents us from appreciating the full extent of the problem. If only we knew!
Cities and regions as drivers for change: an achievable Utopia
Intergovernmental climate experts tell us that, in Europe, we have to cut our greenhouse gas emissions by three-quarters by 2050. The European Union has set itself the target of 3x20% by 2020.
Some mayors are to commit to meeting and going beyond these objectives under the Covenant of Mayors. None of us, from individuals right through to cities, regions or States, can now be in any doubt about the course we have to take.
What does this mean?
What seems " extraordinary/outstanding" today - very low-energy or "energy positive" consumption; living, working, shopping and socialising locally; travelling on foot, by bicycle, or on user-friendly public transport; making substantial use of local renewable resources, etc. – will have to become the norm. What is beginning to spark the imagination of local decision makers today will have to become commonplace. [3]
Does this smack of Utopia? Of course it does.
Is it an achievable Utopia? Probably - we have only to think what would happen if we did not set ourselves resolutely on this path.
Unless local authorities are central to this change, it will never happen. The cities of the future will be built in consultation with the public, businesses, banks and NGOs. Isn’t this an incredible opportunity to give Europe a new lease of life and a more upbeat image with its citizens?
Gérard Magnin
Executive Director of Energie-Cités, partner association of the Forum on "Cities of the Future".
Ready for 2020? "Energie-Cités Info" will tell you!
The April edition features among other topics:
The "3x20" and the Covenant of Mayors
Green Paper on Urban Mobility: Let’s go further!
Certification of energy management: eea® opens the door
Grenoble’s urban renewal: A "3x20" laboratory
Interview with MEP Jean-Marie Beaupuy
Display® and the national legislation
Click here to download the magazine.
Rennes delegation meets committed Londoners
Members of Energie-Cités respectively since 1999 and 2007, the London Boroughs of Southwark and Sutton are engaged in very ambitious paths towards an attractive and sustainable future of their communities.
This study tour was thus a good opportunity for all participants to exchange on some of the most important present key projects leading to the set targets. It covered, among others, visits of the sustainable district of BedZED, a walk through the new Civic Offices of Southwark and the highly energy-efficient London City Hall designed by Norman Foster.
Thanks to a well balanced mix of presentations, discussions and technical visits, the participants discovered how Sutton is implementing its "Smarter Travel Sutton" (STS) campaign. “This is actually the biggest mobility campaign carried out within the Greater London. Sutton has been chosen as a pilot Borough by the transport company TfL (Transport for London)”, said Daniel Johnson, Integrated Programmes Manager at TfL and enthousiastic membre of the STS team!
How a close dialogue with citizens can be highly efficient and successful, has been explained by representatives from the Sutton Environmental Sustainability Department. The presentations by Chris Reid, Executive Head, Katherine Hudson and Katrina LLoyd made the Rennes delegation familiar with the "One planet living concept in Sutton" and the local project "Climate Challenge".
On Friday morning, the group was welcomed at the Southwark’s new civic headquarters by Councillor Jeffrey Hook, in charge of environment and transport and Bob Fiddik, responsible for energy and climate strategy at the Borough. The morning presentations focused on the Elephant and Castle regeneration program of Southwark, one of the largest schemes of its kind to be undertaken in Europe with "a zero carbon growth objective", said Tony Moseley, Assistant Director Infrastructure and Sustainability of the project.
As in Sutton, Southwark’s key to success could be resumed in one word: partnership! Indeed, here and there, nothing would be possible without existing strong local partnerships like the Southwark Alliance, made up of agencies and individuals who are responsible for giving the borough a sustainable community strategy.
In the same spirit but at the Greater London scale, Dr Ute Collier explained how the London Energy Partnership provides co-ordination and synergy between the many groups, organisations and networks working on energy issues in line with the London Plan, the city’s Spatial Development Strategy.
On the other side, the representatives from London listened with curiosity and thirst for knowledge to the presentations by Jean-Yves Chapuis, Rennes Métropole Vice-President delegate of urban forms and Bernard Poirier, Vice-President delegate of prospective and sustainable development. Both provided a very interesting input on the "Archipelago city", the so-called Rennes conurbation development scheme.
Discussions and networking between London and Rennes could have continued, if only the two days would not have passed by so quickly…
A reportage on this visit can be seen on TV Rennes until October 12th.
Useful links:
London Borough of Sutton
London Borough of Southwark
"Southwark 2016: Sustainable Community Strategy"
BioRegional - BedZED
Rennes Métropole
Reports from EEA and Friends of the Earth
Energie-Cités would like to highlight a number of reports which have been recently published concerning transport, energy and planning issues in urban areas:
- Report No 10/2006 of the European Environment Agency on urban sprawl “Urban sprawl in Europe – The ignored challenge” (see also Press release)
- Report No 01/2007 of the European Environment Agency on transport and the environment “Transport and Environment: on the way to a new common transport policy” (see also Press release)
AND
- Reports from Friends of the Earth on (1) transport and the Structural Funds – “EU funds for public and environment-friendly trans