ENESCOM: the final rush

Author: Cristiano BOTTONE, ENESCOM Communications Officer, Italy -

So far, 63 municipalities have joined the Covenant of Mayors through the work of the ENESCOM project. These months have been full of surprises and not without difficulty because of the great changes taking place in Europe and worldwide, but despite all odds, the work continues as expected.

In this article ENESCOM will attempt to provide an overview of the lessons learnt so far, with a few examples of success, evolution, and disappointment the project members have gone through. A moment of rest and reflection before the final rush which will take place in 2012.

When things go right

Most of the project partners are managing their tasks on time, following the schedule as planned. Energy front offices, dissemination activities, technical work on Plans for Sustainable Energy, meetings, and experimental courses are moving forward, with the active involvement of politicians, technical staff, citizens, teachers and educators, stakeholders and so on.

ENESCOM action is producing what appears to be the expected effects on the involved communities, raising awareness and fostering change.

Image: Qala Energy Day, Malta

When things go wrong

Unfortunately, we have to register the withdrawal of the British partner from the project due to organizational problems. This was unexpected but in a big group such as this one (14 international partners involved) we have to accept that such unforeseen developments are bound to happen.

Daring to dream

A wonderful surprise came to ENESCOM from France, where the municipalities that have joined the Covenant now number 14. In this area, the initial target was 2 or 3 and the ENESCOM team can celebrate this as a great success for its local partner. The meeting organized with two pioneers proved very inspiring for a lot of municipalities − an interesting lesson learnt.

The art of evolution

As we all know, Greece is experiencing a period of intense hardship, but it may be interesting to see how, even in this difficult work environment, it has been possible to set a virtuous cycle in motion for the project activities.

The target municipalities that the ENESCOM local partner originally identified simply disappeared during the country’s reorganization and those areas are now part of the municipality of Patras. Despite this, two local Energy Front Offices are now open offering their services to schools, citizens and stakeholders. The Mayor of Patras, Mr Dimaras, was present for the opening and calculated his carbon footprint in front of the cameras. The event was covered by many local newspapers, TV stations, radio stations and web portals.

The ENESCOM staff is now evaluating strategies to support Patras’ CoM activities and, if this evolution proves feasible, we will end up with ENESCOM activities reverberating wider in the area than was originally intended.

The final rush

The next months will see the evolutions of the PAEs (Sustainable Energy Action Plans - SEAPs) in each country and many international meetings for technical and political activities. A long final rush that, given the rising costs of energy and the new global commitment to the reduction of CO₂ emission, seems every day more important and urgent. Back to work then...

Image: ENESCOM PAEs Meeting