Issue 4 Autumn 2012

Sustainable Energy Communities NEWS highlights the activities of five Intelligent Energy - Europe projects that promote innovative local action, inspiring cities and regions to meet EU targets for 2020 on greenhouse gas emissions, energy efficiency and use of renewable energy. The work of the projects started in May 2010 and, although the come2CoM project ended in May 2012 and ENESCOM finishes in November 2012, three of the projects - ENNEREG, Energy for Mayors and City_SEC - continue until April 2013.

This will be the last issue of the Sustainable Energy Communities NEWS published by the ENNEREG project, however, this website will continue to be updated during 2013 and will be available online until at least 2015. The ENNEREG project is also in the process of creating an Inspiration Guide on this site, with a separate publication available in early 2013, and news of other final project publications from ENNEREG, Energy for Mayors, City_SEC and ENESCOM will be disseminated as they become available.

If you would like to receive information about these publications, or you would like to add content to this website on Sustainable Energy Action Plans (SEAPs) and Projects (SEPs) in your Region and/or local Community, register to join the Regions 202020 Network.

City_SEC events during European Sustainable Energy Week 2012

City_SEC Zero Emission Days 2012

During European Sustainable Energy Week 2012, Regional Development Agencies organized Zero Emission Days - a series of training, promotion and dissemination initiatives on the sustainable energy topics organized locally by each Sustainable Energy Community (SEC) and addressing in particular students, young pupils and the local community as a whole.

Image: Exhibition in Central Macedonia, Greece.

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City_SEC Photo Exhibition

The “Photoforchange in Europe – Sustainable Living in Changing Economy” photo competition has been initiated and realized by the City_SEC project Consortium to generate a new widespread culture of sustainability and green societies in people around Europe, especially young students and universities. During the EU Sustainable Energy Week, on  Wednesday 20 June 2012, the seat of Marche Region in Brussels hosted the award ceremony and photo competition exhibition. The photos described the shift toward a more sustainable relationship between man and environment, considered from its natural, urban and energy aspects, based on more energy efficient and sustainable criteria.

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ENNEREG "Regions 202020"

The ENNEREG articles in this issue of Sustainable Energy Communities NEWS, summarise the content of the ENNEREG e-Bulletin, September 2012. The full articles are available in the e-Bulletin in English.

Inspiring Twinning, Replication and Good Practice

Image: General view of the ENNEREG Twin Region, Šilutė, Bulgaria, from plane “Šarka” guided by radiowaves. Photographer: © Kęstutis Fedirka.

This article describes ENNEREG Replication and Knowledge Transfer activities, including the first version of the Regions 202020 Inspiration Guide which is now available on this website. The guide aims to give you an overview of how to change your region into a Sustainable Energy Region that helps to ensure long term benefits for your Region, its stakeholders and citizens.
    Also included are details of forthcoming ENNEREG events in Autumn/Winter 2012 and presentations from recent events.
Finally, it summarises a further 14 Good Practice case studies from ENNEREG Pioneer and Twin Regions in Bulgaria, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal and Spain which have been added to the website in Spring/Summer 2012.

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Update from the ENNEREG Pioneer Regions

This article provides news of recent activities in four ENNEREG Pioneer Regions, covering: Energy Days and the Regional SEAP in the Basque Country, Spain; Madeira's Commitment to reduce 20% of Carbon Dioxide Emissions by 2020; Plans in Silistra, Bulgaria to install CHP on waste agricultural and wood biomass; and Intelligent Energy Education in Wales, UK.

Images: Student involved in the Young Energy People! (YEP!) project (left) and students in the YEP! project are given a talk (right). Images supplied by Severn Wye Energy Agency.

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come2CoM Results

104 new CoM members - thanks to come2CoM

The Intelligent Energy - Europe (IEE) project come2CoM (Welcome to the Covenant of Mayors), the promotional campaign for the Covenant of Mayors, came to an end in April 2012.  During the last two years the twelve come2CoM partners aimed at supporting municipalities in eleven European countries in joining the CoM, showing them how to take the lead in mitigating climate change and supporting them in setting up their Sustainable Energy Action Plans (SEAP).

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Faro - SEAP development in Portugal

In this article, ADENE presents a synthesis of the work elaborated under the Intelligent Energy - Europe (IEE) project come2CoM in partnership with the local energy agency, AREAL and the consultant company, IRRADIARE. The work of this working group enabled the development of the Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP) of the city of Faro. This action plan, foresees measures to reduce CO₂ emissions in the different sectors of activity. Thus, it predicts with the implementation of the measures set up, that Faro could reach a CO₂ reduction of 20% by 2020.

Image: Summary of Faro’s SEAP measures impact on CO₂ emissions (Source: ADENE)

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The Covenant of Mayors (CoM) Challenge

come2CoM has come to an end. This was a very intense two year working period for the consortium, giving a lot of new experiences in the field of Local Sustainable Energy Planning. The come2CoM partners have learnt from each other as the project team but they have also learnt from their supported municipalities. A number of Sustainable Energy Plans (SEAPs) were finalized, some are still under development. Although the project as a whole has produced a number of success stories, in many cases the success did not come easily.

This article summarises the many challenges that had to be overcome and makes recommendations for future supporters based on experience gained by come2CoM while working with the municipalities on their local energy plans under the Covenant of Mayors (CoM).

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Energy for Mayors focuses on Supporting Structures

Energy Management for municipalities

This article discusses:

• Integrating the ISO 50001 Energy Management System (EMS) with the Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP) in the Municipality of Moneglia in Italy.

• The launch of a pilot project for energy audits in households of various municipalities in the Province of Huelva, Spain.

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Municipalities join forces to activate stakeholders

In this article, the Energy for Mayors project describes how, by working together, municipalities in the same region have improved the impact of their communication activities, increased stakeholder involvement and combined climate protection efforts to develop a common strategy.

Image: Participants of local forum in Dzierżoniów.

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ENESCOM - Here the fun begins

The ENESCOM project is approaching the “finish line” (November 2012) and everything seems to have taken place according to its plans. In the next months, ENESCOM will complete the writing of the Sustainable Energy Action Plans (SEAPs) for the municipalities that joined the Covenant of Mayors and will complete the complementary activities. But there are also some unexpected and pleasant surprises.

Image: A moment from a bike ride organized by KEK Foundation in Hungary.

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