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Energy Cities on its way to Rio+20
By Béatrice Alcaraz | 36 visits

This Club unites local representatives, company managers, associations executives, academics. It is aimed at creating a space for dialogue, pooling resources and information, and at allowing for an efficient French attendance at the Rio+20 conference, to be held in the Brazilian metropolis from (...)
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IMAGINE: 2 new publications!
By Blandine Pidoux | 64 visits

Within the framework of the OPEN DAYS 2011, Energy Cities organised a workshop under the Imagine initiative, entitled: "Energy and territory: From multilevel governance to local agreements". Electronic proceedings of the OPEN DAYS having just been published, please find here, a summary of our (...)
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Paris experiments TramFret
By Béatrice Alcaraz | 82 visits

The idea is to reduce congestion in delivery lorry traffic by using the conventional Parisian tram lines. According to Mobilicités, 90% of deliveries in the Ile-de-France region are made by road. In an 8km-long "test" phase, two empty trams will be inserted into conventional tram traffic (...)
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Renovation target for public buildings is needed!
By Béatrice Alcaraz | 123 visits

Even though we are aware that for some cities this might be seen as a breach of the subsidiarity principle, we welcome the introduction of a binding refurbishment rate for public buildings, as a smart complement of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD; Directive 2010/31/EU). 3% (...)
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Covenant of Mayors films: A glimpse of the green energy revolution
By Blandine Pidoux | 107 visits

Across Europe and beyond, Covenant of Mayors cities are stepping up their efforts to secure sustainable living conditions for their citizens, by reducing dependence on fossil fuels and improving energy efficiency. Five Covenant of Mayors films – which were unveiled on the occasion of the (...)
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11 Energy Cities members pilot-test the city of tomorrow
By Blandine Pidoux | 158 visits

These cities are implementing and testing today the strategies for the city of tomorrow. The first step was a continuous dialogue between the local authorities, the state and its partners, that allowed the setting up of transversal strategies for urban sustainable development. These 93 (...)
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Municipality of Cascais (PT) : Solar Charged E-bike Sharing Program
By Béatrice Alcaraz | 223 visits

These two stations will be integrated into the city’s free public bicycle sharing scheme, which currently boasts 60 regular bicycles, accounting for an average 27,000 trips per year. The opening ceremony for the two docking stations was attended by Rudolf Donauer CEO of Donauer Solar (...)
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The Danish presidency presented on Friday its programme ‘Europe at work’
By Blandine Pidoux | 127 visits

"Denmark will assume the Presidency at a time when the EU is facing its perhaps greatest challenge ever. The task for the Danish Presidency will be to bring together and strengthen the EU through concrete results that will bring the EU forward and prove the value and necessity of European (...)
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Montreuil (FR): an exhibition to explain the actions of energy savings
By Béatrice Alcaraz | 121 visits

Created by the Local Energy Agency MVE, the exhibition allows making connections between energy management issues and climate issues in our everyday life. In Montreuil, the City is at the origin of different projects motivated by the will to include the principles and objectives of sustainable (...)
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Happy New Year to all members, partners and friends of our city network!
By Miriam Eisermann | 136 visits

And don’t forget the 9-11 May 2012: Join us for our Annual Rendezvous in Guimarães (Portugal)! The 2012 Annual Rendezvous will demonstrate how local authorities can steer a new energy culture and make territories grow from the inside. As this year’s European Culture Capital, Guimarães is the (...)
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Växjö (Sweden): NEW Energy Plan is adopted !
By Kinga Kovacs | 186 visits

However, even if the ambitions of Växjö are set high, no active energy plan has been adopted during a long time . The last one dated back in 1996, and since then new challenges need to be faced and many isolated actions were implemented. The new energy plan contains specific targets for 2020, (...)
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Participation in Urban Climate Protection : Answers of European Municipalities
By Béatrice Alcaraz | 196 visits

This publication explores how this joint approach to local climate protection can best achieved. It draw on theoritical insights as well as practical experience, with a main focus on Central and Eastern Europe. You can find examples of several european municipalities : Bielsko-Biala (PL) (...)
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Energy Cities' members involved in the ENNEREG project
By Béatrice Alcaraz | 145 visits

The ENNEREG project involves 12 Pioneer Regions in the EU, of all types and sizes ranging from islands in Greece and Portugal to the whole of Wales, committed to demonstrating how regions can be a key driving force in fulfilling the EU 20-20-20 goals. ENNEREG aims to establish and inspire a (...)
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The EU Energy Roadmap 2050 reveals positive trends for the local level
By Béatrice Alcaraz | 599 visits

The future European energy scheme puts energy efficiency and renewable energies at the forefront of action. And it gives reasons for hope that local resources and the need for energy decentralisation will be considered more strongly. Acknowledging the role of local authorities in energy issues (...)
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Do you know URBACT National Dissemination Points?
By Blandine Pidoux | 118 visits

The main role of the National Dissemination Points (NDP) is to present information about the URBACT program and projects in national languages and thereby to make available to non- English speaking audience, information about integrated urban development. It thereby reaches a larger scale of (...)
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Three Energy Cities' members involved in the ENER SUPPLY project
By Béatrice Alcaraz | 185 visits

The ENER SUPPLY project, financed by the South East Europe Transnational Cooperation Programme, is the result of a common effort of 13 partners from 11 South-East Europe countries, whose Lead Partner is the Municipality of Potenza, Italy. RES trainings have already been completed in almost (...)
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A warm welcome to Koprivnica: new Energy Cities’ member
By Kinga Kovacs | 170 visits

Why did Koprivnica join Energy Cities? Koprivnica has recognized Energy Cities as an association where new knowledge and ideas can be exchanged and where the city can get motivated but also motivate others to continue working towards sustainable energy. Also, since Koprivnica is politically (...)
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A Successful Energy Challenge for Kindergarten in the City of Lille (FR)
By Béatrice Alcaraz | 127 visits

By the end of November 2010, training sessions enabled to inform more than 200 people working in kindergarten on the best energy practices. 12 kindergarten benefited from these activities. The City of Lille has had a long experience in the Display® campaign and won the Toward Class "A" (...)
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The Energy debate in Europe: what if inspiration was to come from Germany?
By Béatrice Alcaraz | 126 visits

A look at Germany may help clarify the debate. In an uncertain world, Germany appears to be a model of industrial dynamism, economic soundness, innovation, exportation and SMEs buoyancy. Germany is not reputed to make thoughtless decisions and would be described as excessively rational rather (...)
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Energy Cities Annual Rendezvous 9-11 May 2012, Guimarães (Portugal)
By Béatrice Alcaraz | 164 visits

The more we base our activities on local assets, the more cities and regions will benefit in terms of job creation, financial savings, a stronger autonomy, citizen empowerment and a higher quality of life for all. The 2012 Annual Rendezvous will demonstrate how local authorities can steer a (...)
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