EUSEW Sustainable Energy Day webinar: citizen engagement - accelerate the clean energy transition

REPowerEU aims to fight the current consequences of the war in Ukraine – including high energy prices with dramatic consequences for the households and consumers – with a vast catalogue of measures. To implement them, cities, towns, and citizens need practical support and help with the present challenges. European initiatives and projects aim to support them.

Realising a citizen-led or citizen’s community approach to renovation can break the mammoth challenge of retrofitting millions of buildings into more manageable initiatives conducted at the community level. This virtual Sustainable Energy Day session brings together relevant initiatives and projects funded by the European Commission to discuss the current challenge of how to reduce the energy demand of the housing stock and the energy bills for its inhabitants, considering the energy crisis we are in. The aim of this session is to give insights on how to accelerate the decarbonisation of the existing building stock by renovating with citizen involvement.

Commission initiatives and supported project partners

• Smart Cities Marketplace: The Smart Cities Marketplace is an initiative supported by the European Commission, bringing together cities, companies, SMEs, investors, banks, research and other climate-neutral and Smart City actors. It plays an important role in speeding up the green transition of cities in Europe by improving citizens’ quality of life, increasing the competitiveness of European cities and industry, as well as reaching European energy and climate targets.
• oPEN Lab project: The Horizon Europe Green Deal project oPEN Lab is upgrading the existing buildings and district facilities in specific neighbourhoods in the cities of Tartu (Estonia), Pamplona (Spain) and Genk (Belgium) to fully operational Positive Energy Neighbourhoods and operate them as Positive Energy Neighbourhood Living Labs.
• ATELIER - Positive Energy Districts: ATELIER (AmsTErdam BiLbao cItizen drivEn smaRt cities) is an EU-funded Smart City project aiming to create and replicate Positive Energy Districts (PEDs) within two Lighthouse Cities and six Fellow Cities.
• Support service for Citizen-led renovation projects: The European Commission initiative delivers a support service for citizens led renovation projects with 2-3 pilot projects. 
• Affordable Housing Initiative of DG GROW: The Affordable Housing Initiative was launched under the EU Renovation Wave in synergy with the New European Bauhaus, which aims to translate the European Green Deal into tangible change on the ground, building on the core values of sustainability, aesthetics and inclusiveness.

Agenda

Opening words

Georg Houben, Policy Officer DG ENER, European Commission

Moderation

Tatiana Pasquel Garcia, co-coordinator of the Smart Cities Marketplace, VITO

Speakers

• Kaspar Alev, Tartu City Government
• Leen Peeters, coordinator support service for Citizen-led Renovation projects initiative, Th!nk E
• Regine Wehner, coomunication lead ATELIER, Steinbeis Europa Zentrum
• Martin Willemart, Policy Officer DG GROW, European Commission

Contact: infosmartcitiesmarketplace [dot] eu (info[at]smartcitiesmarketplace[dot]eu)

Further information can be found on the Smart Cities Marketplace website.

Related links

• Energy and smart cities
• Sustainable Energy Days