POLIS workshops in Europe

France and Germany
By Angela Saadé / HESPUL and Sigrid Lidner / ECOFYS

Several workshops for local authorities are being held in Europe, in order to present the actual development of the pilot actions of each city partner. Experts from different fields of activities like urban planning, planning legislation, environmental strategy and real estates, participated to the meetings.

In France, within the framework of the “Assises de l'Energie”, a workshop has been organized in Grenoble where the city of Paris and Lyon presented their work. Other cities like Nantes, Rennes and Grenoble participated to the meeting. One of the major issues discussed was the problem of the development of solar thermal in France and the big success of PV instead. However, PV is also concerned by legal barriers due to the cessation of the feed-in tariff.

In Germany, a workshop took place last November in Hannover together with the annual Climate Alliance Conference. More than 50 participants from different cities attended. As result of the workshop most participants judge concrete planning projects with high standards as feasible in their cities but legal binding requirements are seen as quite challenging to implement.

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Development of POLIS Pilot actions

Implementation all over Europe
By Elisabeth Kjellsson / ULUND

The planned pilot actions in the POLIS cities are now starting to be implemented.
A variety of activities will happen in the different cities. In Lisbon the first pilot action regarding the solar potential has started with collecting statistics and after this assessment, a further action is aiming to define the goals for solar technologies. Another pilot action is the “Solar Guideline for Urban Planning”, which will be developed together with the planning department in Munich. In Paris specific monitoring tools for existing solar facilities will be developed and Lyon has a focus on differend energy aspects, which will be implemented from the very beginning of the planning process. Vitoria-Gasteiz as well as Malmö have started with detailed solar potential studies. More actions are planned to start during the year.

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European Green Capitals

Vitoria-Gasteiz, one of the city winners
By Xabier Marrero / City of Vitoria-Gasteiz

Vitoria-Gasteiz and the French city of Nantes have been named as winners of the European Green Capital award for 2012 and 2013.The awards were presented by EU Environment Commissioner Janez Potočnik at a ceremony last October in Stockholm, European Green Capital for 2010.

The title of European Green Capital is awarded to a European city which can show a well-established record in setting and achieving high environmental standards and which is committed to progressive and ambitious goals for further environmental i mprovement and sustainable development.

Video presentation

24-25 February, Rome, Italy
Conferenza dell’ Industria Solare - Italia 2011

It will offer a balanced mix including strategic vision and practical experiences.
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2-4 March, Wels, Austria
World Sustainable Energy Days 2011, the largest annual conference in this field in Europe, offer a unique combination of events on sustainable energy production and use, covering energy efficiency and renewable energy sources for buildings, industry and transport.
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15 March, Bristol, UK
Cleantech Cluster Event

Cleantech Cluster Events address the combined challenges of promoting innovation in clean technologies and cultivating new businesses at a grass roots level.
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16 March, Brussels, Belgium
Green Buildings, Green Cities, Green Europe: The Future of Sustainable Urban Development

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7-8 April, Freiburg, Germany
1st Conference of Energy-Autonomous Local Authorities
Experts are leading the way to an independent energy supply.
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