Cities and regions are at the forefront of the battle against climate change. The Cities Mission – activating more than 100 Cities in Europe to make them climate neutral by 2050 – is an effective measure to involve the local level. However, in Europe there are some 88 thousand sub-national authorities. Most of them lack tools and resources to follow through on reaching their climate and energy targets: they often lack the most effective instruments to enforce their energy and climate plans and access to sufficient funds for measures, as public funding is limited. Scarce human resources for grant application processes are exacerbated by significant know-how gaps on innovative financing and planning tools.
At the current pace, cities and regions will not reach the crucial energy and climate targets the EU needs. They need clear pathways for planning, mandating, funding, implementing and monitoring. This requires significant changes in governance, integration of existing practices, capacity building, right tools to assess the energy and climate needs and matching policy measures and a more effective approach to funding and financing and knowledge sharing between regions and between regions and EU stakeholders.
This interactive session, held in Barcelona on November 7th , will address the overall transition pathway, offering direct lessons from senior representatives of cities and regions and providing replicable solutions. Supported by moderators and facilitators, the participants, acting as the 6th panellist, will discuss how to plan, mandate, finance and implement the energy transition locally and regionally to co-design ideas and recommendations, influencing policy formulation and implementation across the EU and fostering an environment of collaborative learning and idea exchange.
This session is thus a crucial step in empowering local authorities with the knowledge and strategies needed to drive Europe’s sustainable energy future: we will present real-world examples from various European locales and build on the expertise and methodologies developed under the three projects IN-PLAN, Regio1st and PROSPECT+, demonstrating successful integration of energy and spatial planning and bridging the gap between theoretical policies and practical, actionable solutions.
We will be using innovative approaches such as integrated energy and spatial planning and instruments and mechanisms to reduce dependence on traditional subsidies and increase the skills of stakeholders at all levels of governance and addressing recent energy challenges, including Energy Efficiency 1st, energy security and the transition to renewable sources, making this session timely relevant and urgent.
Draft Agenda
14:45 Setting the scene: How to incorporate energy strategies into spatial planning and increasing the share of innovative financing in energy investments, and why (Giulia Pizzini, IEECP, drawing some conclusions from REGIO1st, Prospect+ and IN-PLAN)
14:50 Key-note speech from Luigi Lo Piparo, Partner at Technopolis Group and matchmaking and financial expert advisor for the Smart Cities Marketplace
14:55 Panel discussion: What still needs to change: lessons from local leaders and investors
- Maria Belarmina Diaz Aguado, Director General of Energy and Mining, Ministry of Ecological Transition, Industry and Economic Development, Regional Government Principality of Asturias
- Mario Rajn, Mayor, Križevci
- Andries Gryffroy, Member of the Flemish Parliament, Vice-President of BE Senate, Member of the CoR
- Elise Steyaert, Programme Manager, VITO, Belgium
- Experiences from the room
15:25 Conclusions
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