ENNEREG Project Update

Author: Nils DAUGAARD, ENNEREG Project Coordinator, Energy Consulting Network (ECNet), Denmark - Email

The ENNEREG - Regions paving the way for a Sustainable Energy Europe project runs for 36 months from 1 May 2010. It consist of 12 Regions dedicated to preparing regional Sustainable Energy Action Plans (SEAPs) and implementing Sustainable Energy Projects (SEPs) within eight key Sustainable Energy themes with point of departure in the EU’s 20-20-20 goal - i.e. 20% RES, 20% energy savings and 20% reduction of greenhouse gases by 2020.

The scope of activities in the ENNEREG regions includes:

• Stimulating stakeholder involvement in their regions
• Identifying good practice and lessons learnt in their own and other pioneer regions
• Setting regional visions and goals
• Formulating short and long term Sustainable Energy Action Plans (SEAPs)
• Fostering specific investments and end-use measures for Sustainable Energy Projects (SEPs)

The ENNEREG Regions range widely in geographical terms from e.g. islands in Greece and Portugal to the whole of Wales and are all starting at different levels as to undertaking sustainable energy actions. This reflects well the European situation in general and thus ENNEREG’s efforts to find a sustainable energy path under various circumstances can provide inspiration for regions at a broad scale.

The ENNEREG Pioneer Regions have recently updated their regional profiles on the Regions 202020 website and have produced leaflets providing an update on their journey towards "Becoming a Sustainable Energy Region", including details of their Sustainable Energy Action Plans (SEAPs) and ENNEREG twinning activities. The leaflets summarise the unique circumstances in each region and identify some of the lessons learnt to date. Find out more [EN - English] »

As part of an ENNEREG project meeting in Lyon, France on 19 October 2011, a workshop for experience exchange between the ENNEREG regions was organised. This enabled the partners (pictured, right) to learn the process for how regional SEAP and SEP measures can proceed in each region. The meeting was linked to the European Conference of Regions on Climate Action in Lyon, 20-21 October 2011, where European regions, local authorities, businesses, NGOs and representatives of civil society were gathered with three main objectives:

• to pool resources in order to increase the impact of action by means of enhanced interregional cooperation.
• to initiate tangible action in respective regions by showing and sharing best practice.
• to underline the necessity for regions - as stakeholders in Climate negotiations – to speak with one voice.

Furthermore the event in Lyon provided an opportunity for a coordination meeting with a parallel Interreg IVC project, ClimactRegions. The scope of this project, which includes 11 partners and 9 European regions, is to exchange experience, develop and implement local policies for reducing CO₂ emissions and using good governance practice. Climactregions partners have developed 3 guideline manuals and identified more than 120 Best Practices in 60 regions representing 23 countries in the field of greenhouses gas observation, climate protection policies, and governace.

The dialogue between ENNEREG and ClimactRegions was very enriching and it was agreed to aim for coordination of further project activities. This could be in the form of organising a common event or elaborating guidelines for sustainable energy practice in regions that is within the work programme of both projects.

The ENNEREG project has now passed its interim stage and the project activities until the next project meeting and event in Poland in week commencing 21 May 2012 will aim at finalizing the regional SEAPs and initiation of SEP measures in each partner region.

From that time the project will focus towards a replication programme for encouraging other European regions to take up the sustainable energy challenge. Some of the ENNEREG Regions have already started cooperation with twinning regions; i.e. regions outside the project consortium, and this effort will be strengthened in the last period of the project in conjunction with further progress in each ENNEREG Region.

Find out more about the activities of the ENNEREG project in the ENNEREG e-Bulletin [EN - English]  »