Welcome to City Stories, the podcast by Energy Cities. Energy Cities is the European city network of local authorities in energy transition with over 1000 members from 30 countries. This podcast is for those who want to learn more about how cities go about with the energy transition. The challenge is big, but there are so many new, collaborative practices that emerge and that make this challenge fun and feasible. Each month we invite passionate European guests from different horizons and sectors…
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District heating and cooling still is a new approach for many local governments. And it’s not just about installing underground pipes, it's a whole urban transformation. We wanted to hear from Frederik Ceulemans from the City of Brussels how they deal with that big challenge. As Deputy Mayor, Frederik has a large portfolio spanning from Urban Renovation and Climate, to Citizen Participation and…
How to turn a city into a “cool” place. Interview with Mariam Emelien, Grenobles Alpes Métropole by Energy Cities
Food is our everyday fuel and we often don’t really know in detail how it has come to our plate. In our Energy Cities network, many cities are figuring out healthy and local food can be provided to everyone and how to grow awareness around it. Albertville in the French Alps is one of those cities. Albertville counts around 20,000 inhabitants and is running several programs as part of its…
There is this one shirt that you won’t wear anymore. It’s too good to be thrown away, but is there any alternative in your town? Each European generates 16 kilos of clothing and shoe waste per year, but only about 15 % is separately collected. The rest still ends up in mixed household waste. That’s why many European cities struggle with that textile waste: Shirts, shoes and towels pollute through…
In many European cities, residents struggle to find affordable housing, whether it’s for rent or purchase. And paradoxically, at the same time, many cities register a growing number of real estate space that is empty and unused. How can we better match housing supply with demand? And how can public administrations regain control over the housing stock? We asked Mr Dennis de Vries, who was our…
Today we’re heading to Central Greece, to the municipality of Domokos. Domokos with its 9000 inhabitants is the recent winner of the Covenant of Mayors award. I’m joined by the Mayor of Domokos Mr Liolios and his colleague Mrs. Zisopoulou from the Mayor’s Office. Together, they’ll walk us through the project that earned them the award: how it came about, who got involved, and what it really takes…
In this episode of City Stories, I’m joined by two community energy experts I know well and I loved working with lately: my colleague Anna Francis from Energy Cities and Dimitris Katsakaprakis from Minoan Energy Community, the biggest energy community in Greece. Together, we’ve been working in the LIFE LOOP project, helping cities and communities set up joint local renewable energy projects. We’ll…
In this episode we interview Ilkka Räsänen, a 63-year old jovial Fin who is one of the innovation leaders in his municipality. Electricity prices in Finland are amongst the cheapest in Europe and one reason for Finland’s big move towards electrification of heat. lkka Rasanen works for the municipality of Lappeenranta in the South East of Finland. The 700.000 inhabitants are essentially getting…
This is quite a special episode of City Stories: Our host Miriam Eisermann moderated a live session with city makers recorded on the occasion of Energy Cities’ 35th anniversary and the Annual Forum in Besançon. Tune in to the discussions around community engagement and also what role AI can or cannot play in participation and citizen engagement. In this episode you will see that cities and…
Mechelen has already started its heat journey a while ago. The goal? To switch to a renewable heat supply for all its buildings by 2050. But what political strategies, resources and players does it take to make such a municipal heat shift happen? Ighor Vandevyver may have some answers: Ighor belongs to the climate team of the municipality of Mechelen. When you hear him talk about the city’s very…
The shortage of decent and affordable housing, both for purchase and rental, is getting deeper and deeper. Millions of homes in the EU need urgent renovations. But how can we scale up retrofitting efficiently? How can local governments best guide the citizens who would like to improve their home’s energy performance? One-stop-shops are seen as a powerful tool and I’m delighted to have a…
At the next 2025 Annual Forum, many European cities will gather in Besançon. Over two days, cities will exchange knowledge with each other and with other experts. Challenges and strategies to tackle them, concrete practices, tools with tangible outcomes, and thought-provoking discussions—this is what we have prepared for you at this event. Join us: https://annualforum.energy-cities.eu/agenda/ To…
This is our second and final episode on how energy poverty affects people not only financially but also through poor health. In the previous episode we looked into coping strategies and needs of people in energy poverty. In this current episode we want to discuss the different pathways we can take for making people’s lives at home healthier. This show is about how local governments can provide…
Since the energy crisis started a few years ago, we hear more often about energy or fuel poverty. But how often do we talk about the concrete challenges and also the coping strategies of the people affected by it? And what does it mean for people’s health when they live in very cold or very hot homes? Our guests today are two brilliant researchers from the University of Leeds: Lucie Middlemiss and…
No risk, no fun. No risk, no failure… This is what experienced somme energy community pioneers on the Aland islands, an archipelago between Finland and Sweden. In the municipality of Kökar, an energy community around solar, urban wind and storage was meant to bring new flexibility to the island’s energy system. You will hear that this has turned into a bad adventure with 1 or 2 strong and loud…
Ugo and Franjo are, respectively, President and Manager of this energy cooperative called Apsyrtides. In this episode they tell us how community work is driving their island’s energy transition, but also how Croatian law is still not ready for it. They are about to design a voucher model in cooperation with the water management company to allow residents to co-finance smaller solar projects. We…
The wind has turned again for energy communities in Greece: a recent change in law now forbids, for example, the participation of businesses. This shift leaves more than one community energy initiative puzzled. And still, community leaders keep on fighting for it as a means to bring environmental and social sustainability – ultimately also as a means to turn the blurry degrowth concept into…
Today we are in Zwolle, around 1h20 drive from Amsterdam. The town of 130.000 inhabitants has a beautiful medieval centre. Today’s guest, Olaf Heinen, lives in the neighbourhood of Assendorp, more specifically in the area of Sallandsweide.This area is composed of very different types of houses and holds a very diverse group of residents. This is also where most of the city’s low-income people…
Some say the energy transition is a great opportunity to create a more equal society. Others are more pessimistic and predict that the transition will worsen inequalities. How does reality look like and what solutions do we already have at hand to guarantee fair access and good lives to all, no matter their income, race, religion, gender? I’m delighted to talk about inclusive cities and…
We all try to make green choices for a more sustainable world. And so do local authorities as public buyers. Through public procurement authorities buy work, goods or services. Green public procurement means those authorities use their purchasing power to support the clean energy transition. In this episode of City Stories, Efren Guillò Sansano who is the Head of Innovation at the Spanish…
This episode is with Carlo Tacconelli. Carlo is an international energy expert and CEO of EnGreen, anItalian renewables start-up. Carlo has 16 years of experience in distributed renewable energy systems in Europe and in developing countries. Carlo shares some of that experience in this episode, with a special focus on the incredible power of energy communities. We left our conversation with much…
He is an ultra-runner and an ultra-communicator. When Michal Svoboda talks to Mayors about new energy practices he demonstrates both, endurance and creativity. This Czechman who used to work for the leading big energy company is now a fervent advocate of local renewable energy. Michal is an energy consultant and involved in several municipal networks. He also participated in the recent creation of…
For this episode we traveled to Croatia: From Zagreb it takes between one and two hours by car to the much smaller towns of Koprivnica, Varazdin and Virovitica in the North-East of Croatia. It's in Koprivnica, a city of 30.000 inhabitants, where today’s guest Ivan Simic lives and works. Ivan is managing director of the regional energy agency REA North. The energy agency supports the three city…
Mantova, West of Venice, is a beautiful city with a UNESCO protected core. Unfortunately, it is also surrounded by three artificial lakes that suffer from last century pollution. But the local administration is determined to give nature back to citizens both in and around the city centre. The city even already hosted the World Forum on Urban Forests! In Mantova, the journey to carbon neutrality…
Mise à part son excellence culinaire, la région métropolitaine a également été reconnue par la Commission européenne comme étant un leader climatique. Elle fait partie de 100 villes phares en matière de climat. Mon invité aujourd'hui est Jean-Patrick Masson, vice-président chargé de la transition énergétique à Dijon Métropole. Jean-Patrick est l'un des moteurs politiques de sa région et très actif…
What do you think of when you hear Dijon? Mustard? Wine? Certainly not energy planning, right? Yes, Dijon is located in the famous Burgundy region and it is known for quite some delicious goods. But it’s good you’ve tuned in today: food and drinks are not the only thing in which this city and its surroundings excel. The Metropolitan area has also been recognised by the European Commission as a…
In this episode we welcome Cristina Daniel who is the managing director of the regional energy agency ENA – Energy and Environment Agency of Arrábida in Portugal. ENA connects the dots between 3 municipalities that are located within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area and the agency helps those cities with their energy and environmental strategy. How is this meant to improve the lives of around 250.000…
What is it like to be the young director of a capital city’s energy agency? I found some answers when talking with Janiks Ikaunieks. Janis leads the Riga Energy Agency in Latvia since 2 years. He told me how his agency is tackling the city’s challenges, which spots help him relax and why innovation is not always the first thing to do. Riga is known for its wooden buildings, art nouveau…
When a group of citizens or civil servants with no previous experience in financing starts a renewable energy project, this can be a huge challenge to go and look for funding. Whether it is for a solar installation or a collective retrofitting project, financing any of this is a black box for many of us. We thought we should delve into the jungle of financial engineering for energy communities…
An energy cooperative never pops out of nowhere. Rather, it grows silently with motivated citizens putting their heads together and imagining how they can themselves produce renewable energy. Join me and my guest Chloé Verlinden to learn about some great ways for citizens to become energy producers, both on solar and offshore wind energy. Chloé explains the cooperative's activities with external…
Welcome to the small city of Porec on the west coast of Croatia. Porec has a rich history and culture with an old town nerved by narrow streets from Roman times. In the very city center, Venetian-style houses are sitting next to Roman temples, various gothic, baroque, and renaissance palaces, fortification walls, and towers. The town’s main sight is a Basilica dating from the 6th century. It’s a…
The Netherlands is one of the leading countries when it comes to an energy policy taking into account many different people and sectors. The Dutch National Climate Agreement from 2019 is the best example. So, to achieve its climate and energy goals, the country needs the highest possible involvement and public ownership of green energy, including for heating homes. Today’s episode brings together…
If you’ve been following along with this podcast in the past months or more, you’ll know that we like to dig out local initiatives that might look small for now, but that can have a big impact in the future. For this episode, we picked one of them: the Economes, an awareness raising program on energy use - from citizens for citizens. We meet Hugo and Julie who are both involved in it. Hugo…
Today’s guests will explore the question on how we can create a culture of energy citizenship. I sit together with two inspiring women: Dr BinBin Pearce who is researcher at TU Delft and Margot Vingerhoedt who is Head of communications, marketing and press for the Belgian cooperative Ecopower. While BinBin has been looking into the sociological dimension of collaboration using inputs from…
For this episode we wanted to know what it needs to spark such initiatives, how we can bring more women into it and what all this has to do with taking risks. That is why we invited Katharina Habersbrunner who is Head of sustainable energy and climate solutions at the non-profit network WECF, Women Engage for a Common Future. Katharina has an impressive record of community energy experience, and…
For this episode, our podcast host Miriam Eisermann sat down with Martin Mrkos, Mayor the City of Žďár nad Sázavou in Czech Republic. He is joined by Michal Bacovsky, who is Smart City Coordinator of Zdar. The city counts 21.000 inhabitants and is one of the 10 pilot cities involved in the EUCityCalc project. After intensive thermal insulation of its buildings and first renewable installations,…
If you want to trigger big change in a city you essentially need 2 things: a great deal of political will and people in the administration who know how to go about it. Such a massive change is underway in the cities of Brasov in Romania and in Mouscron in Belgium. Both cities have been working with the so-called "transition management" approach which should make them carbon-neutral by 2050. This…
How do you engage individuals and local organisations in the energy transition? What does it need to make them allies in the journey towards greener cities? And what if people get tired of workshops around the city of TOMORROW? In this episode I was joined by two “activators” as I would call them: Anne-Claire Urvoas from the city of Brest where she is in charge of mobilisation for the energy…
The City of Valencia and Dublin County are both on an ambitious trajectory: Not only do they aim for becoming greener and fairer cities by 2050. But also, they do push beyond their comfort zone by designing their roadmap with a big variety of stakeholders. We chatted with Jordi Peris Blanes from Valencia and Katie Harrington from the Dublin Energy Agency Codema and learnt more about this very…
In this episode Miriam sits down with Pau Balcells from the Barcelona Data Office. Together they dive into the role of data to design, feed and assess innovative and sustainable policies. The city of Barcelona is leveraging on data for better decision-making and to become a smarter and fairer place. During the talk Pau shares why big data have become the issue of our time. He also talks about the…
In this episode, two energy experts based in the East of France join us to share their plans for an energy community in the city of Besançon. Besançon counts around 120.000 inhabitants. Anik Lehman-Tron is a renewables expert and works for the local government. Mireia Matencio is legal advisor at Opale Energies Naturelles, a renewables company based in the same area. Together, they want to operate…
Greece is a gifted country when it comes to renewables and it was the first EU country to have a law on energy communities all the way back in 2018. In its national energy and climate plan, the Greek government has set a target of in self-consumption by 2030. We wanted to know how this translates into concrete action on the ground and did a virtual travel to Ilioupoli. Ilioupoli is a sub-urban…
The city of Zenica, a coal and steel producer, lies right in the center of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Jakuta talks us through the different projects of the local government to increase efficiency, including Toplana Zenica plant. She proudly presents the city's ambitions, but she also mentions the issues regarding the lack of knowledge around new energy practices at the local and national political…
We talk with Lucie Middlemiss about who the energy poor are in Leeds (and elsewhere), why they should be involved in finding the right answers, but also how she thinks research can help improve energy poverty policies in cities in the UK and Europe. Lucie is Professor of Environment and Society at the School of Earth and Environment at the University of Leeds. Lucie has an impressive track record…
Until now, Valencia with its 800.000 inhabitants may be more known for its mild climate and lovely beaches than for its incredibly collaborative and forward-looking energy policy. In part 2 of our ECF collaboration lab series, we dive into Valencia’s impressive efforts to involve the local community in energy and climate matters. A big change of culture is about to happen. In this episode we…
Today we’re in the South of Italy: in the region of Naples, four small municipalities team up for the energy transition so as to make their place attractive for current and future generations. UCSA, which is the official name of this group of municipalities (61.000 inhabitants), puts special emphasis on citizen-led initiatives. That is why they came to the ECF collaboration lab with…
The City of Prague has an ambitious Climate Plan. In addition to high goals for energy efficiency, this plan includes an objective of fostering the emergence of energy communities. For this episode we met Miloslav Franek from the energy management department of Prague City Hall and Tereza Mc Laughlin Vanova from the Czech Association of Local Energy Managers. Together, they are about to set up the…
Since 2016, Munich turned two of its neighbourhoods into a laboratory: over a bit more than 4 years, 20 million euros were invested in testing smart city solutions. That money came from the EU funded Smarter Together project. In this episode we chat with Bernhard Klassen and Verena Stoppel who both coordinated one after the other the Smarter Together Project – one of many innovative projects in…
For this episode we are in Lyon, France. Its neighbourhood called Confluence is all about transformation: What once was a logistics and industrial site with a rather bad reputation has become one of Europe’s biggest urban renewal projects. With a surface of 150 hectares, 600.000 sqm existing floor area and 1 million sqm of new buildings this urban project takes up the challenge of our time: how…
The City of Vienna is often quoted as an outstanding example of people-centred urban renewal. From urban gardening to shared mobility solutions - when it comes to good governance in urban development planning hardly any other city is breaking the ground as much as Vienna does. Is this one reason why the Austrian capital is regularly rated as the world’s most liveable city? Our guest, this time, is…
