SURE Contribution to the 2nd CIUDAD Inter-regional Event, Tunis, 20-21 November 2012
Nov 29, 2012

The SURE project has recently presented his experience within the CIUDAD programme during the 2nd CIUDAD Inter-regional Event held last week in Tunis.

Presentations are available here below.

Interregional Recommendations for ENP East and South Countries on how to Implement Sustainable Urban Energy Strategies
Oct 25, 2012

“Our common fight against climate change: What can Europe offer to the neighbouring countries and cities for developing sustainable urban energy strategies?” The booklet, written by the Climate Alliance and INCENTO EU-consulting, offers interregional recommendations for ENP East and South countries on how to implement sustainable urban energy strategies with the help of European partners and support of the European Union.

Interregional Recommendations cover such topics as the European Neighbourhood Policy, the EU energy policy, the Covenant of Mayors, the SURE project, and gives an overview of financial instruments for sustainable energy actions that can be used by cities in the ENP countries.

Contact: Patricia RUPPERT MBA (UK), Managing Director of INCENTO EU-consulting, +49 8151 55 68 290, patricia.ruppert@incento.org

How to build a Sustainable Energy Action Plan
Jun 2, 2012

This document is a step-by-step guide for any city wishing to develop a Sustainable Energy Action Plan.

All SURE project partners were involved in writing the guide, giving the benefit of their experience in city planning needed to achieve energy efficiency, and so making the guide practical as well as theoretical.

The document can be downloaded here below.

SURE Shares its Progress
Mar 16, 2012

The SURE project has entered its last year of implementation; a lot has been done, and a lot more still needs to be done in order to reach all objectives and achieve all results.

What has been done so far?

Since 2010, the project has been presented to local stakeholders at opening conferences in Polotsk and Salé, and Belarusian and Moroccan city officials have been trained on sustainable urban energy issues in Murcia and Friedrichshafen. The main project achievement so far is that Polotsk, Salé and Friedrichshafen have officially joined the Covenant of Mayors, and are just one little step away from adopting their Sustainable Energy Action Plans.

What is happening now?

At the moment, the project is at the stage of finalizing and adopting Sustainable Energy Action Plans for Polotsk and Salé. Polotsk is now in the middle of public consultations, leading to the adoption of its SEAP by the City Council in mid March, while Sale has already started to work on the SEAP implementation and is going to update its Development Plan for 2012-2016 in accordance with the SEAP recommendations.  The project is also establishing energy partnerships and using the experience of Polotsk and Sale to develop information materials for ENPI cities to help them join the Covenant of Mayors and develop their own SEAPs.

What will be done in the following months?

In March/April 2012, SEAPs for Polotsk and Salé will be finally adopted, and their implementation will start with pilot actions, for which each city will get 40 000 EUR out of the SURE project budget. Polotsk is going to modernize its main avenue with LED street lights, while Salé plans to install a photovoltaic facility on the roof of the city’s indoor sports center. In May/June 2012, when pilot actions are implemented, Polotsk and Saléare going to host Energy Days, and in June/July2012, ENPI-wide conferences will be held in Polotsk and Salé, where SURE project results will be presented and possibilities for further cooperation between ENPI cities on sustainable urban energy will be discussed.

If you want to know more about SURE achievements you can have a look at the table they have prepared with the overview of their activities.

September 2011 – Signing of the Covenant of Mayors by Polotsk, Salé and Friedrichshafen; November 2011 – participation in the Annual Ceremony of the Covenant of Mayors in Brussels
Nov 30, 2011

In September 2011, in the German city of Friedrichshafen, Mr. Aliaksandr Pazniak, Mayor of the city of Polotsk in Belarus, Mr. Abderraouf Bentaleb, Vice Mayor of the city of Salé in Morocco, and Mr. Stefan Köhler as well as Mr. Peter Hauswald, Mayors of the city of Friedrichshafen, have signed the accession form of the Covenant of Mayors.

Thus, Polotsk and Salé became the first cities in Belarus and Morocco – and Salé became the first city in the ENPI-South – to commit to the 20-20-20 energy and climate strategy of the European Union. In November 2011, Mayor Aliaksandr Pazniak from Polotsk and Mayor Noureddine Lazrek from Salé took part in the annual signing ceremony of the Covenant of Mayors in Brussels where Mr. Lazrek gave a short speech on the importance of the Covenant of Mayors for the South Mediterranean region.

Mr. Noureddine Lazrek, Mayor of the City of Salé: ‘We are honored because we are the first city in the ENPI South which commits to the CoM and adheres therewith to the European Union energy standards. … We think we have a very important role to play, also in the future; and that is what makes our adherence a very strong and challenging commitment: a commitment to fostering renewable energy and energy efficiency in our everyday life; and a commitment to disseminating the culture and European standards to the Southern Mediterranean region.’

Mr. Aleksandr Pazniak, Mayor of the City of Polotsk: ‘We are glad that Polotsk is the first Belarusian city to join the Covenant of Mayors. Thanks to our awareness raising activities, Polotsk is very likely to be followed in the Covenant of Mayors by a number of other Belarusian cities within the EU programme “The Covenant of Mayors Going East.”’

Mr. Peter Hauswald, Mayor of the City of Friedrichshafen: ‘By signing the Covenant of Mayors, we join global climate protection efforts and commit to reaching energy efficiency and energy consumption objectives of the EU by 2020. Murcia and Friedrichshafen are helping Polotsk and Salé to reach this ambitious aim. Hand in hand, through exchange of knowledge and experience, we are bringing our four cities together and are building an axis from the west to the east and from the north to the south.’