Region of Crete (Greece) has hosted one of the two Second Staff Exchanges of the CLEAN project on the 12th and 13th of June 2018. 

Project partners from Iasi Municipality (Romania), Normandy (France), North Karelia (Finland) and Savinjska region (Slovenia) have showed interest in Greek good energy practices shared within the CLEAN project and have attended the staff exchange organised by partners in Crete. Furthermore, some of the partners have also brought with them stakeholders from Romania, Finland and Slovenia to promote international cooperation and share of experience.

The first day, attendants departed from Heraklion to Chania to learn more about St. George Hospital and the 'Green Hospital' project. "The intelligence of a building is often strongly linked to the smartness of its users", mentions Florian Guillotte, Project Manager at Cooperative Les 7 Vents in Normandy. He also highlights the value of the staff exchanges when promoting exchange of experience: "a new hospital is in project in Caen, maybe some of the outcomes of this action can be interesting to them".

Another site visit has taken place at Technical University of Crete, where the 'Green Campus Strategy' has been presented to the participants. "What was mainly interesting to us was the approach of frugal innovation: despite a real decrease of the budget of the campus, an increasing number of students benefited of heating and cooling", adds Guillotte.

In the second day, all attendees have been welcomed by the Director of Development Planning Directorate, Mrs Daskalaki, and they have participated in a seminar session presenting regional good energy practices. Furthermore, Maria Apostolaki from the Region of Crete has presented Euronet 50/50 and Euronet 50/50 MAX Projects.

Afterwards, they have traveled to Stalida tunnel to find out more about the benefits of the high LRV photocatalytic paint. "We have learned the operation of a depolluting paint", says French project manager. The paint is composed of TiO2, a molecule that facilitates chemical reactions and prevents bacteria. The paint has been currently used in a tunnel and in a military infirmary. "This product could be of interest for an engineering school, with a laboratory specialized in indoor air quality. They could propose a place in Normandy to showcase the paint"


Find out more about the previous staff exchanges in North Karelia (Finland), San Sebastian (Spain) and Naples (Italy). Stay tuned! The last two exchanges of the project will take place in Västernorrland (Sweden) and Normandy (France)!