Lead Partner: Aufbauwerk Region Leipzig GmbH

E-mobility has a great potential to improve our environment. Cars, trains and planes account for a quarter of global energy consumption and approximately the same proportion of emissions. That is a heavy load – but at the same also a unique chance to limit our impact on the climate. The 9 partners of the E-MOB project represent 8 European regions at different stages of e-mobility development, but they all share the view that e-mobility represents the future of mobility: a clean, quiet, advanced technology, combined with power, speed and lots of fun. E-MOB stands for Integrated actions towards enhanced e-mobility in European Regions and aims at enhancing e-mobility solutions in regional passenger transport systems through coordinated policy learning and planning. As an ambitious target, the partners strive for influencing in total more than 26 million EUR of Structural and other Funds through 8 policy instruments to be revised in the frame of a series of peer reviews and learning conferences. Based on the outcomes of this interregional learning process (8 good practices and policy recommendations), the partners will jointly elaborate Action Plans for the improved implementation of the selected 4 Structural Fund Programmes and 4 other policy instruments. Actors of regional relevance will be involved in the whole procedure, being invited in the whole interregional learning and action planning process. The engagement of stakeholders will be facilitated by the establishment of 8 Regional Stakeholder Groups. Members of the RSG – together with interested municipalities – will also have the possibility to improve their capacities in turning the policies concerned into actions: Partners will elaborate the E-MOB Guideline and organise regional trainings in e-mobility strategic planning. This coordinated intraregional learning will contribute to plan and implement concrete measures and projects in the field of e-mobility, bringing tangible results to the participating regions.

Lead Partner: Centre for Renewable Energy Sources and Saving (CRES)

EMOBICITY seeks to improve low-carbon economy policies, so as to facilitate the take up of electric mobility at a national and regional level. 6 EU Partners, 5 action plans, 1 goal: Integration of e-mobility.

Lead Partner: Friuli Venezia Giulia Autonomous Region – Environment and Energy Central Directorate – Energy Service

The S3UNICA project is the natural follow up of the Pilot Project “Smart Campus” selected by DG REGIO under the call for expression of interest for “Thematic Partnerships to pilot interregional innovation projects”, within the S3 Partnership on “Sustainable Buildings”. Who are the protagonists?                       Why S3UNICA? S3UNICA brings together 5 countries to build more effective innovation policies and to support interregional cooperation. The Smart Specialization University Campus project aims at emphasizing the role of Universities in regional innovation policies, by providing specialist research and technical expertise in the field of energy sustainable buildings and by offering campuses as a hands-on lab where to implement these innovative solutions. Universities involved in the project can contribute to regional knowledge exchange and its translation into innovative energy products, solutions and public/private services.

Lead Partner: IUAV University of Venice

Creating win-win solutions from trade-offs? The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005), and recently the EU 2020 Biodiversity Strategy emphasizes that human well-being is tightly linked to environmental conditions through the delivery of Ecosystem Services (ES), and therefore good territorial environmental management could, in principle, also deliver better outcomes for people and environment, resulting in win-win solutions. Low-carbon policies and Renewable Energy Sources (RES) development are challenged by the complexity of linkages between ecological, physical, social, and economic factors in relation to trade-offs and synergies between RES exploitation and the delivery of multiple ES. Generalizations and knowledge shortage lead to missing the acknowledgment of potential synergies between RES and ES within the governance and policy frameworks at territorial level. The IRENES project will put in place interregional knowledge and experience exchange process to identify gaps and barriers within current ERDF and energy policy instruments in relation to the RES and ES co-relation, including environmental, social, economic, and governance concerns. The active commitment of Structural Funds Managing Authorities, and governing bodies of other policy instruments addressed in the project, is of paramount importance to integrate the potential RES development trade-offs and co-benefits with ES into the territorial development policies. Therefore, IRENES consortium priority is to communicate and dialogue WITH policy makers and not to policy makers in order to trigger the knowledge transfer and to inform, with scientific evidences on RES and Ecosystem Services, the decision makers about the potential of a win–win outcome that can be incorporated into the regional and national ERDF Operational programmes, energy and climate strategies and laws. Let’s the IRENES stakeholders be the winners of the low-carbon policies challenges!

Lead Partner: Czech Technical University in Prague, University Centre for Energy Efficient Buildings

Until 1990s EU energy consumption was led by industry (35%), but relocation of industries, and integration of efficient technologies achieved to reduce it to 25% until 2010, when it stabilized. Energy consumption in industry is based nearly totally in fossil fuels (Odysee report November 2016), with 35% gas, 32% electricity, 30% coal and oil, which make the sector vulnerable to externalities, specially because EU imports more than 90% of oil, and 66% of gas. EC report of February 2017 “Monitoring progress towards the EU” remarks that energy intensity industry decreased 15% at EU level from 2000 to 2010, but started to grow with speed after 2013. Countries should reduce energy intensity to have independent and cost-effective industry. However, countries show significant differences in their tendencies, with countries with energy intensity close to 85% and growing, others with 40% and decreasing, and some with less than 10%. EC report “Energy use in the EU industry” request harmonization and proper mechanism to boost RES in industry. OBJECTIVES RESINDUSTRY aims to increase the energy independency of the EU industry sector, by decreasing its energy intensity through a higher integration of RES. The long-term objective is to increase the industry competitiveness by decreasing its energy bill, rising their energy independency, thus uncoupling their energy costs from geopolitical externalities. To achieve these long-term strategic objectives, the short-term objectives are to booster RES investment in industry by improving OPs with new policies for RES promotion. OUTPUTS 7 Action Plans influencing 8,1 M€ of SF and 2,5 M€ non SF 90 participants with increased capacity 83 policy learning events 10 Best Practices 7 Regional Assessments, including the Strategic Analysis of RES Technologies for regional industry and KPIs reports

Lead Partner: Hanze University of Applied Sciences

The SHREC project addresses the challenge of transition to a low carbon economy, in relation with renewable energy use of business and households facilitating them to invest in low-carbon, renewable energy measures reducing CO2 producing activities and shifting to activities with low CO2 footprint. Urgent need for a transition to a cleaner, more sustainable and less carbon intensive energy future is evident. The project overall objective is to improve regional and national policies increasing the share of energy from renewable sources in the overall energy mix and encouraging and facilitating the production and use of renewables by businesses, communities and households aiming at less carbon intensive energy future. Partners jointly work aiming at encouraging business investments into renewable energy and new innovative technologies and increasing involvement of energy consumers as active players. To achieve the project goals partners will look at possibilities to encourage technological development in renewable energy (support for business, industry to develop new technologies) as well as to use of social innovation concept to involve consumers (households, communities, industry, business representatives, public authorities) in the transition process shifting towards renewable energy production and consumption.  The main project outputs are: 57 interregional learning events, 8 Action Plans addressing 7 ERDF and 1 local policy instruments, at least 15 good practices will be analysed and shared, 130 people will increase their professional capacities.

Lead Partner: Resources Recovery Regional Agency

SMEs form the backbone of the economy, however, their potential for energy efficiency and renewable energy use remains untapped. The huge number of SMEs operating across the EU means that a change in their energy behaviour is an essential part of the shift to a low carbon economy. The specific target of SME POWER are non-energy intensive SMEs: a silent majority that does not yet recognise the benefits of committing to this shift. SME POWER’s overall aim is to ensure that public policy for the low carbon economy is better adapted to the needs of non-energy intensive SMEs, thus enabling them to be a key driver in the low carbon shift at European level. A driver thanks to improved energy conditions in their buildings and processes. A driver thanks to their role as a multiplier when developing more energy efficient products. A driver thanks to the positive examples set for workers when investing in capacity building measures. These 3 drivers for change are at the core of the SME POWER learning activities. As European policy makers approach the complex world of support for low carbon SMEs from different angles, interregional cooperation is key to identifying good practices that can be integrated, merged and adapted. SME POWER’s partnership gathers complementary experiences and builds on a shared vision. Policy support must be designed with a synergic approach, promoting measures that target all the drivers for change. SME POWER groups 7 policy partners, improving 5 ERDF and 1 national policy instruments and it welcomes 1 Advisory Partner. Thanks to the design and implementation of an Action Plan for policy improvement, SME POWER achieves reduced emissions and increased use of renewables in non-energy intensive SMEs. SME POWER places itself at the centre of a shift from support to low carbon public sector towards the private sector. If supported by effective policies, as encouraged by SME POWER, SMEs can become a driver to reaching the ambitious EU 2030 energy targets.

Lead Partner: Delft University of Technology

2050 CliMobCity is about climate mitigation in the field of urban mobility. Many cities have formulated very to modestly ambitious climate aims for the very long term (e.g. 2050) or for a shorter period (e.g. 2030). Whatever aim, many cities are uncertain about if and how they can achieve these goals. The project addresses measure (package)s to sufficiently improve the CO2-performance of urban mobility, and the governance required in this regard. The central question is: How must mobility change to achieve climate-friendly mobility? And because the urbanism also influences the sustainability of mobility, the question includes: How must the urban structure change to achieve climate-friendly mobility? The project contributes to answering these questions, focussing on three issues for interregional learning: 1) Identification of measure packages to sufficiently reduce CO2 of mobility for the local or regional climate aims, and their implementation in strategic mobility or spatial plans, 2) Electric mobility and large scale charging of electric road vehicles, and 3) Information and communication systems supporting modal shift or shorter distances enhancing carbon-friendly mobility. All partner cities, Bydgoszcz, Leipzig, Plymouth, Almeria and Thessaloniki, are contributing ones, having manifested themselves in (one or more of) the mentioned innovative areas. All partner cities are also learning ones. The first issue is relative complex, while also being extremely relevant, as it shows whether a city is sufficiently on track for its climate aims. To convince all city actors to incorporate identification results in strategic city plans and other policy documents and announce corresponding actions in the project action plans, the project demonstrates the value of the identification by carrying out such exercise for each partner city in the learning phase.

Lead Partner: Centre for Research and Technology Hellas

Many European urban areas face a series of environmental challenges linked to mobility congestion and air pollution. Based on experience, sustainable urban mobility planning cannot be achieved without the commitment of key stakeholders and travellers and given this need, e-smartec proposes accompanying each step of mobility planning with the deployment of targeted marketing techniques for linking bottom-up and top-down decision making. The e-smartec project is designed to strengthen the urban dimension of regional and local mobility policymaking, contributing to the implementation of the EU Transport White Paper, Urban Agenda and EU 2020 with a view to transit to a low carbon economy. e-smartec aims at developing Action Plans to start and implement effective mobility interventions, as the basis for a competitive, resource-efficient and low carbon oriented European transport system. The 9 e-smartec partners, from 7 EU countries representing the 6 e-smartec test-bed areas, join their forces in an ultimate goal to provide tailored guidelines on citizens and stakeholders' engagement marketing techniques for innovative decision-making and traditional procedures.

Lead Partner: Extremadura Energy Agency, AGENEX

THE CHALLENGE The agricultural sector accounts for almost 10% of greenhouse gas emissions in the EU, mainly for food production and transport. While there is an enormous potential to produce renewable energy on farms due to the availability of wind, sun, biomass and agricultural waste, important barriers and challenges still remain.                                      Recent studies have proven that the main barriers identified by farmers to produce renewable energy are:  complex permit and subsidy procedures, high investment costs, limited access to credit and doubts about profitability.  Subsidies and feed-in tariffs are a key factor in encouraging farmers to shift towards a more environmentally friendly production and use of energy. The EU’s rural development policy helps the rural areas meet economic, environmental and social challenges, and it shares objectives with other ESIF funds. MS and regions draw up their rural development programmes based on the needs of their territories, and addressing some of the common EU priorities. At least 30% of funding for each RDP must be dedicated to measures relevant for the environment and climate change. OVERALL OBJECTIVE: The main objective is to develop measures that encourage the production and use of RE in the agricultural and rural sector. AgroREs will support this sector by solving its energy needs in a sustainable, economic viable and socially responsible way. OUTPUTS