Cities could play a greater role in energy transition, becoming hubs of energy efficiency innovation and expertise, pioneering measures to make urban environments more energy efficient and allowing the EU to meet the carbon reduction targets by 2030. Local leaders are key actors to achieve the energy transition necessary to reach carbon reduction, and are increasingly asked to take action from citizens all over Europe. Yet, they face many challenges in becoming actors in the energy market, and the knowledge arising from the forerunners in localising energy services does not always reach those who would benefit from it the most - other cities and energy agencies in Europe. POTEnT - Public Organisations Transform Energy Transition, a new european project co-funded by Interreg Europe programme, is seeking to change this. The project innovatively addresses a key challenge for European cities and regions: how to achieve more carbon reduction by harnessing the potential of direct and local action by citizens and communities.
POTEnT will support the take-up and transfer of successful local energy transition measures and experiences already developed by cities and energy agencies in 8 european countries: ALOEN (Energy and climate local agency of South Brittany - Lead Partner), City of Parma (Italy), City of Pamplona (Spain), City of Milton Keynes (UK), City of Ostrava (Czeck Republic), Energy Agency for Southeast Sweden (Sweden), Tartu Regional Energy Agency (Estonia), and Ettlingen Municipal Services Agency (Germany). An innovative knowledge transfer process and a mentoring programme, coordinated by Erasmus University (with the Erasmus Centre for Urban, Port and Transport Economics BV), will facilitate the intensive inter-city learning so crucial to the project's success. Through a close cooperation with local stakeholders, the eight partners will be able to improve local and regional policy instruments and leverage new investments of ERDF policy instruments and local plans, delivering ambitious long-term effects on carbon reduction.
POTEnT is set to run until July 2022, followed by 12 months of monitoring of the results.
