The EU-funded Regio1st project has recently published a report on the FEDERENE website.
How to implement energy efficiency policies and measures in regional and local planning? That’s the overall objective of the Regio1st project. To overcome this challenge, the project gathers six pilot-regions (Asturias in Spain, Ireland Southeast, Liguria in Italy, Međimurje County in Croatia, Ormož and Slovenska Bistrica in Slovenia and Western Macedonia in Greece), which led a series of regional workshops to assess it with different local stakeholders involved in climate and energy planning.
Thanks to this first regional activities, and additional interviews with regional stakeholders external to the project (from Île-de-France (France), Lower Austria (Austria), Észak-Alföld region (Hungary) and Mazovia (Poland)), a mapping has been drafted, providing an outlook of the different regional development planning cycles and procedures.
More specifically the report includes:
- A review of the planning context in the six regions,
- A review of the decision-making procedures in each partner region,
- An analysis of the planning procedures followed in each region,
- A review of how multi-level governance is considered in the planning processes;
- A review of monitoring structures.
Particular emphasis was given to the consideration of the Energy Efficiency First (EE1st) principle in energy planning.
The report has identified a number of areas within the energy planning process that could be improved in most of the countries and regions considered, and a number of challenges preventing the inclusion of the EE1st principle. In addition, it lists a number of best practices at regional level, that can inspire other regions across Europe.
According to the report, a comprehensive and collaborative approach involving policymakers, industry stakeholders, and communities and a sustained effort and commitment from all parties is key for better energy planning process which includes the EE1st principle.
To discover more details on the key findings, read the full report.
About Regio1st
Regio1ST raises awareness about the Energy Efficiency First principle (EE1st) among regional governments and their agencies and supports them to make related decisions in their planning. It does so through the provision of appropriate guidance to regional authorities to embed the EE1st principle in their decisions and in the implementation of their energy plans departing from six participant regions and expanding to over 100 regions in the EU. It establishes a community of practice for EE1st in cooperation with the Covenant of Mayors to ensure political commitment of regional authorities and strengthens the enforcement of the Multilevel Climate and Energy Dialogue provision, with particular focus on ownership and acceptance of the principle from stakeholders at all levels.
Specific objectives
- Provide decision-support for regional authorities to apply the EE1st principle in their
energy-related planning practices - Establish a community of practice for EE1st to ensure political commitment and societal acceptance through co-development of energy related scenarios
- Support the introduction or strengthening of EE1st in the revision of National Energy and Climate Plans (NECP), Regional Operational Programs and foster the enforcement of the Multilevel Climate and Energy Dialogue provision.
External link
Energy in Demand - Sustainable Energy - Rod Janssen 