IMAGINE was intitated by Energie-Cités, which is a network of 500 involved European cities, working together to promote and implement more efficient and sustainable local energy and climate policies.
For the reasons explained in the previous posts, we started this initiative in 2006 around 3 main lines:

• an exhibition presenting 16 beacon territories in Europe,
• the preparation of a future European-wide capaign,
• a foresight seminar which takes place every year in France,

The main goal of this seminar is to "refine" the IMAGINE concepts. As we believe in the power of networking and collective intelligence, we gather every year about 40 european participants around a set of crucial issues on what could be "the energy future of our cities".
If you want to discover more about the first IMAGINE seminar, in only 4'30 minutes, just have a look on this video:

IMAGINE Seminar


If you want more "textual" information, please make a visit to the Energie-Cités's related webpage.

“IMAGINE, the energy future of our cities is” a long-term initiative of Energie-Cités, that started in 2006. Its main purpose is based on the idea that we need to imagine a future energy model that is compatible with what the planet can cope with and reduce the energy and climate vulnerability of the territories and their habitants. Indeed, we think that:

• issues relating to climate change and energy resources are closely linked and will in the future take on dimensions which are completely unpredictable today,
• our current development model is not viable and the parts of the world which have been excluded from it now also want their share,
• we, the so-called industrialised countries, will have to reduce our CO2 emissions a factor 4 by 2050, which involves reducing our energy consumption a factor 3,
• this will only be possible if somewhat fundamental changes are implemented. It will also require the widespread implementation of existing solutions, even when these are today at a marginal stage of development.

Why not ?

The IMAGINE initiative aims at encouraging the European territories to prepare for their future by making them less vulnerable to energy risks and returning to them the responsibility for their energy consumption and its associated impacts on resources, climate and wastes.

Within the time horizon of one generation, IMAGINE responds to the obvious energy challenges of our civilization. History has shown that energy and the development of civilisation are correlated.

All of society - and each territory – must now envision its "desired future." IMAGINE is based on an integration of two imperatives: first, responding with clarity to our obvious challenges and, second, embracing participative democracy.

Taking into account the dynamic parallels, convergent or contradictory, and the broad range of actors influencing energy consumption and production within the territories, IMAGINE poses the territory as the place where integration can occur.

IMAGINE is also concerned with solidarity between the territories, and with the world scene, as the development of one part of the world depends on the energy behaviour of others.

To be more effective in practice, IMAGINE intends to be based on the one hand, an integration of the two imperatives (above) and on the other hand, practical learning from existing practices which can already help to show the way forward.

We, the industrialised countries, will have to divide, by at least 4, our greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. This means that we must reduce usage to approximately one third of our current energy consumption and shift to renewable energy sources for remaining uses. These objectives became, formally, those of the European Union and were adopted by several countries.

To avoid remaining simply empty slogans, achieving these objectives demands a fundamental transformation of our societies; in fact, a new civilisation. This realisation, however, has generally eluded policy circles. By fear of acknowledgement? By undervaluation of the necessary changes?

The challenge in front of us is to enthusiastically take part in its invention. In doing so, we will reduce our vulnerability, at all levels of territories and households. And possibly, we will provide the foundations for the return of a healthy economy.

We’ve given a thought to these challenges and we’ve come up with the IMAGINE initiative

This blog accompanies the Energie-Cités’ IMAGINE initiative since its beginning in 2006. Designed as an on-going seminar, it aims at offering a continual enrichment of the ideas and thoughts exchanged and developed during the IMAGINE annual foresight seminar, which takes place every year in November at the Royal Salt work of Arc-et-Senans, France.

We publish here articles linked to the IMAGINE seminars, but also wish to present activities and visions taking place in various fields and carried on by diverse stakeholders, which directly or indirectly relate to sustainable energy coming from or applied at the territorial level. Our objective is to make visible a vision for local sustainable energy emerging from a priori unconnected ‘weak signals’.

What do these visions have in common? Do they diverge? What do they mean for local authorities? For local territories? Can ideas provided by local actors live up on a broader scale in a bottom-up perspective?

The articles are mainly provided by the Energie-Cités staff, but are open to anyone interested by this approach.

Stéphane Dupas is IMAGINE Project Manager and Co-ordinator.

Blandine Pidoux is Information Manager at Energie-Cites.

Gérard Magnin is Executive Director of Energie-Cites.

Further information about IMAGINE:
IMAGINE Concept paper (English - French)
IMAGINE Project :
www.energie-cites.eu/IMAGINE
IMAGINE Exhibition :
www.imagineyourenergyfuture.eu/exhibition