This workshop has been an opportunity to consider points of views of different stakeholders involved in energy issues at different levels. Local authorities, NGOs, enterprises, EU institutions, etc., are linked with their actions and policies to the territory and have to engage into dialogue in order to march towards sustainability.

Read more

Energy Cities organises a workshop on "Low-energy cities with a high quality of life for all: a way towards territorial cohesion" during the Open Days Week in Brussels in order to:

• Build bridges between Energy and Territorial cohesion,
• Gather stakeholders acting directly or indirectly on Energy issues at local and territorial level,
• Prefigure a local energy alliance.

See the programme and save the date: October 6th 2010, 14:30 – 17:00, in Brussels

Important: Registration is compulsory!
As the Open Days’ organisers require it, you have to REGISTER as soon as possible on the Open Days Website. We will then confirm your registration.
http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/conferences/od2010/registration.cfm?nmenu=500
The code number of the workshop is: 06C14.

We hope to meet you at this occasion!

The next IMAGINE event to be organised will be the start of the Figueres IMAGINE local process.

Through the IMAGINE initiative, the city of Figueres decided to gather local stakeholders with the help of DeMontfort University and Energy Cities in order to engage in a reflection on the energy future of the Figueres Region.

The launch event will take place in the Catalonian Dali City on June 10th and 11th.

www.figueres.cat/

• Minutes
• Presentation by Sabine Froning (EUroheat and power)
• Presentation by Jean-Luc Daubaire (City of Rennes)
• Presentation by Richard Elelman (City of Figueres)
• Presentation by Gérard Magnin (Energie-Cités)

• Minutes
• Presentation by Sabine Froning (Euroheat and power)
• Presentation by Gerard Magnin (Energie-Cités)

First IMAGINE thematic meeting taking place in Brussels tomorrow!

District heating represents an efficient energy solutions for satisfying urban heat. Though, is this solution suitable everywhere? Which primary energy sources does it involve? Does it make room for renewables? And is district heating relevant in low energy districts, when heating needs are low? Under which conditions is district heating acceptable for social housing?



This issues will be cross-analysed by experts and discussed with the participants.

Main speakers are:

• Sabine Froning (Euroheat and Power) [confirmed]
• Josche Muth (EREC) [confirmed]
• Thomas Bouquet (Cogen Europe) [confirmed]
• Claire Roumet (Cecodhas) [confirmed]

Also, one session will address the outputs of the IMAGINE seminar (Memorandum of understanding, Action plan...) held in last November in Arc-et-Senans (FR).

Venue:
February 2nd, 2010
09:00 – 12:00
House of Cities - Square de Meeûs 1 (Room Luxembourg) | B-1000 Brussels

Contact: Stéphane Dupas

The Green and connected cities organised by ACIDD in Strasbourg is a first response to an observation.

"Information and communication technologies play a decisive role in the future of our societies and sustainable development of our territories, especially in large towns. They can and must be the levers for a human development and a democratic renewal, for an economy which takes all its social and environmental responsibilities and develops by reinventing its models for wealth creation."

As a result, this forum gathered around 150 participants and took place under the form of a series of small forum organised in the buildings of the European Parliament.

More information and coming proceeding on the Forum's webiste.

ACIDD participates in the IMAGINE network through its president, Gilles Berhault.

In Rennes, an open forum was organised by the municipality as part of the discussion around the local climate change plan.

Around 100 persons representing a high diversity of local stakeholders participated in the event, which followed the principles of the Open Space Conference:

• Whoever shows up is the right group
• Whatever happens is the only thing that could have
• Whenever it starts is the right time
• When it's over, it's over.

During the opening session, participants could propose sessions and workshops and put them in one of the available time slots.

This event was labelled IMAGINE event and will soon be the subject of a reporting post on the blog.

On October 8th, a luncheon organised by Energie-Cites took place in Brussels to launch the discussions around the IMAGINE memorandum of understanding as base for the IMAGINE think-tank. Participants in the think-tank gathered and exchanged views in order to prepare the basis of the next IMAGINE seminar, in November.

Read more

The initiative to organize a local “Imagine” event was taken on 3 September 2009 by the city of Bielsko Biala within the framework of the EuroBeskid region, which involves Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The event gathered around 50 persons.

The city of Bielsko-Biala is going ahead in various ways. A comprehensive policy and an appropriate staffing, as well as political commitment gives the city a stronger reputation in Poland as an advanced city within energy issues. This event is to be seen within the growing importance of Energy and Territory issues and the concerns of other polish local authorities actors like PNEC (Association of Municipalities Polish Network 'Energie-Cités) and ZMP (Association of Polish Cities), which are putting energy issues in the agenda.

This success shows that there are opportunities to organize IMAGINE events at the local event, involving local actors inspired by the results of the IMAGINE think-tank, and in turn inspiring the global IMAGINE discussions.

The City of Bielsko-Biała is putting the IMAGINE initiative into practice and hold an IMAGINE event at the level of the city, inviting key players and citizens to discuss the energy future of their territory.

Read more

As of July, the Royal Salt Works of Arc-et-Senans (France), in liaison with Energie-Cités and Solvay, will be hosting an exhibition dedicated to Solar Impulse, the solar airplane project led by the Swiss Bertrand Piccard’s team. This scientific and human adventure is also an invitation to carry out a general reflection on our energy future. Energie-Cités intends to contribute to such a reflection with five panels inspired by the IMAGINE exhibition, with the support of the regional branch of the French national environment and energy management agency, ADEME Franche-Comté.

Read more

During the joint annual Rendezvous of Énergie-Cités and Climate Alliance, the first morning session was the occasion to give a taste of the next IMAGINE seminar.

Read more

One of the few certainties we have today is that ‘cities’ will still be here in 2050. However, not much can be said about what they will look like, what kind of life they will foster, how people will move within them, think, grow, study, work, have fun, suffer and die. What sort of architecture, design and technology tools will be used?

Read more

The city of Munich organised this summer an exhibition entitled "Zukunft findet Stadt" ("The future takes place"), which allowed visitors to have a look at the future of the city of Munich. Split into different domains, the exhibition addressed the potentialities of the city in the fields of Education, Environment, Mobility, Urban development and Living together. Performances by artists rounded the programme, which can be found at: http://www.zukunft-findet-stadt.de/

English information is also available at: http://www.zukunft-findet-stadt.de/zfs_publikationen.html

As proposed by this japenese unplugged movement,
on the evening of June 21 make your night a Candle night.
Turn off your lights for two hours from 8 to 10 p.m.



Then follow their suggestions:

"Do something special . . .
Read a book with your child by candlelight.
Enjoy a quiet dinner with a special person.
This night can mean many things for many people.
A time to save energy, to think about peace,
to think about people in distant lands who share our planet."