Today we are in Zwolle, around 1h20 drive from Amsterdam. The town of 130.000 inhabitants has a beautiful medieval centre. Today’s guest, Olaf Heinen, lives in the neighbourhood of Assendorp, more specifically in the area of Sallandsweide.This area is composed of very different types of houses and holds a very diverse group of residents. This is also where most of the city’s low-income people live. A few years ago, Olaf and his neighbours wondered how they could make their 170 homes more comfortable, their heating cleaner and their streets greener. Olaf can be called an “entrepreneurial activist” and during the interview you’ll understand why. He explains how conversations around the kitchen table led to the idea of installing a heating network owned by the residents. Olaf is a trained energy consultant and since several years he puts his knowledge at the service of his own neighbourhood, as part of the program 50 shades of Assendorp which is a pilot area for the SCCALE 20-30-50 project. This episode was produced with support from SCCALE 20-30-50. SCCALE is an EU project (Horizon 2020 programme) which makes collaboration happen to get many more energy communities up and running. The people behind SCCALE203050 work on a methodology and toolkit for citizens, cities and policy makers. If you, too, want to see more local energy communities across Europe, check out the toolkit and explore all of the project’s resources at the website sccale203050.eu.

Some say the energy transition is a great opportunity to create a more equal society. Others are more pessimistic and predict that the transition will worsen inequalities. How does reality look like and what solutions do we already have at hand to guarantee fair access and good lives to all, no matter their income, race, religion, gender? I’m delighted to talk about inclusive cities and communities with two trailblazing women: Kata Tütto and Antonia Proka. Kata is Deputy Mayor at the City of Budapest, and candidate for this year’s European Parliament election in Hungary. Antonia represents the world of cooperatives: She is project manager at RESCoop.eu and co-author of the Inclusivity Guide for Energy Communities that was released a few months ago. Let’s go for a this episode where we talk about residents of all types and from all strands! This episode was produced with support from SCCALE 20-30-50. www.sccale203050.eu

We all try to make green choices for a more sustainable world. And so do local authorities as public buyers. Through public procurement authorities buy work, goods or services. Green public procurement means those authorities use their purchasing power to support the clean energy transition. In this episode of City Stories, Efren Guillò Sansano who is the Head of Innovation at the Spanish cooperative Grupo Enercoop explains how bidding processes can pave the way for energy communities. In our conversation, Efren takes the example of Crevillent, a Spanish municipality close to Alicante. A few years ago, the Crevillent City Council created a concession procedure for rooftop solar on municipal buildings and they added special community criteria. One of them was that 80% of the electricity produced on municipal roofs should be shared with local citizens. Learn more in my conversation with Efren. Let’s go and let’s dive into the wonderful world of tendering contracts, technical specifications and award criteria. This episode was produced with support from SCCALE 20-30-50. www.sccale203050.eu

This episode is with Carlo Tacconelli. Carlo is an international energy expert and CEO of EnGreen, anItalian renewables start-up. Carlo has 16 years of experience in distributed renewable energy systems in Europe and in developing countries. Carlo shares some of that experience in this episode, with a special focus on the incredible power of energy communities. We left our conversation with much optimism as Carlo talks about all the positive side effects energy communities can bring. We particularly enjoyed listening to him when he talked about the potential of a rural revival. As shared renewable energy is becoming more popular in villages and is creating jobs, we might be able to reverse the trend of rural communities hollowing out. Some people may decide to return to a rural, more self-sustaining life. Here is our conversation with a fantastic glimmer of hope! This episode was produced with support from SCCALE 20-30-50. www.sccale203050.eu

He is an ultra-runner and an ultra-communicator. When Michal Svoboda talks to Mayors about new energy practices he demonstrates both, endurance and creativity. This Czechman who used to work for the leading big energy company is now a fervent advocate of local renewable energy. Michal is an energy consultant and involved in several municipal networks. He also participated in the recent creation of the very first Czech Union for energy communities. I’ve talked with him about the challenge to make sure renewables are not monopolized by large big investors, the changes it requires to initiate collective energy action in a post-communist country and in areas with a deeply entrenched coal culture. This episode was produced with support from SCCALE 20-30-50. SCCALE is an EU project (Horizon 2020 programme) which makes collaboration happen to get many more energy communities up and running. The people behind SCCALE203050 work on a methodology and toolkit for citizens, cities and policy makers. If you, too, want to see more local energy communities across Europe, check out the toolkit and explore all of the project’s resources at the website sccale203050.eu.

For this episode we traveled to Croatia: From Zagreb it takes between one and two hours by car to the much smaller towns of Koprivnica, Varazdin and Virovitica in the North-East of Croatia. It's in Koprivnica, a city of 30.000 inhabitants, where today’s guest Ivan Simic lives and works. Ivan is managing director of the regional energy agency REA North. The energy agency supports the three city councils which are working hard to build a green and prosperous future for their people. I chatted with Ivan about his current big planning mission of reviewing the cities' SEAPs. He also explained how communication with city leaders can be improved and why he wants citizens to get on a state aid rehab. The EUCityCalc project supports cities in data-driven decision-making: With funding from the EU Horizon 2020 program, the project will release the European City Calculator webtool. This is an open-source instrument with which cities can plan their measures to bring CO2 emissions down to zero. www.europeancitycalculator.eu

Mantova, West of Venice, is a beautiful city with a UNESCO protected core. Unfortunately, it is also surrounded by three artificial lakes that suffer from last century pollution. But the local administration is determined to give nature back to citizens both in and around the city centre. The city even already hosted the World Forum on Urban Forests! In Mantova, the journey to carbon neutrality started with joining the Covenant of Mayors in 2013. For this episode I had a conversation with Adriana Nepote who is City Councillor in Mantova. In those past 10 years, much urban reactivation has happened notably through nature-based solutions and a series of very complementary actions. Adriana explains how to be visionary in a place marked by its past. How to make sure citizens see the big picture and the happier and healthier future that is being designed for them? The EUCityCalc project supports cities in data-driven decision-making: With funding from the EU Horizon 2020 program, the project will release the European City Calculator webtool. This is an open-source instrument with which cities can plan their measures to bring CO2 emissions down to zero.

Mise à part son excellence culinaire, la région métropolitaine a également été reconnue par la Commission européenne comme étant un leader climatique. Elle fait partie de 100 villes phares en matière de climat. Mon invité aujourd'hui est Jean-Patrick Masson, vice-président chargé de la transition énergétique à Dijon Métropole. Jean-Patrick est l'un des moteurs politiques de sa région et très actif aussi sur la scène politique nationale. Mon bref entretien avec lui m'a ouvert de nouvelles perspectives sur l'importance des partenariats et sur la nécessité de tester les choses avant de les dupliquer. De plus en plus de villes européennes se sont engagées à atteindre la neutralité carbone d’ici le milieu du siècle, voire avant. Seules quelques-unes ont déjà réussi à élaborer des plans de transition concret et à les mettre en oeuvre. Le projet EUCityCalc aide les villes à prendre des décisions fondées sur des données : Grâce au financement du programme Horizon 2020 de l’UE, le projet publiera l’outil web European City Calculator. Il s’agit d’un instrument open-source avec lequel les villes peuvent planifier leurs mesures pour ramener les émissions de CO2 à zéro. www.europeancitycalculator.eu