Politics meets practice: Energy Solutions for Smart Cities and Communities

“Energy Solutions for Smart Cities and Communities” is the title of a high-level conference to which the European Commission invites all interested stakeholders, on 22 and 23 October 2013 in Brussels. In the European Union initiative for sustainable energy districts “CONCERTO”, 58 cities and communities have built 22 demonstration projects in 23 EU countries.

The EU has compiled and evaluated the experiences of these pilot cities in an ambitious project. This conference presents the results from this analysis as well as the hands-on knowledge from the cities. Findings from over five years of CONCERTO project work prove that more energy efficiency and the transition to renewable energy is not only feasible and financially viable in individual buildings, but also in entire urban districts, demonstrating that it often makes more sense to undertake energetic renovation at district level.

The conference will be opened by an address from Þydrûné Juodkiené, Deputy Minister for Energy of the Republic of Lithuania. Lithuania currently holds the EU presidency. The Minister will present the EU's energy policy plans. Philip Lowe, Director-General for Energy of the European Commission, will explain why “Smart Cities and Communities” are so important for the energy transition in the EU and how the EU is supporting cities and communities in the conversion of their energy systems.

In the various sessions to take place on the first day, topics include the right technology mix, integrated energy planning, residents´ participation, as well as economic feasibility, financing options and business models. On day two, participants can learn how to start a smart city process and how planning decisions can be supported by the CONCERTO technical monitoring database, which was created by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) on behalf of the EU.

Urban planners will discuss with representatives from industry and political decision makers. Speakers represent among others “Europe's greenest city” Växjö in Sweden, Schneider Electric as a provider of smart energy efficiency technologies, Amsterdam and its Smart Cities project TRANSFORM, the working group on Finance of the Smart Cities and Communities Stakeholder Platform, and technology-transfer experts of the Steinbeis-Europa-Zentrum, which is coordinating the overall assessment of the CONCERTO initiative on behalf of the European Commission. The EU Commission will explain how it integrates the fields of energy, transport and ICT in its Smart Cities and Communities Innovation Partnership.

Informing about the various funding instruments and European initiatives is another focus, also of the event's exhibition area. The venue is the Charlemagne Building in Brussels, Rue de la Loi 170.

The conference language is English. Participation is free of charge, but registration is required at: http://www.amiando.com/concerto_conference.html.

The CONCERTO Initiative is co-financed by the European Commission through the European Research Framework Programme. The EU initiative of DG Energy has cofunded 58 communities in 22 projects in 23 countries and started in 2005.

Contact:
CONCERTO Premium:
Steinbeis-Europa-Zentrum
Valerie Bahr and Charlotte Schlicke
Tel: +49-711-123 4021, Tel: +49-711-123 4018, E-mail:
concertopremium@steinbeis-europa.de
Weitere Informationen:
http://www.amiando.com/concerto_conference.html – Registration
http://www.concerto.eu – CONCERTO website
http://www.youtube.com/user/CONCERTOPREMIUM – Videos on YouTube
http://ec.europa.eu/energy/technology/initiatives/smart_cities_en.htm
– EU Smart Cities and Communities European Innovation Partnership