Energy Cities is the european association of local authorities in energy transition. The association created in 1990 represents now more than 1,000 towns and cities in 30 countries.

Our 5 key demands on the next EU electricity market legislation
by Sara Giovannini
11 Sep 2018 at 3:16am

Today, the European Commission, the Parliament and the Council started the second round of negotiations around the electricity market design for the European Union. Together with Rescoop, we published a position paper expressing our key demands on the next EU energy market legislation.
The EU is poised to set an unprecedented standard by formalizing the role of citizens and communities in Europe's energy transition. By 2050, almost half of all EU households could be involved in producing (...)

Summer homework : What do cities need ?
by Claire Roumet
9 Sep 2018 at 11:04pm

by Claire Roumet, Executive director of Energy Cities
Tradition dictates that we take Summer workbooks with us to the beach. This year however, it's just as school is starting up again that we need you to hand in your homework!
In the dog days of Summer, we received a panicked request from the European Commission, which has realized that the EU's energy consumption was continually, inexorably increasing. ?We are not on track?, they said (see graph below). It is no longer enough to point the (...)

How Polish cities are bucking the government's coal trend: 5 ways to push for...
by Sara Giovannini
6 Sep 2018 at 5:59am

Poland is not known for being the strongest supporter of solar, wind and biomass. Instead, the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party is defending the country's last coal-fired power plant, called Ostro??ka C project, to ensure Poland's energy security. The government should encourage renewable strategies at the local level, cities say. We looked at energy strategies in Polish municipalities and found a lot of initiative, ingenuity and a big desire for change.
Patrycja P?onka from our Polish sister (...)

Serious play: a game-changer for local climate action?
by David Donnerer
4 Sep 2018 at 2:57am

Games are meant to entertain us. But can we have fun while improving our abilities to learn, make decisions and collaborate to bring forward the energy transition? It seems possible thanks to serious games about climate and energy, which can educate citizens about pressing challenges and increase the ability of public officials to take action at the local level.
Serious games, whether board or video games, have been around for decades already. In schools for example, such games are used to (...)

Apply for the next edition of the European Covenant of Mayors twinning progra...
by David Donnerer
31 Aug 2018 at 2:30am

The call for a new edition of the twinning programme of the European Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy is open until September 14th!
The Covenant twinning programme offers cities, regions and provinces across Europe the opportunity to take part in twinning exchanges aiming to increase local authorities' capacity and knowledge to mitigate and adapt to climate change.
The programme is open to:
? All Covenant of Mayors signatories (i.e. municipalities) from countries associated to the (...)

What if your weekend getaway could damage your health?
by Sara Giovannini
20 Aug 2018 at 12:14am

The organisation Transport and Environment just released an infographic comparing the air pollution conditions in Europe's 10 most popular cities with the impacts of cigarettes smoke.
The parallel between the two sounds unusual but it is based on a research by Berkeley Earth, focusing on fine particulate (PM2.5) ? the most commonly used measure of air pollution levels. Indeed, when visiting a city, we spend most of the time outside and we are more exposed to the effects of air pollution. (...)

The Energy Cities network welcomes 30 Greek cities!
by Floriane Cappelletti
17 Aug 2018 at 6:57am

30 Greek cities and towns recently joined Energy Cities through the adhesion of the Greek network "Sustainable City".
"Sustainable City" is a civil, non-profit organisation which provides technical support to their members (30 Greek municipalities and one from Cyprus), enabling them to prepare and submit proposals to European programmes such as Horizon 2020 or LIFE and make use of the available funding.?
"The European Union offers a plethora of financial opportunities through programs (...)

Artificial Intelligence - the next frontier for local energy transition
by David Donnerer
7 Aug 2018 at 6:13am

From drones, self-driving cars and robot vacuum cleaners sweeping our homes to chatbots answering our service requests, artificial intelligence (AI) is already appearing more and more in our daily city lives. But the advent of AI won't end there : as energy systems are becoming decentralised, decarbonised and digitalised, artificial intelligence is set to emerge as the next frontier for local energy transition. What will this mean for cities ?
Artificial intelligence, which is the ability (...)

Fostering District Heating and Cooling in European Cities ? Policy recommenda...
by Sara Giovannini
2 Aug 2018 at 2:00am

You have probably heard about the advantages of District Heating and Cooling systems : they increase energy efficiency, reduce CO2 emissions and contribute to the development of a greener economy. But what can be done to foster the supply of renewable and low carbon heat to our buildings ? Our experts just released a set of recommendations for policy makers to promote District Heating and Cooling in North-West Europe !
Recently we have heard a lot of stories about the development of (...)

EU energy policy : what's in store for you in the fall ?
by David Donnerer
30 Jul 2018 at 1:08am

Ever heard of JOMO ? It stands for ?joy of missing out.? For this summer's newsletter, we thought you'd have a much easier time chilling out during your vacation if you know now what to expect upon your return.
The month of June was hectic. Negotiations on the renewables and energy efficiency directive and on the governance of the Energy Union regulation finally came to an end. For this newsletter edition, we decided to take you through the key milestones of EU energy and climate policy that (...)