Practical guidance on efficiently utilising renewable energy resources - this is the focus of the Conference Local Renewables 2014, Regional development through energy transition.

The City of Freiburg, the City of Lörrach and ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability would like to express their sincere thanks and appreciation to all attendees and speakers who joined the Local Renewables Conference 2014, held from 22-24 October in the cities of Freiburg and Lörrach (Germany).  Your enthusiasm and contribution to this important event was greatly appreciated, allowing us to continue being the international hub for advancing the agenda of renewable energy among policy-makers from various levels of government, energy experts, energy services providers, researchers and business representatives.

The organisers would also like to thank the conference sponsors, partners and endorsers;  through their support they made this conference happen.

Background

The ongoing economic crisis, growing energy instability and resource scarcity call for a shift to sustainable economies. The Local Renewables Conference 2014 addressed the key role of local and regional governments and the importance of renewable energy and improvement of energy efficiency in this shift.

Cities are increasingly looking into making best use of the available resources within their region and move beyond mere consumption to replenishment and even production of energy resources.

During the three-day conference, participants and speakers had the opportunity to:

• exchange on how cities and regions can optimise collaboration with local stakeholders such  as business, civil society and academia;
  
  
• evaluate the potential of technological innovations and integration including e.g. solar cooling, waste-to-energy and water-food-energy nexus solutions, and
  
  
• analyse cost-benefits and financing options (public and private sources) for local action, and ways of developing meaningful financial partnerships.

Programme Details

Wednesday 22 October

Welcome remarks

• Prof. Dr. Martin Haag - Deputy Mayor fore Regional Planning and Urban Development, City of Freiburg (Germany)
• Holger Robrecht - Deputy Regional Director, ICLEI Europe

Plenary 1 - Setting the scene: local climate and energy action supporting regional economic development

• Facilitator: Holger Robrecht - Deputy Regional Director, ICLEI Europe        
• Tae-Young Young -  Mayor, City of Suwon (Republic of Korea)
• Prof. Dr. Nevila Xhindi - Deputy Mayor, City of Tirana (Albania) and Network Energy Efficient Cities (NEEC)
• Ted Petith - Advisor for Sustainability Planning, City of Madison

Study tours in Lörrach

• Tour 1: A view of Lörrach’s local energy production and distribution from the cycle path
• Tour 2: Good practices of regional cooperation to take advantage of energy transition

Welcome reception in Lörrach 

Thursday 23 October

Plenary 2 - Changes in the political, legal and economic framework for the transition to energy productive cities and regions

• Facilitator: Wolfgang Teubner - Regional Director Europe, ICLEI Europe
• Dr. Klaus von Zahn - Director of the Environment Department, City of Freiburg (Germany)
  
• Alexander Kainer - Principal, Roland Berger Strategy Consultants GmbH
• Oyvind Vessia - Renewables and CCS, Directorate - General for Energy, European Commission
  
• Prof. Dr. Peter Heck -  Manager Director, Trier University of Applied Sciences (Germany)
• Marijan Maras - Head of Office for Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development, City of Zagreb (Croatia) and Dubravka Bosnjak - Project Manager, GIZ Open Regional Fund for SEE Energy Efficiency

Workshops A1 & B1

Workshop A1: Sustainable Energy Action Plan: from planning to sound implementation      

• Facilitator: Carsten Rothballer - Officer, Sustainable Resources, Climate and Resilience, ICLEI Europe
• Claude Lenglet - Manager, The third industrial revolution in Nord-Pas de Calais (France)
• Pieter Biemans -  Programme Manager Climate and Energy, City of Tilburg (The Netherlands)
• Stefanie Lorenz - Climate Manager, Environment and Climate Protection, City of Lörrach (Germany)

Workshop B1: Tapping renewable energy sources and technologies using a regional approach: bio-wind and solar energy

• Facilitator: Giorgia Rambelli - Officer, Sustainable Resources, Climate & Resilience, ICLEI Europe
• Rafael Ayuste Cupido - Director, Department of Renewable Energies, EREN (Spain)
• Catarina Freitas - Director, Department of Environment, Municipality of Almada (Portugal)
• Lisa Enarsson - Project Manager, Environment and health administration, City of Stockholm (Sweden)
• Frank van Oorschot - Member, Employers Group, European Economic and Social Committee

 Workshops A2 & B2

Workshop A2: Smart public procurement – using the purchasing power to drive green economies

• Facilitator: Philipp Tepper- Coordinator, Sustainable Economy and Procurement, ICLEI Europe
• Johannes Naimer -  Project Manager, Federal Procurement Agency Austria
• Leendert van Geldermalsen - Rijkswaterstaat GPO (The Netherlands)

Workshop B2: Tapping renewable energy sources and technologies with a regional approach: waste-to-energy solutions and district energy

• Facilitator: Siegfried Zöllner - Coordinator, Sustainable Resources, Climate and Resilience, ICLEI Europe
• Christian Neumann -  Head of Project Development, Energy Agency Region Freiburg (Germany)
• Michael King - Co-Convenor, UK District Energy Vanguards Network
• Sophie Jongeneel - Researcher Climate, Air & Sustainability, TNO Innovation for Life (The Netherlands)
• Clemens Felsmann - Professor, Technical University of Dresden (Germany)

Study tours in Freiburg

• Tour 1: The Sustainable Model District of Vauban
• Tour 2: Green Therm Cool Center

Evening reception in Freiburg

Welcome by Prof. Dr. Martin Haag - Deputy Mayor for Regional Planning and Urban Development, City of Freiburg (Germany)

Friday 24 October

Plenary 3 - Intelligent financing mechanisms and models for renewable energy      

• Facilitator: Andre Langwost - Co-Editor, DDmagazine (France)
• Célia Blauel - Deputy Mayor in charge of Environmental Sustainability and Water, City of Paris (France)
• Matthias Nabholz - Head, Office for Environment and Energy, City of Basel (Switzerland)
• Ion Dogenau - Executive Director, Local Energy Agency Bucharest (Romania)
• Prof. Dr. Tanay Sidki Uyar - Head, Energy Section, University of Marmara (Turkey)

Plenary 4 - Panel discussion: Cooperation in financing solutions for energy productive cities and regions

• Facilitator: Wolfgang Teubner - Regional Director Europe, ICLEI Europe
• Matthias Nabholz - Head, Office for Environment and Energy, City of Basel (Switzerland)
• Eugenio Leanza - Head of Division of JESSICA and Investment Funds, European Investment Bank
• Tamas Solymosi -  Mobilising Finance, Covenant of Mayors Office
• Dirk Knapen - Facilitator RESCoop (Renewable Energy Sources COOPeratives)

Plenary 5 - Summary and future opportunities

Farewell lunch

Hosts and Organisers

Freiburg, Green City

The City of Freiburg is internationally renowned for its innovative and integrated approach to sustainable energy management and extensive use of renewable energy sources. As a result of its achievements, Freiburg was honoured as “Germany’s Most Sustainable Major City" in 2012, making the city an exemplary and qualified host. Colleagues from the city administration, scientific experts and representatives from the renewable energy sector will be on hand to provide information and advice from an insider’s perspective. Freiburg is synonymous with sustainable development and its ecologically progressive policies have a positive impact on its citizens’ quality of life. The city will be the perfect scenario for the conference, inspiring participants with tangible evidence that seeking energy sustainability and stakeholder collaboration are the way forward.

Lörrach, jumping into the future as Energiestadt (Energy Town)

The city of Lörrach, located in the southern Black Forest where the borders of Germany, France and Switzerland meet, is a lively city known for its quality of life, cultural events and numerous educational institutions. Lörrach developed from a former centre of the textile industry,  and is now  the political, social and cultural hub in the German part of the trinational agglomeration of Basel. The beautiful historical centre is now largely pedestrianised with street cafes and a southern atmosphere popular with locals and tourists alike.

Over the last decade, Lörrach has committed to sustainable development with a focus on energy savings and renewable energies. Lörrach was the first German city to be awarded the Swiss label Energiestadt® in 2002 and the first municipality in Baden-Württemberg to win the European Energy Award eea® in 2007. By implementing several energy saving policies, Lörrach earned the Gold European Energy Award® in 2010. More recently, Lörrach was awarded second place among medium-sized cities at the prestigious German Sustainability Award 2013. A recent study predicts that the town could reach climate neutrality by the year 2050, a challenge which Lörrach is eager to tackle.

ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability

Freiburg is also the Host City of the ICLEI European Secretariat. Cities can only become sustainable if they drastically reduce their resource consumption and climate impacts. To achieve its mission, ICLEI, promotes the collaboration between local administrations and supports their progresses towards sustainable development. With its Cities for Climate Protection Campaign and Local Renewables Initiative ICLEI provides information, motivation and support to many local governments around the world.