Energy Transition in Europe | www.energy-cities.eu

Amid an ever shifting political landscape, Polish municipalities offer unique insights into how democratic self-governance structures can ensure quality local public service provision. Following the end of communism, communities fought for transitioning from a highly centralised system to robust local ownership, withstanding the privatisation wave that swept the globe in the 1990s.Complementary to remunicipalisation debates, this article pulls out multiple creative ways in which Poland’s local authorities secure municipal service delivery, including intermunicipal collaboration (public-public partnerships), tendering in alliances to overcome private finance and autonomous local policy making to ensure services are in line with local needs.However, it remains an ongoing struggle to defend democratic municipal services against the threat of privatisation and authoritarianism.

The City Council of Sevilla has come to an agreement with company Emvisesa for the new affordable homes and they announced that 720 new rental homes have been signed off for the northern part of the city. New homes will be offered at below market rates and will also offer sports facilities on more than …

Depuis une quarantaine d'années, la financiarisation du capitalisme transforme les économies, les sociétés et les espaces urbains. Ce dossier interroge l'intervention croissante des acteurs, des instruments et des logiques de la finance dans la production urbaine, le rôle de la puissance publique et les conséquences sociales, politiques et spatiales de ces évolutions.

Energy service companies have been around for decades, working with municipalities to renovate public buildings such as schools, hospital and swimming pools in exchange for a guaranteed return on investment in the form of energy savings. With the EU's building renovation wave coming soon to your local town hall, has the time finally arrived for the energy services industry? In this special report, EURACTIV gives an overview of the challenges and opportunities facing the sector.

The speed at which we can stop using fossil fuels and decarbonize our energy – from how we heat our buildings to the ways we transport people and goods – will be key to avoiding the disastrous impacts of a warmer climate.
Around the world, forward-looking companies are rethinking their approach to purchasing and using energy. New technologies and business models show how a more efficient and low-carbon energy system is possible. But businesses need to act upon their new energy strategies fast if we are to deliver systems transformations at the speed we need.

The City of Belgrade will offer around 100 public building to investors to improve energy efficiency under ESCO projects, city representatives announced on World Energy Efficiency Day, adding that at the end of 2019 or at the beginning of 2020, the EUR 16 million Thermal Rehabilitation of Public Buildings project will be launched.

On September 22 2013, 50.9% of the Hamburg citizens voted in a referendum for the full remunicipalisation of the energy distribution grids in the city. The referendum was initiated by the citizen’s initiative ‘Our Hamburg – Our Grid’ (OHOG) and constituted the climax of an intense political controversy that lasted for more than three years. Through this vote Hamburg has received international attention and became a flagship example for remarkable civil engagement. In the international best-seller “This Changes Everything” (2014), Naomi Klein sees the driving motive in the people’s ‘desire for local power’. Indeed it is true that under the constitution of the City of Hamburg, a successful referendum has a binding effect, which left the City government no other option than to announce the implementation of the referendum decision and to start the remunicipalisation process immediately after the vote

The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), Lisbon City Council, BCSD Portugal and 56 leading companies and institutions take an important step with the signing of the Corporate Mobility Pact (CMP). Stakeholders have committed to over 200 mobility actions to make mobility more sustainable in Lisbon .
This initiative is a response to the challenge of the Mayor of Lisbon, Fernando Medina, for whom “decarbonization presents itself as the greatest challenge of our generation. We need to reduce our emissions and make all types of transport more sustainable. Every day counts and every action is important. ”

Fostering local hi-tech success doesn’t have to mean offering huge tax breaks to companies like Apple and Amazon. Here are some alternative strategies

“The City of Lappeenranta is committed to test and adapt circular economy technologies as well as business models. A mutual agenda with innovative companies helps us address environmental and economic issues simultaneously, for the benefit of Lappeenranta’s inhabitants. Urban Infra Revolution project is a great example, having truly global prospects for sustainable growth.”
Kimmo Jarva, Mayor of the City of Lappeenranta