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

La loi sur le climat, qui inscrit pour la première fois officiellement dans un texte législatif l’objectif d’atteindre la neutralité carbone d’ici 2050, a été présentée lundi par le ministère slovaque de l’Environnement.

Cities worldwide are rising to the common challenges of climate change and environmental degradation, growing inequality and intolerance, and rising housing costs. They increasingly do so in collaboration with one another, pooling resources and exchanging ideas on what works. They rise above partisanship, focusing on ways to provide solutions to their residents.
Our cities are the engines of growth and innovation in the region. As we face many common challenges, we have decided to tackle them together. To this end, we are proud to establish the “Pact of Free Cities” – which is formally launching at the Central European University in Budapest on 16 December.

Free Cities Pact was signed yesterday by the mayors of four European capitals at the Central European University in Budapest. The Mayors of Prague, Budapest, Warsaw and Bratislava confirmed that they will be working together and promoting joint projects. Furthermore, the Pact binds them in the commitment to the values ​​of democracy, freedom, human dignity and the rule of law, as enshrined in the EU Treaties.
Mayors Zdeněk Hřib (Prague), Karácsony Gergely (Budapest), Rafał Trzaskowski (Warsaw) and Matúš Vallo (Bratislava) agreed that the Free Cities Pact will be an open platform for other cities and third parties that share the same values. The four cities want to join forces in tackling common challenges, including climate change, the housing crisis or the use of European subsidies.

Submitted by Francesco Ripa on 01 Apr 2019

Sixty two electric vehicle charging stations will be installed in Slovakia, Czechia and Croatia by June 2020. These will be located to support long-distance travel by electric vehicles. The widespread deployment of cross-border electric vehicle charging infrastructure is a key element of the development of electric mobility.

Residents in Slovakia’s capital have won their court battle for clean air after a court ruled that the city’s Air Quality Plan breaches both Slovak and European laws.

The Regional Court in Bratislava defended the rights of a group of 10 citizens from the city and non-governmental environmental organisations CEPTA, ClientEarth, VIA IURIS and Cyclokoalicia.

The Air Quality Improvement Programme, prepared by Bratislava’s District Authority is vague and absent of any specific goals set by the EU Air Quality Directive.

As a result of the ruling, the Bratislava District Authority will have to draft a new Programme that includes effective measures to improve air quality in the city in the shortest possible time.

Without adhering to the partnership principle, the Platform for Coal Regions in Transition risks benefiting coal companies at the expense of local communities, in blatant contradiction to its stated goal.
In Poland and Slovakia, lack of transparency and insufficient participation have meant that many of the projects submitted to be financed under the Platform framework are of coal companies, while citizens from the affected regions have been sidelined.

Eight months have passed since Commission President Ursula von der Leyen presented Europe’s recovery efforts before the European Parliament. During this time, our Union has made history, write Luis Garicano, Martin Hojsík and Gergely Karácsony.

The Slovak city of Trnava has come up with a new and innovative way to approach its youngest citizens – namely by relying on their hobbies in order to get them involved in the administration’s activities. The city’s project means to bring together one of the most popular games in the world, Minecraft, and local children’s interest in the city to create an exciting competition for them that will also earn them prizes.
Minecraft is a block-builder game, much like old-school LEGOs, but in the virtual world. The game ranks among the most played ones in the world and is especially popular among children as it allows them to unleash their creative spirits.

In September, the local authorities of Bratislava launched the capital’s first open data portal. It is now completely ready for public use, having recently been filled up with data from different national and local government ministries, agencies and institutions including the Interior Ministry, the National Statistical Office, the Bratislava Municipal Police, the Bratislava Tourist Board, the Bratislava Transport company and many others.

Over 420 datasets have already been uploaded to the city’s open data portal, ready to be perused by anyone interested in the information they contain.

Keeping up with the spirit of Europe for the past few years, Bratislava is also aiming to promote cycling by investing in the appropriate infrastructure. The city council has assigned €1.6 million of its budget for the construction, repair and maintenance of bike paths in the capital. According to the municipality, its priority is the creation of separate bike lanes.

'Slovakia's Erin Brockovich' Zuzana Čaputová will promote a green jobs agenda against the country's traditional backing of heavy industry

“Talking about a coal phaseout is difficult here, because the people who would be affected still perceive mining as some form of security. It is hard for them understand that this guarantee will be gone one day,” said Katarína Macháčková, the mayor of Prievidza.