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

Villes, cantons, micro-États : et si les structures politiques de petite taille étaient les seules capables de nous rendre heureux ? L’idée est défendue par un courant de pensée qui envisage le salut dans une formule simple : « small is beautiful ».*

In the beginning, there was an ideal location — the river that made trade possible, the port that filled city coffers.
In the age of climate change, what once made a city prosper could make it unlivable.
Athens and Rome became key power centers thanks to easily defensible locations on verdant plains blessed with temperate weather. Amsterdam, Lisbon, Hamburg and Copenhagen used their coastal settings to dominate global commerce.

These are all critically important issues. But here’s the rub: Even if the Democratic administration were resoundingly successful on all fronts, its initiatives would still be utterly insufficient to resolve the existential threat of climate breakdown and the devastation of our planet’s life-support systems. That’s because the multiple problems confronting us right now are symptoms of an even more profound problem: The underlying structure of a global economic and political system that is driving civilization toward a precipice.

The only way to fix our problems is to change our lifestyle. We need to buy less stuff, travel fewer miles, consume less resources, live in smaller homes (or share your larger home with more people). We need to live less complicated lifestyles including little or no social media. We can plant a garden, eat more plant based, locally produced food. We can slow cook more meals (including vegetarian and vegan options). We can recycle our clothes and household goods by giving them to stores such as Goodwill. We can enjoy the simple but rewarding experience of sharing a meal with friends and family.

Behaviour change debate needs to move on from individuals and households to dealing with the causes of over-consumption of carbon.

En réponse à de nouveaux besoins des habitants, à une évolution des objectifs d’une ville, ou face à une crise, l’urbanisme tactique permet une adaptation très rapide de l’espace public. Ainsi, en France, les enjeux de mobilité face à la crise du coronavirus ont encouragé de nombreuses villes à réaliser des aménagements temporaires : 210 kilomètres de pistes cyclables temporaires ont ainsi été créés à l’été 2020 dans la métropole du Grand Paris. Le Cerema (Centre d’études et d’expertise sur les risques, l’environnement, la mobilité et l’aménagement) a d’ailleurs mis en ligne en Juin 2020 un guide des Aménagements Cyclables Provisoires en réponse à cette forte demande. Mais le terme « urbanisme tactique » n’a pas été inventé par des municipalités ou des pouvoirs politiques centraux.

greenApes was founded in 2012 with the mission to reinforce individual incentives for sustainable living via digital solutions.

Natural principles are a core part of regenerative practices. They are seen in permaculture, biomimicry, biophilic design, systems-thinking, regenerative leadership, regenerative economics, ancient and indigenous wisdom.

My aim is not to discourage people working toward an energy transition, but to insist that we develop a realistic plan for energy descent, rather than insisting on foolish dreams of eternal consumer abundance by means other than fossil fuels.

The 15-minute city is a concept that responds to the climate emergency by ensuring that everyone can meet their essential needs within a small radius of home.

Modelling tools are becoming increasingly important to policy makers for creating transition pathways. More detail is required as the pace of change accelerates. Yet complexity is increasing as new technologies and solutions come online. And those models are needed at the local level, not just the national and global. It’s why the EU is funding, […]

The Spanish public water operator of the city of Seville, EMASESA, is leading the EU-Funded project LIFE WATERCOOL – a water-efficient systemic concept for the climate change adaptation in urban areas whose main goal is to develop and test innovative solutions to cope with climate change impact in the urban environment. LIFE WATERCOOL is an …

Very important work has been done over the last decade to take industrial ecology and the circular economy into the mainstream. A lot of credit has to be given to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. At the same time, it needs to be highlighted that the cascading of material and energy flows in small and fast and large and slow cycles is a core pattern of ecosystems and the biosphere. For most of our history as a species we managed our household (economy) based on understanding these patterns of nature (ecology). Bioregionally adapted ‘circular economies’ are nothing new. They are the only long term viable economies! Our current linear and globalised system is the aberration!

We spoke with Peter Walker about his new book The Miracle Pill & how increasing activity could help the environment too.