More than 60 people attended the last event organized under the project "Polish-Norwegian Platform for Cooperation for Energy and Climate Respect" - conference in Warsaw on 19 April 2017. I was aimed at presenting the most interesting results and products of the project, which can be a source of valuable inspiration, and useful tools for local governments implementing projects in the field of energy efficiency and RES use.
The event was addressed to all Polish local governments and their partners (institutes and research centers, financial institutions, non-governmental organizations, private companies, etc.) who are interested in energy efficiency, the use of renewable energy sources, and also setting the cooperation with Norwegians and the exchange of experiences.
Press representatives were also invited: journalists from Local Government Portal PAP, Chrońmy klimat, Polityka, Rzeczpospolita, biweekly published „Środowisko” (Environment), "Intelligent Cities and Regions" magazine as well as local radio stations.
The conference was opened by Tomasz Potkański, Deputy Director of the Office of the Association of Polish Cities and Zbigniew Michniowski, President of the Association of Municipalities, Energie Cités, together with Ingrid Norstein from the Norwegian Embassy and Christian Larsen of the Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities (KS).
In the first session, devoted to Polish-Norwegian cooperation in the field of energy conservation and climate protection, Anna Jaskuła, director of the Association of Municipalities Polish Network "Energie Cités" presented the most interesting results of the project, including the diagnostic report on the energy situation of Polish self-governments, Polish and Norwegian catalogues of good practices, as well as the potential and tools for the development of cooperation between Polish and Norwegian municipalities.
Pro-climate actions implemented by the Norwegian municipalities in the field of construction and transportation were presented by Rune Kloster Tvedt from Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities, and 10 innovation projects of Polish municipalities developed in the collaboration with Norwegian partners – Patrycja Płonka from the Association of Municipalities Polish Network "Energie Cités".
The session ended with the panel discussion of selected winners of the competition for the best innovation ideas and their Norwegian partners, which summarized the bilateral cooperation, benefits resulting from it and conclusions for future. It was moderated by Tomasz Potkański from the Association of Polish Cities, and the participants were: Wiesława Kwiatkowska, Mayor of Milanówek; Elżbieta Turowiecka, Head of the Environmental Protection and Engineering Dept. in Sopot; Tomasz Bońdos, coordinator of the Energy Management Team in Bydgoszcz; Marek Gabzdyl, Mayor of Raciechowice; Jerzy Żelichowski, Plenipotentiary of the Mayor for the cooperation with municipal companies, Gunnar Solheim, Head of natural science department in Bryne upper secondary school and Lars-Erik Thoresen from Hvaler municipality in Norway.
The second session was focused on the development of low-emission economy in municipalities and the opportunities of its financing. The speakers were Anna Lampka from the Ministry of Enironment and Joanna Wis-Bielewicz from adelphi – political and social analytics centre in Berlin, as well as Lars-Erik Thoresen from Hvaler municipality in Norway, who presented the example solutions of sustainable energy management in Norwegian municipalities and Jakub Jędrak from Polish Smog Alarm, who was arguing for the necessity of low emission limitation and the air quality improvement in Polish municipalities.
During the last session the conference participants could learn about the inspiring pro-energy solutions and investments such as pasive public, presented by Irena Łobocka from Sustainable Infrastructure Cluster or the new energy-saving building where the Voivodeship Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management (WFOŚiGW) in Gdańsk is seated, presented by Macieja Kazienko z WFOŚiGW. Gunnar Solheim, representing Bryne High School, reported the development of cooperation between Norwegian and Polish education and training centers on the example of contacts between Bryne and Bielsko-Biała and Bydgoszcz.
Since the topic of electromobility is currently of particular interest to Polish self-governments, Wacław Bilnicki from National Fund of Environmental Protection and Water Management (NFOŚiGW) was talking about the prospects of its development in Polish municipalities and the available means of supporting low-carbon transport.
Zbigniew Michniowski, plenipotentiary of the Bielsko-Biała city president for sustainable development, moderator of the meetings of the Exchange of Experiences Group during the project, summarized the meeting and closed the conference.
Presentations:
- Most interesting results of the umbrella project "Polish-Norwegian cooperation platform for climate and energy conservation", Anna Jaskuła, Association of Municipalities Polish Network „Energie Cités”
- Climate-friendly actions and projects implemented by Norwegian municipalities in the area of construction and transportation – the experience of Stavanger, Rune Kloster Tvedt, Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities
- 10 Polish ideas for innovation in the area of energy efficiency and RES use inspired by Norwegian experience, Patrycja Płonka, Association of Municipalities Polish Network „Energie Cités”
- Financing investments from the Norwegian and EEA funds, Anna Lampka, Ministry for Environment
- How to finance and develop low-carbon economy on the local level, Joanna Wis-Bielewicz, adelphi
- Example of sustainable energy initiatives implemented by the municipality of Hvaler, Lars-Erik Thoresen, Hvaler municipality, Norway
- Reduction of low emissions and improvement of the air quality in Polish municipalities, Jakub Jędrak, Polish Smog Alarm
- Passive public buildings – tested and cost-efficient solutions, Irena Łobocka, Sustainable Infrastructure Cluster
- Modern ecological solutions in the passive house of the VFEP&WM in Gdańsk, Maciej Kazienko, VFEP&WM in Gdańsk
- Cooperation of Polish and Norwegian educational – and training centres, Gunnar Solheim, Representative of the Bryne High School, Norway
- Infrastructure for charging electric vehicles, Wacław Bilnicki, National Fund of Environmental Protection and Water Management
