On 11 October 2022, over 80 participants registered to join the discussion  on energy transition and citizen engagement in an #EURegionsWeek workshop organised by the H2020 projects, POCITYF and SPARCS. The session focused on sharing insights, tools, and methods for citizen engagement, as an engine of a successful and clean energy transition.

The workshop was designed in order to first have an introduction of the challenge by a city representative (“problem owner”) and then an ideation process where the audience will share ideas/experiences solving the problem. During the session, “problem owners” were representatives from the City of Alkmaar and the City of Leipzig. After sharing their experiences, more challenges on citizen engagement were identified and the audience embarked on a brain-storming activity in order to share potential solutions to these challenges. For instance, on the challenge of managing expectations of the citizens, some solutions suggested were bringing citizens with differing opinions to the discussion, engaging relevant actors as early as possible into the process, and ensuring that goals are developed together with the citizens.

The session was held as cities account for 70% of global CO2 emissions consuming 2/3 of the world’s energy, thus exerting enormous pressure on the planet. Making sure that the green revolution happens on the ground requires solving complex urban problems, high commitment, resources, time and citizens on board. Now more than ever, the role of citizens in planning the recovery of cities is necessary for co-designing a new city vision. The creation of fair, inclusive, sustainable and resilient cities implies new governance approaches with quadruple helix mechanisms.

More information:

Watch the recording of the event here.

Upcoming events

Save the date for the 8th Smart Heritage Working Group meeting on 6 December 2022 from 11:00-12:00 CEST. We will be discussing the topic of Smart Cities.

Stay tuned, soon we provide you with more information on our website.