Inspiring Minds
Interviews and stories of committed people who are inspiring contributors to the energy transition in cities.
“Our priority for it is to be just.”
Interview with Jakuta Imširović, expert associate for environmental efficiency, City of Zenica (BiH)
ArcelorMittal Steelworks is not only a big employer in the city of Zenica in Bosnia and Herzgowina. The international steel producer is also responsible for a big part of the city’s major problem: air pollution. Learn about how a city with heavy industry can drive the energy transition.
“These are the people that we need to be thinking about when we think about just transition.”
Interview with Prof. Dr. Lucie Middlemiss, University of Leeds
All over Europe, energy prices are currently soaring and the impact it will have this winter on poverty will be huge. In addition to not knowing how to pay the bill, vulnerable people often suffer from physical and mental diseases caused by their situation. Recognizing the struggle, addressing the issue and getting help needs to be made much easier.
Valencia aiming for 100 energy communities by 2030
Interview with Carmen Castells and Fernando Gonzalez
Until now, Valencia with its 800.000 inhabitants may be more known for its mild climate and lovely beaches than for its incredibly collaborative and forward-looking energy policy. In part 2 of our ECF collaboration lab series, we dive into Valencia’s impressive efforts to involve the local community in energy and climate matters.
Energy community: each group has a different way to look at it.
Interview with public and civil activists in the Metropolitan Area of Naples
In the region of Naples, four small municipalities team up for the energy transition so as to make their place attractive for current and future generations. In this episode, we talked to three people who are very much pushing for collaborative actions between the 4 cities and civil society.
Prague’s first steps in energy community matters
Interview with Miloslav Franek (City of Prague) and Tereza Mc Laughlin Vanova (Local Energy Managers' Association)
How ready are the Czech Republic and its residents for this new type of energy generation? In this conversation,Tereza and Miloslav lead us through the complexity of decentralized and citizen-driven energy in Czech Republic.
Fearless innovation in Munich’s neighbourhoods
Interview with Verena Stoppel and Bernhard Klassen from City of Munich
Since 2016, Munich turned two of its neighbourhoods into a laboratory: over a bit more than 4 years, 20 million euros were invested in testing smart city solutions.
“Smart, yes, but there is a huge challenge related to data quality.”
Interview with Etienne Vignali, SPL Lyon Confluence
What once was a logistics and industrial site with a rather bad reputation has become one of Europe’s biggest urban renewal projects. Create thriving places without overshooting the ecological ceiling: how far is Confluence today from meeting this objective?
“Urban renewal is a very cooperative process, which has to be done together with the people.”
Interview with Stephan Hartmann, City of Vienna
Stephan takes us behind the scenes of an ambitious demonstration project in Vienna’s low-income district of Simmering. How is smartness being used to give more weight to the voices and interests of a city’s residents?
“It’s about understanding what’s important to citizens in Dublin.”
Interview with Donna Gartland, CEO of CODEMA
In this episode Donna Gartland explains what changes can be expected in the city and describes how she and her team trigger conversations with citizens around very abstract topics such as district heating using waste heat from data centres.
“For cities it can feel a bit of a lonely place to be responsible for all of these changes.”
Britt Jurgensen and Laura Williams from Carbon Co-op
The energy and climate challenge is so big that it requires everybody to be involved. New ways of communicating are needed. What are the best means to shape new narratives and, in the end, to make people want to engage in changing the energy system?
