County of Norrbotten (S), 30 June 2005

“With the rise in global energy consumption, the need to set up sustainable and long-term energy policies is becoming all the more essential. This should be done by developing alternative energy sources and by promoting more rational behaviour towards energy consumption.” This was the statement by Hakan Sandgren, Vice-President of the ‘Regional policy’ Committee of the Assembly of European Regions (AER) during the Seminar held in the County of Norrbotten in Sweden. “That is why it is crucial for all regional actors to improve their knowledge in terms of technologies and management methods and to define strategies promoting these new policies among the public and in every sectors of the society,” he added.

About 60 regional representatives, experts and private stakeholders from all over Europe were gathered in Porjus, Norrbotten (S) to discuss and share best practice. Representatives of the European Commission and European Economic and Social Committee presented the current EU energy policy and the co-financing opportunities for innovative projects in the field.

Three round tables allowed the delegates to go into more details on several key aspects of the topic, i.e. green electricity production, sustainable heating and clean transport solutions. ‘Energy is at the core of all elements of all sectors of sustainable communities. Sustainable energy issues [therefore] need to be addressed through a partnership of a public and private sector organisations’, stated Tim German, Manager, Cornwall Sustainable Energy Partnership, during the concluding session.

At the end of the meeting, the participants expressed their willingness to go further and set up a plateform for ccoperation and experience-sharing on sustainable energy policies within the AER framework. The seminar ended with a visit to the Energy Technology Centre in Pitea.

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