Assembly of European Regions

Connecting regions, inspiring Europe since 1985

You are here: Home / Archives for R20

This tag is for all posts relating to R20.

AER series on investments: Episode 1

By

The Prodi High Level Task Force

As a follow-up on the AER conference on sustainable financing for the regions, AER will be publishing a series of articles on investments. These will provide deeper insight on the different financing tools available for regions, which were presented on the occasion of this conference.

Maximising public value

AER is participating in the work currently being carried out at European level on long term investments. On the occasion of the Spring plenary meeting,  Jonathan Watson, Managing Director of the Think Tank INTEGRATE updated AER members on the EC High-Level Task Force on financing social infrastructure and maximising public value, also called the Prodi High Level Task Force. This Task Force is providing inputs to the Commission on how current instruments should be completed in particular in the field of long-term investments for health, education and housing.

This Task Force was set up by the European Association of Long Term Investors and the Think Tank Integrate and  is supported by Jirki Katainen and the European Investment Bank. The Chair of the High-Level Task Force is Romano Prodi and Deputy Chair is Christian Sautter. Two working groups are working on current investment patterns in the public sector by sector and by geography on one hand and future patterns on the other hand.

AER member region Arad (RO) is contributing to the work of the first working group, it is possible for another region to contribute to the group which will look at future patterns.

Reworking how the public sector mobilises finance for social infrastructure

The High-Level Task Force for Social Infrastructure investment while maximising public value formally launched in February 2017. While there is undoubted interest in what the dialogue it moderates between social and financial sector experts will say when the final report is delivered in December 2017, it is not about changing current regulations. Instead it will focus on doing things differently in order to

  • overcome the current shortage in social infrastructure investment especially for lifelong education, health and social care and affordable housing
  • address the gap in the finance industry’s ability to arrange financeable social infrastructure projects on behalf of the public sector.

 

Help secure the inflow of investable projects

A common message is already emerging. There is a need to include new measures that will help secure the inflow of investable projects to the various funds available: public, private and third sector. These new measures have yet to be identified and agreed but a key challenge that will remain at the end of the Task Force exercise will be how we ensure the generation of credible investment opportunities that are to scale and how to better blend different funding streams during a project’s lifecycle. For example, it has been suggested that the pipeline of EFS projects can be improved by creating investment platforms that bring together smaller projects from the same sector. This tool needs other tools and resources because it won’t succeed alone.

For the public sector a particular issue is how it mobilises finance for social infrastructure. This needs some reworking in ways that unlock social infrastructure investment from political cycles. Specifically, it involves adopting prevention as a strategic principle for planning and investment, finding ways to improve local capacity to absorb capital and knowing how to ‘sell’ the added value from social infrastructure investment.

Next steps

The presentation on the Prodi High Level Task Force at the AER plenaries in London will be followed up by a workshop in Brussels in September which will consider exemplar pipelines (R20, European Fund for SE Europe, the High Road Predevelopment pipeline) and what needs to happen to improve the generation of projects locally including a role for intermediation platforms with non-profit dealmakers.

If your region is interested in contributing to the work of the High Level Task Force, please contact AER Coordinator for Policy and Knowledge Transfer Johanna Pacevicius.

Related articles

Committees’ Spring Plenary

Long term Investments, the EU and you

 

 

 

 

 

Follow AER!
Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

Not your usual plenary meetings

By

The AER Committees are the R&D lab of AER where experiences are shared, discussed, transferred to other regions, transformed, brought back in the network and adopted by yet other regions. However, the plenary meetings don’t always do justice to the wealth of ideas and initiatives regions are implementing or want to implement.

Just do it!

Spring is coming, and at AER, spring is Action plan preparation season.

On 22 March at the AER Spring Plenaries in London, members of the three thematic Committees will develop jointly their action plans. The main idea is the following: if you want to carry out something within the network, just do it! Any idea is welcome!

The actions members can implement via the committees are diverse: project development, organisation of a workshop, seminar, international conference, study visit, brokerage event, breakfast briefing, webinar, collection of good practices, elaboration of a political report based on the experience of regions etc. To have it included in the AER Action Plan, regions should share their idea at the relevant Committee plenary meeting, explain how they are going to implement their action and get support from other regions.

How this will be done

Participants will be seated around round tables, where each table will work around 1 topic (or set of related topics). They will share their own ideas & develop jointly actions on the different topics the Committees are working on:

Committee 1:

  • Cohesion policy: Task Force on Cohesion post 2020, contribution to the survey, dissemination, awareness raising, lobbying…
  • business SMEs & investments:
    -involvement of regions in the Silver Economy Awards (SEED project)
    -Follow-up on photonics: what should be done next?
    -E-health innovation, innovative SMEs: after the e-health event, what should now be done?
    -The different new models of economy: collaborative, social and solidarity savings, circular, post cop21
    – New forms of tourism economy: e-tourism: renting by private persons (Airbnb, …) solidarity tourism….
    – Smart regions
    – Other proposals
  • rural development: should something specific be developed this year? If so which region would like to take the lead? Lobbying with the European Countryside Movement, other proposals…
  • energy, climate change & the circular economy: suggestions are welcome! Dissemination of the report on energy security, collaboration with the R20, with other stakeholders, projects…
  • transport & mobility: good practice sharing on connectivity, the use of big data, sustainable transports…

Committee 2: Inclusion, social entrepreneurship & inclusive entrepreneurship, digital transformation in health, leadership for change management in health, integrated e-care systems, child healthcare & prevention, follow-up for the MOCHA project, cooperation within EIP-AHA, involvement in the Silver Economy Awards (SEED project)

Committee 3: Cultural heritage (developing a project), culture for inclusion of migrants (handbook), School dropouts (dissemination of the handbook), youth policies, mobility & youth employability, youth wellbeing & inclusion, youth participation, youth entrepreneurship

The 3 plenary meetings will be held separately and consecutively so that members are able to participate in all meetings, allowing for synergies & cooperation between Committees
Members of the AER Youth Regional Network, the Summer Academy and the Eurodyssey programmes are invited to join the process as well so that they can provide ideas on how their work could integrate and feed the work of the committees.

At the end of the session the different actions will be brought together on a flip-chart and organised according to the 3 main categories:

-Lobbying

-Projects

-Good practice exchange

This document will then be adopted as the Committee’s action plan.

Get involved!

In order to get involved AER members can

  • ask to join the AER Committees online communities in order to already share ideas with other members
  • identify the needs they have in their region which could be addressed via AER
  • define an activity they would like to carry out in the Committees, think about how other members could contribute and benefit from this activity, share the idea at the plenary meeting
  • support other members proposing joint actions via the online communities and at the plenary meetings.

 

photo credits: Jakob Owens @unsplash https://unsplash.com

Follow AER!
Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

Investing for green projects

By

While different solutions exist to reduce CO2 emissions, limit the scope and mitigate the impacts of climate change, most large-scale initiatives require substantial investments. The London plenary meetings of the AER Committees will shed some light on impact investing and in specific green investing, which is a topic on which AER has been working for several years new via the Regions4GreenGrowth INTERREG IVC project and the collaboration with the R20 in particular.

Where is the money?

Green impact investing refers to projects which aim to have a beneficial impact on the environment. This includes the development of renewable energy systems, building green infrastructure, reduction of climate change. Many initiatives address the need to improve the conditions of our society, for the present and future generations.

For instance, green bonds have been launched by banks or international institutions. These are used to invest in projects for clean air, clear water, green infrastructures, having thus an impact in terms of quality of life.

Meanwhile, alternative solutions as crowdfunding models have started to develop as well. There are platforms in which every citizen can contribute to finance sustainable projects, as in renewable energy projects, innovative energy conservation etc. In this way, citizens have the chance to get directly involved in more sustainable solutions, even with small contributions.

At regional and local level, these tools are often considered complicated to be used, both for the implementation process and for the large investment required. These problems have been addressed also at European level, as stated in the Position Paper of  The Citizenergy Project, a European project funded by the Intelligent Energy Europe Program that aims at creating an EU-wide platform for citizen participation in renewable energy projects. Because regional and local levels are the closest to citizens they are the best level to implement energy transition projects. Strengthening the processes for implementing crowdfunding and cooperative models will, for instance channel new funds for such projects at community level. Crowdfunding & cooperative models typically help reduce the procurement barriers and offer citizens an opportunity to invest in local renewable energy projects across Europe.

Supporting regions on the road to green investing

AER regions were invited last Summer to submit projects for the “100 Solutions Projects Campaign” launched by R20 and the Leonardo Di Caprio Foundation. R20 is implementing a technical and financial ecosystem able to cover the whole value chain of project development, financing and implementation. This campaign aimed at giving value to regional green projects by giving them visibility on the international stage and by helping regions finance their green projects, either directly or indirectly. The themes are waste management, renewable energy, and LED lighting. Projects submitted to this campaign demonstrate that the green transition to 100% clean and renewable energy can be addressed, starting from regional level. Worldwide the campaign attracted over 550 projects highlighting that the green market economy is maturing and regional authorities are in the front line.

Mutual learning on impact investing

The spring plenary meetings of the AER Committees on 21-23 march in London will be an opportunity to look more specifically at the diversification of funding and financing sources. While innovation in the public sector, cooperation & skills acquisition are some of the well-known elements which support sustainable financing (see AER conference on innovation in the public sector, November 2015), it is also vital for regions to channel new funds for mid-to-long term planning.

Experts and policy makers will discuss long-term investing, the Juncker Plan, impact investing in general and green investments in particular. Participants will gain new knowledge about funding & financing mechanisms, share challenges and evaluate opportunities for their regions.

Links

AER Spring 2017 plenary meetings

Related articles

Success of the “100 solutions project campaign”: more than 550 projects received!

No money for renewables?

 

Photo credit Juwi @Flickr https://tinyurl.com/j45c3yb

Follow AER!
Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

COP22 – AER at the forefront of regional climate change fight in Marrakech

By

After the COP 21 in Paris last year that led to a historic agreement in the reduction of 40% of greenhouse gas emissions by 2013, the COP 22 in Marrakech is the COP of implementation measures. With the danger of a State like the United States withdrawing its engagement, the mood is bleak in the COP corridors. Another illustration of the importance of local and regional governments. When States fail, we can make a difference, as cities and regions are responsible for 80% of climate change adaptation and mitigation measures.

To show the commitment of European regions to fight climate change, AER came with a strong delegation : President Hande Özsan Bozati, Vice President Magnus Berntsson, Youth Regional Network President Gloria Vitaly and AER Secretary General Mathieu Mori. AER was invited to speak at no less than 3 high level meetings and was co-organiser of one meeting on climate change financing during COP 22.

The AER delegation delivered 4 messages during this COP :

1) Regions must be formally involved in COP negotiations

AER President, Dr Hande Özsan Bozatli intervened at the Climate Summit for Local and Regional Leaders to say that AER was glad to see, COP after COP, the increasing recognition of the role of cities and regions to fight climate change. It is now time that we are invited at the climate negotiation table.

2) Regions need to be innovative in their financing of anti-climate change measures

AER Vice President, Mr Magnus Berntsson (Västra Götaland-SE) defended during a co-organised event with the R20, the necessity for regions and associations of regions to look for innovative sources of funding. Of course institutional funding such as Structural and Investment Funds are crucial which is why AER lobbies for a continued cohesion policy (see campaign on Cohesion Policy post-2020 lead by Lower Austria) and organises sessions of information for its members on investment instruments (see EFSI information session on 30 November). However, AER looks at other opportunities such as partnerships with foundations and private partners in its « 100 solutions projects campaign ».

3) European and South Mediterranean regions hand in hand to fight climate change

As a member of the Committee of the Regions’ Euro-Mediterranean Regional and Local Assembly (ARLEM), AER President was a speaker during the meeting of the ARLEM commission for sustainable territorial development. The occasion to call for regions from both sides of the mediterranean to work together for a better environnement. The AER President encouraged South Mediterranean regions to join AER as associate members. This invitation was also personally made at the occasion of a meeting with Mr Laenser, President of the Association of Moroccan Regions.


4) Women and Youth to lead the fight against climate change

In a world still men dominated, worldwide women leaders met at the COP22 Women Summit in the. AER President spoke of the need for more women, in all regions and from all walks of lives to engage in politics to defend the values of tolerance and green peace. The President of the Youth Regional Network was part of the Marrakech delegation and felt that much more could be done to have young people involved in the issue. Very little youth organisations were represented at the COP22. Some food for thoughts for next year’s COP. AER encourages its YRN and all young people across its regions to be bold, creative and active in its fight against climate change. In the end, this fight is fought for them and their children. Some of our messages have been included into the Marrakech roadmap for action that was adopted at the occasion of the Summit of local and regional leaders.

 

Follow AER!
Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

100 Solutions Projects Campaign: most projects from AER member regions were preselected!

By

AER is pleased to announce that the “100 Solutions Projects Campaign,” launched by R20 in collaboration with AER as the campaign’s European partner and under the mandate of the Leonardo di Caprio Foundation, has just completed its first round of preselection. This preselection test aimed at qualifying the projects that were most in line with the campaign’s priorities. Most of the submitted projects from AER member regions passed the test.

The AER members’ preselected projects are:

  • Albania – Korca; LED
  • Georgia – Batumi; Waste
  • Georgia – Batumi; Waste
  • Georgia – Imereti Region- Kutaisi; LED
  • Ireland – Donegal; LED
  • Ireland – Donegal; RE
  • Italy – Molise Region; Waste
  • Italy – Trentino; RE
  • Italy – Trentino; RE
  • Italy – Veneto Region – Affi; RE
  • Portugal– Madeira; LED
  • Portugal – Madeira; RE
  • Portugal – Madeira; RE
  • Portugal – Madeira; Waste
  • Serbia – Kragujevac; Waste
  • Serbia – Vojvodina; LED
  • Serbia – Vojvodina; Waste
  • Serbia – Vojvodina Province, Novi Knezevac; Waste
  • Serbia – Vojvodina Province, Novi Knezevac; Waste water
  • Spain – Murcia (University); LED
  • Spain – Murcia; LR
  • Spain – Murcia; RE
  • Spain – Murcia (University); RE
  • Sweden – Västra Götaland; RE (solar)
  • Sweden – Västra Götaland; RE (wind)
  • Sweden – Västra Götaland; Waste
  • Switzerland – Fribourg; LED
  • Switzerland – Fribourg; Waste
  • Turkey – Denizli; Waste
  • Turkey – Kahramanmaras; LED
  • Turkey – Kırşehir; RE
  • Turkey – Kırşehir; RE
  • Turkey – Mus; LED
  • Turkey – Mus; RE
  • Turkey – Mus; RE

These projects mostly concentrate on waste management, renewable energy, and LED lighting. They demonstrate the will of AER member regions to be involved in the green transition to 100% clean and renewable energy.

We wish to applaud all AER member regions that submitted applications.To know more about the next steps of the selection process or about the campaign in general, please see the following link: http://aer.eu/high-interest-100-solutions-projects-campaign-550-projects-received/.

A presentation of this campaign and AER’s involvement in it was made by AER VP Magnus Berntsson at the COP22 this past Saturday in Marrakech. For further information, please see the following link: http://aer.eu/join-aer-cop22/.

Follow AER!
Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

Join AER at COP22

By

AER is pleased to invite its member regions to the AER/R20 and partners joint event at the COP22 entitled Innovative Value Chain & Financial Ecosystem for Sub-national Governments this upcoming Saturday, November 12 (Sebou Room, green zone, from 3pm to 4:30pm).

This COP 22 side event, will be the opportunity to show how concretely AER fights climate change by helping its members get access to financing for green projects. Thanks to the AER partnership with R20 in the “100 Solutions Projects Campaign,” which is under the mandate of the Leonardo di Caprio Foundation, AER member regions are able to get access either to free green audits of their green policy or to free financing to implement climate change mitigation measures.

Being the largest network of European regions in wider Europe, AER reaches out to a great variety of regions which is why our network has become the European partner of this worldwide initiative. For the launch of this campaign, AER member regions submitted 36 projects, demonstrating the importance of regional action in the green transition.

AER Vice President, Magnus Berntsson, will represent AER at this must-see side event.

Moreover, AER President, Dr. Hande Özsan Bozatli, accompanied by AER VP Magnus Berntsson, YRN President Gloria Vitaly and Secretary General Mathieu Mori will take part in the following COP22 events:

  • the Climate Summit for Local and Regional Leaders on Monday 14 (Palmeraie Conference Centre)
  • the ARLEM’s Commission for Sustainable Territorial Development on Tuesday 15, morning (Green zone, Civil Society Pavillion)
  • the Contribution of cities and regions to the COP22 negotiations on Tuesday 15, afternoon (Blue zone, European Pavillion)
  • The Women Leaders Summit on Wednesday 16, morning

Should you be in Marrakech and wish to meet up, please contact Mathieu Mori at +33624291933

For the agenda of the COP22 side event, please see below.

Follow AER!
Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

Success of the “100 solutions project campaign”: more than 550 projects received!

By

AER is happy and proud to share with its member regions and partners the first outcomes of the “100 solutions project campaign”, which was launched in June in partnership with R20 and Leonardo di Caprio Foundation.

This initiative aims at valorising regional green projects by giving them visibility on the international stage and by helping regions finance their green projects, either directly or indirectly. In particular, projects dealing with waste management, renewable energy and LED in street lighting.

The AER Secretariat launched an intense campaign towards its member regions in order to involve them in this valuable opportunity which could support their projects that foster and accellerate the transition to 100% clean and renewable energy for all people.

The response of AER regions has been very positive and we received 36 projects from the following regions, which shows a wide geographical distribution: Korca (AL), Fribourg (CH), Murcia (ES), Ajara (GEO), Imereti (GEO), Donegal (IR), Trentino Alto Adige (IT), Veneto (IT), Molise (IT), Madeira (PT), Sumadija and Pomoravlje (RS), Novi Sad (RS), Västra Götaland (SE), Denizli (TR), Kirsehir (TR), Mus (TR), Kahramanmaras (TR).

Worldwide the campaign attracted over 550 projects highlighting that the green market economy is maturing and local authorities are in the front line. The magnitude of the return to the “100 solutions project campaign” is such it will take longer than expected to study all the received applications.

Which are the investment funds involved?

Pre-investment funds dedicated to supporting local authorities in project preparation, and philanthropic investment funds (the Planet Pledge Fund) a well as conventional (the Green Investment Accelerator Facility) to access traditional funding mechanisms.

How the selection process works?

  • All projects with a political commitment and technical backbone will bepreselected, declared eligible and by the end of October will be visible on the AER website. Each project declared eligible will be notified by an official letter.
  • A first thorough evaluation of the eligible projects will be made before the end of 2016 by AER, the R20 and the Leonardo di Caprio Foundation. This evaluation aims to identify three types of projects: i) projects that, after verification, may be submitted directly to the involved investment funds; ii) projects which will be submitted to dedicated pre-investment funds, to have their feasibility studies conducted, leading to their bankability; and iii) the projects that, in their current state, cannot be financed. For the latter projects, a platform for exchange and counselling will be provided, to accompany and lead them to maturity.
  • Projects qualifying for pre-investment funds will be submitted early 2017 and they will be evaluated according to these funds’ specific criteria. The missions will start in the first quarter of 2017.
  • Considering the extent of the needs expressed, an online support tool for cities and regions will be set up, enabling access to more information about the best sub-national legislative and institutional practices in the green economy, the best technologies and the different financial instrument.

Through this step-by-step approach, by 2020, the objective is to enable the bankability of at least a hundred projects that can then be funded through the investment funds mentioned above, as well as through the contribution of many private co-investors, for whom the participation of the above funds may serve as an opportunity indicator.

Contact

Agnese Pantaloni
+32 2 400 10 52

 

Follow AER!
Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

Fostering cooperation among AER and DEIK – the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey

By

AER continues to foster the dialogue and cooperation with Turkish partners both at political and economic level. DEIK – the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey has been welcomed at AER Brussels Office by the AER President Dr Hande Özsan Bozatli together with H.R.H. Prince Laurent of Belgium, her special advisor, AER Secretary General as well as representatives of the Executive Board.

This first meeting has been an occasion to introduce both organisations and to explore several fields of cooperation, being DEIK responsible for leading foreign economic relations of Turkish private sector and for exploring inward and outward investment opportunities, and being AER the largest independent network of regional authorities in wider Europe.

Environment, renewable energies, energy-efficient constructions were identified as areas of mutual interest to join forces and to develop projects and initiatives.  Linked to this AER got the opportunity to talk about  “100 solutions projects campaign” being the European partner chosen by R20 and Leonardo Di Caprio Foundation as part of a big worldwide initiative aimed at financing green projects.

The Renewable Energies House (REH) that hosts AER Brussels Office has been the perfect setting for this meeting, according to the spirt and attention to the green and sustainable aspects that animates both AER and DEIK. H.R.H. Prince Laurent of Belgium proudly showed to DEIK the functioning of the REH which is a unique example of building that obtains its complete heating and cooling requirements entirely from renewable energy sources, using a combination of solid biomass, solar thermal and geothermal energy.

 

Follow AER!
Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

Update on projects and grants

By

The Executive Board in Batumi (Ajara-GE) on 15 September reviewed the state of play of AER’s involvement in projects and grants. This new service to members has been operational for a few months with a double objective: first, to provide member regions with relevant information on funding opportunities and projects and second, involving AER in specific tenders and projects for the benefit of all member regions.

In less than one year, AER has joined 9 project consortia, 3 of which are successful and 3 are still pending.

Interreg Europe Policy Learning Platform

AER is a proud partner of the winning tender for the Interreg Europe Policy Learning Platform (Interreg Europe) The Platform is aimed to facilitate ongoing EU-wide policy learning and capitalisation of practices among stakeholders of regional relevance in order to strengthen regional policies in the field of:

  1. research, technological development and innovation,
  2. competitiveness of SMEs,
  3. low carbon in economy in all sectors,
  4. environment and resource efficiency. The consortium is led by Inno Group and Ecorys, being AER partner.

SEED project

“Supporting the recognition of the Silver Economy in Europe in the Digital era” (Horizon2020) The two-year project will focus on the development of a silver economy innovation award that will be launched on 2017. The consortium is led by Empirica and is composed of other major EU networks (ECHAlliance, Age Platform, Coral, etc).

AER Summer Academy 2016: Youth and Entrepreneurship in Europe’s Region

Erasmus+ Key Action 3 Support for Policy Reform, Dialogue between young people and policy makers. The project is led by Østfold County Council and contributed to the organisation of the Summer Academy, in particular would enable the host region to lower the fee for youth participants and for project partners it would also contribute to the travel costs. The project partners are the following members: AER, Electoral Systems Center NGO (Armenia), Ogarev Mordovia State University (Russian Federation), Region Jönköping County (Sweden), Istanbul Provincial Directorate of National Education (Turkey), Västernorrland County Council (Sweden), Brussels Regional Public Service (Belgium).

“100 Solutions Project Campaign”

AER has been a proud contributor to this joint Leonardo di Caprio Foundation and R20 campaign to identify European partners for this project. Out of the 100 worldwide projects that will receive support and funds in this framework, AER had opportunity of promoting the projects coming from European regions in the field of renewable energy, LED in street lighting and waste management. AER as launched and intense campaign towards its members in order to collect projects that require technical and financial support to be developed, and for whose development regional governments are willing to make institutional commitment to support.

AER received 36 projects from the following member regions: Korca (AL), Fribourg (CH), Murcia (ES), Ajara (GEO), Imereti (GEO), Donegal (IR), Trentino Alto Adige (IT), Veneto (IT), Molise (IT), Madeira (PT), Sumadija and Pomoravlje (RS), Novi Sad (RS), Västra Götaland (SE), Denizli (TR), Kirsehir (TR), Mus (TR), Kahramanmaras (TR)

R20 and AER will continue to promote these projects and applied as a consortium for a stand and organize a side event at COP22 in Morocco (7-18 November 2016) and showcase the 100 winner projects. The requested date for the side event is 14th November. The application is pending and waiting for a reply.

Follow AER!
Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

Energy security & regions

By

While Brussels is revamping into the capital of Sustainable Energy, on the occasion of the annual EU Sustainable Energy Week, AER is launching its Report “Energy security from a regional perspective”, led by Kenneth Backgård (Norrbotten, SE).

Energy security and the role of regions

The report, which presents the experience from regions accross Europe in the development of sustainable energy sources was handed by Mr Jean-Luc Vanraes, President of AER Committee 1 to Miguel Arias Cańete, EU Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy on the occasion of the Structured Dialogue at the Committee of the Regions.

Renewable energy sources have a strong potential to reduce dependency on external energy imports to Europe, while at the same time contributing to the transition to a sustainable energy system. These resources are spread out across the regions of Europe, and the regional level has a key role in coordinating and facilitating their effective utilisation.

Where it really happens

The development of energy projects does not take place in a vacuum. Projects are integrated into landscapes, regional economies and communities. Particular attention must therefore be given when utilising these resources to ensure there is a proper fit with regional characteristics and specialisations. It is the regional level which is best placed to take leadership in this area. Policies need to reflect regional conditions.

Making a change

Members of the AER working group will meet tomorrow to plan the upcoming steps of the lobbying strategy for the report on energy security, facilitate a stakeholders analysis in the different regions. New collaboration paths will be explored together with the Compact of States and Regions as well as with the R20 and the 100 Solutions Project Campaign. The event will be followed by an Energy Battle at the House of Dutch Provinces, where the report will be distributed too.

Webpage of the event, programme & pictures

 

Follow AER!
Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

Get visibility and financing for your green projects

By

R20, AER and The Leonardo di Caprio Foundation launch the “100 Solutions Project Campaign“

Under the mandate of the Leonardo di Caprio Foundation, the R20 is responsible for launching the « 100 Solutions Project campaign ». This campaign aims at valorising regional green projects by giving them visibility on the international stage and by helping regions finance their green projects, either directly or indirectly.

AER is the R20 European partner in this project. Therefore, out of the 100 projects to be identified worldwide, AER has the opportunity of promoting the projects coming from European regions.

The target is ambitious : to identify by the end of August 2016, around 10 energy, waste and energy efficiency projects from AER member regions that require technical and financial support to be developed, and for whose development regional governments are willing to make institutional commitment to support.

Also under mandate from the Leonardo di Caprio Foundation, R20 and AER plan to deploy dedicated project preparation tools to help develop the most promising of the projects and to arrange for their investment. Projects will be showcased at the Climate Week New York in September 2016 and at COP22 in Morocco in November.

Your active participation in the worldwide 100 Solutions Project Campaign will give you the opportunity to figure amongst the most progressive and engaged regional governments globally, to be recognized as such on the international stage, and for the projects that you propose to be considered for development by our not-for-profit project development tools and to have access to funding for their realisation.

What we need from you

To be part of this exciting global challenge, you must:

  • Provide institutional commitment to fight climate change and implement the green economy: by committing to R20’s charter to which AER adhere.
  • Propose projects: Name promising green energy, waste or energy efficiency projects that require development and that you would like to be considered for support by our not for profit project development facilities.
  • Mandate R20 and AER: Grant R20 and AER the official mandate to develop, structure and facilitate the financing of these projects, supported by R20’s partners.
  • Provide technical project information: For each of the projects named, provide the technical information required for R20 and AER to consider each project on its merits. Remember, the more accurate the information that you supply, the higher the chance a project has to be selected for development.

We therefore ask you to do three things:

  1. Sign an official letter using the model provided in this document
  2. Submit your project proposal using the templates: three topics have been identified as the main strands of the initiative (a) renewable energy, (b) LED in street lighting, (c) waste management. You can submit one or more projects.
  3. Provide name, email address and telephone number for the official who you nominate as responsible for providing the technical project information, so that we may follow-up directly.

AER contact

Agnese Pantaloni
+32 2 400 10 52

Follow AER!
Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

Taking stock of regions @ COP21

By

At the occasion of the COP21 in Paris, AER was present to voice the concerns and solutions proposed by regions to face the world most pressing challenge.
Eva Hallström from the region of Värmland (SE), rapporteur for AER on the COP21 and accredited to Le Bourget at the heart of the negotiations, is participating in many events that you are able to follow on Facebook and takes every opportunity to voice the need for regions to be included at an early stage in the negotiations. AER President Dr Hande Özsan Bozatli and AER Vice President Magnus Berntsson, were also on stage at the occasion of a joint AER/German Marshall Fund event at Paris City Hall in the framework of the local leaders summit for climate on Saturday 5 December. Together with the mayors of Salt Lake City and Atlanta, they gave concrete examples of how regions lead the way in fighting climate change. Through its various partnerships with specialized network such as the R20 or the Climate Group, AER contributes at giving evidence of the measures taken to reduce green house gas emissions. Through this work and visibility at crucial climate events such as the COP21, it is the importance for States and international organisations such as the UN to taken regions into account that is being ascertain. Step by step, COP after COP, regions are taken more and more seriously and AER is proud to contribute raising awareness about the regions’ role.

Follow AER!
Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

Regions on board to effectively tackle climate change

By

The Assembly of European Regions (AER) associated itself to the R20 « Regions of Climate action » – the world network for the fight against climate change – since its creation in 2010. The region of Ile-de-France (FR) welcomed in October the World Summit for Climate organised by the R20, gathering 500 participants representing regions, cities, businesses, investors and universities from all over the world. They all have a common goal: to generate a vast bottom-up movement to fight against global warming.

“It is in our hands to develop today the sustainable, lasting and economic solutions to address the issue of climate change.” announced AER President Dr Hande Özsan Bozatli to her audience at the round table entitled ‘The COP21 Positive agenda as seen by regional actors’. “The Bottom up approach is the most efficient one, seeing as how local and regional authorities implement 70% of the related measures taken on a global level. They are often more innovative than State designed actions in this field and several regions set stricter limitations to greenhouse gas emissions than the EU. It is about time that regions be granted a more official role to play within international negotiations on climate, such as the Conference of Parties!”.

Mrs Özsan Bozatli supported her arguments with examples of concrete actions already run by AER member regions. Värmland (SE), for instance, have long-since surpassed the timid Europe 2020 goals on renewables, carbon reduction and energy efficiency. The region of Noord-Brabant (NL) impressively established a regional triple helix model for renewables. Within the framework of the EU INTERREG IVC project entitled ‘Region 4 Green Growth’ Valencia (ES) and Norrbotten (SE) have spent the last three years discussing and sharing experience in order to produce recommendations on how to improve policies, so as to unlock and speed up investments in sustainable energy projects. The region of Abruzzo (IT), where significant changes have been accomplished through programmes and campaigns aimed at teaching children the importance of looking after of planet, has also been presented.

 

Follow AER!
Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

AER asks governments and international organisations to take regions on board to effectively fight climate change

By

Paris (FR), 10 October 2014

The Assembly of European Regions (AER) associated itself to the R20 « Regions of Climate action » – the world network for the fight against climate change – since its creation in 2010. Today, the region of Ile-de-France (FR) welcomes the World Summit for Climate organised by the R20, gathering 500 participants representing regions, cities, businesses, investors and universities from all over the world. They all have a common goal: to generate a vast bottom-up movement to fight against global warming.
“It is in our hands to develop today the sustainable, lasting and economic solutions to address the issue of climate change.”announced AER President Hande Özsan Bozatli to her audience at the round table entitled ‘The COP21 Positive agenda as seen by regional actors’. “The Bottom up approach is the most efficient one, seeing as how local and regional authorities implement 70% of the related measures taken on a global level. They are often more innovative than State designed actions in this field and several regions set stricter limitations to greenhouse gas emissions than the EU. It is about time that regions be granted a more official role to play within international negotiations on climate, such as the Conference of Parties!”

Mrs Özsan Bozatli supported her arguments with examples of concrete actions already run by AER member regions. Värmland (SE), for instance, went already long ago way beyond the timid Europe 2020 goals on renewables, carbon reduction and energy efficiency. The region of Noord-Brabant-NL impressively established a regional triple helix model for renewables. Within the framework of the EU INTERREG IVC project entitled ‘Region 4 Green Growth’ Valencia (ES) and Norrbotten (SE) have spent the last three years discussing and sharing experience in order to produce recommendations on how to improve policies, so as to unlock and speed up investments in sustainable energy projects. The region of Abruzzo (IT), where significant changes have been accomplished through programmes and campaigns aimed at teaching children the importance of looking after of planet, has also been presented.

A declaration containing concrete necessary actions to fight against climate change and where AER is naturally a signatory in the name of all European regions, will be released tomorrow, before continuing its journey around the globe within the framework of « the road to Paris 2015 ». It will then be officially presented to the 21st Conference of Parties (COP21).
You can find this declaration on the AER website as of coming Monday.

It seems that the voice of European regions is starting to considerably gain global visibility. As a matter of fact, the Paris Summit is a follow up of the participation of the AER President at the Heads of States Conference organised by the United Nations in New-York (USA) last September, upon the invitation of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

For more information: [email protected]

Follow AER!
Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

AER’s quest in the United States

By

Following the invitation by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, to participate in the climate summit in New York on 24 September, AER was present with the R20 to reiterate the role of regions in fighting climate change and will do so again at the occasion of the World Summit of Regions for Climate in Paris on 10 and 11 of October.

AER’s presence at this kind of events is crucial as regions are increasingly seen as key partners on climate, as shown by UN Secretary General’s invitation to AER. We now wish to turn this recognition into concrete partnerships with international institutions at the occasion of the Conference of the Parties to take place in Paris in 2015.

President Hande Özsan Bozatli took that opportunity to visit various political and opinion leaders in New York and Washington. The President has met with twelve foundations and think tanks as well as four US governmental organisations. Common topics of interest such as youth, equal opportunities, concrete joint work in South East Europe or economic cooperation with the National Governors Associations have been identified. The concrete outcome will be presented to all members at the next governance meetings while the follow up is currently being done.

Follow AER!
Facebooktwitterlinkedinrss

Library

Statutory Documents
AER Strategies
Minutes
Media Kit
Activity Reports
Newsletters
European Regions Map

Join AER!

Become a Member

Job Opportunities

Sign up for our Newsletter

Website map