AURORA Higher Education Schools and Energy Communities
Higher Education Schools and Energy Communities: What are the barriers to participation and how can they be overcome
Workshop organised by EU Project AURORA and supported by DG Energy and DG Education
Wednesday 30th April, 12 pm to 2 pm (CET)
An online open meeting restricted to 500 delegates
Please arrive early to guarantee a webinar place. The site will open at 11:45 am.
Link to the webinar:
MAIN TOPIC
The perceived barriers that prevent the management of Universities, Higher Education establishments and schools from taking part in the Community Energy Scheme
This workshop will explore how educational establishments could become key drivers in the energy transition. It will explore how they can participate in community energy programmes by engaging their students, academic and support staff, and nearby communities.
The session will highlight successful schemes that have navigated the complex legal and technical challenges that so often derail potential projects that have the power to lower energy costs, divert fossil fuel profits back into local communities and reward local investors.
It will include opening remarks by DG Education, a keynote speech by DG Energy, which will outline the EU legal framework designed to support and encourage such initiatives, explore some of the challenges and meet those who have successfully overcome them. It will conclude with workshops and an expert panel to answer participants' questions.
The event will conclude with remarks from DG Clima.
OBJECTIVES
The objectives of the session are to:
- Showcase successful community energy schemes that have been developed for educational establishments, including University and School examples;
- Equip participants with a clear understanding of the challenges and solutions they will need to develop to be successful.
- Explore how community energy schemes can be successfully linked to citizen science programmes designed to reduce personal carbon footprints in line with the Paris Commission targets.
- Build a network of like-minded educational establishments prepared to work together to develop educational community energy schemes across Europe..
MODERATOR AND SPEAKERS
|
Name |
Role |
Demographics |
Background information |
|
Gyula Cserey Head of “Strategy and Investments” unit |
EU Directorate General Education, Youth, Sport, and Culture |
European Union |
Opening Remarks DG Education The Directorate-General is responsible for the European Union's education and culture policy. It is responsible for a series of programmes that contribute to the preservation of European values and prosperity and the participation of citizens in European integration. In particular, it runs the Education for Climate Programme. The Directorate-General will set the scene on why unlocking the whole school approach is so important in tackling climate change. |
|
EU Directorate General for Energy Achille Hannoset |
Keynote Speaker |
European Union |
Keynote Speaker DG Energy Achille is a Policy and Legal Officer within DG Energy, working within Unit B1 – Just Transition, consumers and local initiatives. He is the Citizen Energy Advisory Hub project officer and deals with consumer empowerment, including energy communities, active customers, energy sharing, demand response, and data interoperability and protection. He is a leading advocate for energy communities. He has written on the impact of the EU’s changing electricity market design on developing smart and sustainable cities and energy communities. |
|
EU AURORA Project Martin Brocklehurst |
Moderator |
Ireland / United Kingdom Male |
Moderator - Project AURORA Martin is a communications expert within the AURORA CS project, supporting citizens in reducing their carbon footprints (climate change mitigation) and linking this work to energy communities. He serves as Chair of the Citizen Science Global Partnership and advises the UN Science Policy Business Forum on citizen science. He was a key founder of the European Citizen Science Association. His work focuses on advancing Citizen Science as a tool for policy transformation and societal engagement with the EU and UNEP. Martin is an EU Climate Pact Ambassador and will offer insights on how Energy Communities can support climate policy and facilitate long-term public engagement in environmental and climate issues. |
|
Piet Holtrop |
Legal Advisor AURORA pilot Spain |
Spain Male |
Speaker – Holtrop S.L.P. Spain Founding Partner of Holtrop Legal, a company set up with a mission to mitigate the climate crisis. Piet Holtrop is an international lawyer with over 27 years of experience, advising in the field of renewable energies in Spain for 24 years. He publishes regularly on the Fundación Renovables website, Energías Renovables and other media. He is a convinced advocate of the need for the energy transition away from fossil fuels. |
|
Zhe Zhang |
Partner AURORA |
Denmark Female |
Speaker – Aarhus University Zhe Zhang is a Member of the Department of Mechanical and Production Engineering at Aarhus University, Denmark. She has been a leading member of the Aurora Aarhus Pilot, which has developed a university-based energy community and successfully crowdsourced, installed and now operates a community renewable energy scheme at the University. Before moving to Denmark and joining Aarhus University, she worked as a research associate and project lead at the Energy Research Institute at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. |
|
Christophe Bartholeyns |
Eco2 Schools Programme |
France Male |
Speaker – Eco2 Schools Programme Christophe is the facilitator of the Eco² Schools, as New European Bauhaus Labs capitalises on five eco-renovation educational building projects that are currently in progress. By building on the concept of Open Schooling, the selected pilot sites develop concrete and replicable climate action plans to be transformed into innovation hubs in their communities, raising citizen awareness activities to facilitate social innovation, promote education and training for sustainability, conducive to competences and positive behaviour for a resource-efficient and environmentally respectful energy use. |
|
Professor Paula Carroll |
University College Dublin |
Ireland Female |
Speaker - University College Dublin Associate Professor Paula Carroll researches and teaches Operational Research and Business Analytics in the School of Business, focusing on problems that arise in the clean energy transition. Paula’s background is in electrical engineering. She has considerable experience in academia and industry, having worked in Business Planning and Management with Ireland's former incumbent telco, and as a Software Developer with Ireland's semi-state electricity company before her current role. Paula chairs the University College Dublin Energy Community and has actively brought together the Higher Education Institutions to explore their role in Sustainable Energy Communities in Ireland. |
|
Carlos Godinho |
EU Green Universities Alliance |
Spain Male |
Expert Panellist – EU Green Universities A transnational Alliance of nine European universities aims to be Your Gateway to Sustainability. EU GREEN is represented in nine European Countries. Its aim is to train citizens and deliver research and innovation that contribute to developing our local and/or regional ecosystems, providing answers to pressing challenges for society at large. |