EU Countries' Experience on Regional Energy Planning

1. Pavel ManchevKiev, 10.07.2017 EU countries experience on regional energy planning EU Experience on regional energy planning Disclaimer: developed under USAID Municipal Energy Reform Project

2. Content • Why regional energy planning is necessary • What is regional energy planning • Practices in Regional Planning of EU Member - Stage "Preparation"- Stage "Development“- Stage “Implementation” Disclaimer: developed under USAID/MERP

3. Why we need regional energy planning? Serious tasks need to be addressed in the context of regional policy, potential of the region and budget as • Reducing the share of energy expenditure in the budgets of the municipalities and the regions through EE and RES • Comfort improvement • Sustainable provision of the necessary energy • Reduce environment pollution • Contribution to implementation of National IndicativeTargets Disclaimer: developed under USAID/MERP

4. What is municipal/regional energy planning Approach how to be: • Satisfied the energy needs of the municipality/region • Minimizing energy costs • In an economically and ecologically appropriate manner • In the context of national policy Disclaimer: developed under USAID/MERP

5. What is municipal/regional energy planning In terms of: • Budget deficit • Accessible energy sources • EE and RES potential • Funding opportunities • Potential of the region to initiate and implement projects Disclaimer: developed under USAID/MERP

6. Practices in Regional Planning of the EU Member States - Stage "Preparation" National policies, regulations and programs • Most RP refer to the national plans, strategies and objectives in terms of energy efficiency and CO2 emissions • The national policies are presented in NEEAP, NAPRES • In some plans, the regional objectives are consistent with the national goals • They are based on mandatory objectives, determined by the states or on voluntary commitments • The horizon of most of the national documents is up to 2020 and 2030, but there are documents and objectives that concern the period until 2050 • Due to the weak national initiatives, one region has developed its own regional energy legislation, which serves as the base for the development of the regional energy plan Disclaimer: developed under USAID/MERP

7. Practices in Regional Planning of the EU Member States - Stage "Preparation" National policies, regulations and programs - examples • The planning systems in Sweden are highly decentralised and the municipalities have a so called “planning monopoly” meaning that other authority levels have no or limited influence on the municipal planning. On the national level, legislation and planning documents are provided giving guidelines for the planning, but the interpretation and detailed planning is being done locally in the municipalities. • In response to the poor effectiveness of national initiatives Emilia-Romagna Region developed in 2004 the regional energy law (26/2004) which regulates the regional strategic plan for the energy sector . • Denmark - There was analysed the local energy plans of 11 municipalities in Denmark to what extent they match with the national energy strategies. The study shows that the municipalities are willing to engage in energy planning, but also that they have many different initiatives which not all match with the national strategies. Disclaimer: developed under USAID/MERP

8. Practices in Regional Planning of the EU Member States - Stage "Preparation" Regional framework and priorities • In most of the regional plans is declared that they have been developed in the framework of the national, regional and local priorities • Almost none of them specify and giving reasons for those priorities • Many plans comment as framework the parameters of existing systems, potential projects related to them, plans for increased use of RES, etc., which are specific for the region • In some of the plans the setting of priorities is one of the important tasks of the developers. • Many of the plans are not speaking about priorities, but about prioritizing of measures. Disclaimer: developed under USAID/MERP

9. Практиките в регионалното планиране на страните членки на ЕС – етап „ Подготовка“ Regional framework and priorities - examples • Poland, Pomorskie Voivodeship - Due to the feature of the region, reducing CO2 emissions should be a priority, particularly in the following sectors: heat generation and the development of renewables and local CHPs; residential and tertiary building, in particular resources owned by public sector; transport, where fuel consumption and emissions increase. • Denmark - “The important thing is to start with projects that have a short payback time and visible effect. A good place to start is energy and waste. And this will in turn strengthen the Danish energy technology businesses of which a large part is situated within the region.” • England, City Region - Adaptation and subsequent adoption of the sub-regional spatial plan priorities into each districts’ Core Strategy, to include overall infrastructure deployment targets and carbon budget provisions generated at a City Region level. The spatial plan would identify a number of strategic projects, which would become priority investments for the City Region: Disclaimer: developed under USAID/MERP

10. Practices in Regional Planning of the EU Member States - Stage "Preparation" Geographical coverage • In almost all reviewed plans regions consist of neighboring municipalities • In some cases there is a regional administrative unit, in others such is missing • The large cities or capitals, which are differentiated as regions, are an exception • There are regions that unite several islands Disclaimer: developed under USAID/MERP

11. Practices in Regional Planning of the EU Member States - Stage "Preparation" Geographical coverage - examples • Denmark, Energetic Northern Jutland, is a regional partnership encompassing the 9 municipalities and the regional administration. It was kick-started in 2014 with support from the Danish Energy Agency. Characteristic for the energy situation in the region is a high share of district heating, decentralised electricity production, and an efficient integration of wind power in the district heating system. • Liverpool City Region. The Liverpool City Region is an economic and political area of England centred on Liverpool, which also incorporates the local authority districts of Halton, Knowsley, Sefton, St Helens, and Wirral. • Emilia Romagna Region, Italy - The area historically called Emilia is to the west and includes the provinces of Piacenza, Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena, Ferrara and the western part of the province of Bologna, whereas its eastern part, with the provinces of Ravenna, Rimini and Forlì - Cesena is called Romagna. Within Emilia Romagna is also the independent republic of San Marino Disclaimer: developed under USAID/MERP

12. Practices in Regional Planning of the EU Member States - Stage "Preparation" Determination of goals and objectives • Mr. Markku Markkula, President of the European Committee of the Regions - “Whether it be at local, regional or national level, all governments share a common purpose: to deliver results for citizens! They should not compete but cooperate. To promote territorial cohesion, spur innovation and create a truly sustainable economy”. • Plans and their goals and objectives (tasks) are closely tied to the specific conditions and potential of each region • There are regions that bind their targets to the national objectives (NIT) regarding energy savings, reaching levels of RES implementation, etc • The objectives in different plans are presented for the region as a whole and for specific sectors as well • Accountability is also seriously emphasized. It is often noted that the clarification of everyone’s role and contribution to various objectives is a key to success. Disclaimer: developed under USAID/MERP

13. Practices in Regional Planning of the EU Member States - Stage "Preparation" Determination of goals and objectives - examples • Purpose of a Liverpool City Region SUStainable energy action Plan:A Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP) provides a single co-ordinated programme of action across the City Region to support the transformation to a low carbon economy through the identification and delivery of a variety of interventions in the energy sector. The SEAP mechanism is increasingly recognized as an effective vehicle for driving change, is a requirement for the Covenant of Mayors Programme and acts as an enabler to unlock access to many European and other funding schemes • Denmark, Capital Region - The objective was clear: How can the region reach the national target of transforming our current energy and transport systems to 100% renewable energy by 2050? What wasn’t as clear, however, was what is needed to make such planning decisions in order to achieve the ambitious targets • Lithuania, Kaunas County - The preliminary objectives to 2020 are a 30% RES share in final energy consumption, 11% in total energy efficiency savings and +8% of CO2 emission reduction compared to 1990 Disclaimer: developed under USAID/MERP

14. Practices in Regional Planning of the EU Member States - Stage "Preparation" Determination of goals and objectives - examples • Portugal, Madeira Disclaimer: developed under USAID/MERP

15. Practices in Regional Planning of the EU Member States - Stage "Preparation" Key drivers and stakeholders roles and involvement • Municipalities and the regional authorities are main drivers and stakeholders in all plans • There is a wide variety of actors, such as municipal companies, companies from the private sector involved in the implementation of projects and energy efficiency measures, energy producers, universities, consulting companies, financing institutions, and representatives of civil society organizations • Typical forms of stakeholders’ involvement are the workshops or web-based meetings • It is important to assess the scopes, to find out the interests and preferences of all participants by making a preference list or a diagram during these workshops Disclaimer: developed under USAID/MERP

16. Practices in Regional Planning of the EU Member States - Stage "Preparation" Key drivers and stakeholders roles and involvement Key benefits of stakeholders’ involvment are: • Improving the quality of the decisions, by benefitting from stakeholders’ expertise at the very start of the planning process • Help to identify controversial issues or difficulties before final decisions are made • Bringing together different stakeholders’ viewpoints and helping different parties to find common ground to reduce the risk of opposition in later phases • Reducing delays and costs in the implementation phase • Leading to better acceptance of the decisions and measures that are taken • Helping more stakeholders commit to action, so that more ambitious goals can be agreed Disclaimer: developed under USAID/MERP

17. Practices in Regional Planning of the EU Member States - Stage "Preparation" Key drivers and stakeholders roles and involvement - examples • The French government has set guidelines for energy policy for 2050 and an overall environmental strategy and law (“Grenelle II”). Schémas Régional du Climat, de l’Air et de l’Energie (SRCAEs) are an important pillar of the approach, and reflect the need to involve elected representatives and civil servants, citizens, and local industry in developing plans • Emilia Romagna regional government set up a participation process to collect the contributions of experts, operators, industrial associations, enterprises and citizens. To pursue this aim the Emilia Romagna regional government created a permanent space called “Casa Energia” (Energy House) where all stakeholders listed above had the possibility to discuss, elaborate ideas and consult with the regional policy makers • Denmark, Region of Southern - The strategic energy planning project in Southern Denmark was a cooperation between 22 municipalities, 3 energy companies, Clean Energy Cluster, led by the Region of Southern Denmark. The plan was developed in a broad cooperation between 9 municipalities on Funen and Ærø, 5 supply companies, the University of Southern Denmark (SDU), Centrovice (the local agricultural trade organisation), and Udvikling Fyn (a regional trade development company). Disclaimer: developed under USAID/MERP

18. Practices in Regional Planning of the EU Member States - Stage "Preparation" Planning horizons and implementation timeframes • Most plans refer to 2020, but it must be taken into account that their implementation horizon (they have been developed in different years) had been different • The shortest registered period is 4 years • Some of the plans are related to national and international documents and strategies with longer horizons, such as 2025, 2030 and even 2050 • Plans, which are based on modeling, often introduce subperiods • Such approach is highly recommended even in the absence of modeling to clarify the implementation of the plan in each of the years. This enables the timely response and avoidance of delays Disclaimer: developed under USAID/MERP

19. Practices in Regional Planning of the EU Member States - Stage "Preparation" Planning horizons and implementation timeframes Risks and advantages: • Having a long term plan (advantages of this option are quite clear, however, if the plan is based on weak assumptions and poor data, then there are certain risks with the implementation and sensibility of having such a plan) • Making only short term decisions in the energy sector based on currently available data (there are risks of lock-in in the technologies of the past, neglecting life-cycle costs, etc., however, short term assumptions are usually more robust) Disclaimer: developed under USAID/MERP

20. Practices in Regional Planning of the EU Member States - Stage "Preparation" Planning horizons and implementation timeframes - examples • France, Methodological Framework for the analysis and development of a sustainable, integrated, regional energy planTime horizon for integrated energy planning is proposed till to 2030, since for the solving of existing problems in the region, there is a need for large investments which need long payback time on the other site analysis of the most expected economic, social, demographic, and technological development happens over a 10 – 20 • The overall goals in the three studied municipalities in Denmark are rather similar. Køge Municipality has an aim of a 20% reduction of greenhouse gasses in 2020 and Copenhagen and Ballerup both have goals of being CO2-neutral by 2025. On the longer term Copenhagen has a vision of having a 100% renewable energy supply by 2050 [2] and MKU and MJC mention that the goal on the long term towards 2050 is to get independent of fossil fuels • Denmark, municipality of Høje-Taastrup In the period 2008-2012 carbon emissions have in total been reduced by approximately 20% and the municipality itself and as consumer reduced its level by 25%. The Strategic Energy and Climate Plan 2020, approved by the city council in May 2015, calls for to continued cooperation Disclaimer: developed under USAID/MERP

21. Practices in Regional Planning of the EU Member States - Stage "Preparation" Sectoral coverage • There is no substantial difference between the sectors in the plans, which were subject of this review, and those cited in ESD and SEAP • The typical sectors that fall into the scope of the plans are: buildings, which include households and services, transport, agriculture, industry • In some occasions, sectors of “commerce”, “tourism”, “energy”, “tertiary”, “housing” and “public” sector are differentiated. In practice the energy consumption in those sectors is part of the 5 sectors pointed out in the European directives Disclaimer: developed under USAID/MERP

22. Practices in Regional Planning of the EU Member States - Stage "Preparation" Sectoral coverage - examples • Italy, Emilia Romagna region REP is seeking to bring about changes as follows: energy savings leading to a reduction in the consumption of oil of about 1.7 million tons by interventions in the building sector, the manufacturing sector, transport and agricultureensuring that renewable sources of electricity generation are suitably remunerated so as to obtain an additional capacity equal to about 400 MW the diffusion of small power plants for electricity generation among final energy users so as to obtain additional power. Disclaimer: developed under USAID/MERP

23. Practices in Regional Planning of the EU Member States - Stage "Preparation" Capacity building for municipalities and key stakeholders • The topic is presented at two levels – specialized and integrated • Specialized training for employees of financial departments in connection with the establishment of funds for EE, financial schemes etc. • Specialized training in different technologies, green energy microgeneration technologies, EE in buildings etc. • Training in on energy-climate issues • Integrated training that covers the whole planning process, incl. the preparation, development and implementation of the plans Disclaimer: developed under USAID/MERP

24. Practices in Regional Planning of the EU Member States - Stage "Preparation" Capacity building for municipalities and key stakeholders –examples • Liverpool City Region Planner Capacity Building Project - This project provides general information and guidance on a range of issues relating to the planning and deployment of heat networks. The project outputs helped increase planning skills and understanding for planners, developers and communities to deliver heat networks. • Villages Housing Association in Stockbridge Village, Knowsley are training 25 local residents to become Energy Community Champions. These champions offer energy advice across Stockbridge Disclaimer: developed under USAID/MERP

25. Practices in Regional Planning of the EU Member States - Stage "Preparation" Capacity building for municipalities and key stakeholders –examples • Italy, Region of Liguria - The region developed a training programme on energy-climate issues for elected officials and technicians from local authorities. This programme was supplemented by technical assistance for developing energy-efficient and renewable energy projects • England, City Region - Interim progress would be supported by capacity building and networking of the ten districts, focusing on engagement with planners and regeneration teams to ensure progress using agreed methodologies on live projects – including business planning to inform infrastructure projects and developer contributions Disclaimer: developed under USAID/MERP

26. Practices in Regional Planning of the EU Member States - Stage "Preparation" Data collection and processing • Data collection and processing are not subject of detailed descriptions in the plans • A significant number of plans start with information about the population and the structure of the building stock, DH systems and etc. • The main sources of data are statistics and proprietary data of the municipalities and regions, as well as data from studies and energy audits • Energy balances of municipalities are mentioned as key source • Data on the energy consumption and emissions, both for the region and per capita are presented • Collected data are used for comparison between municipalities • There are a lot of detailed SWOT analyses related to the potential for energy consumption and use of RES. Disclaimer: developed under USAID/MERP

27. Practices in Regional Planning of the EU Member States - Stage “Development" Identification of measures for supply and demand sides ranking of measures/projects – example Kaunas district Disclaimer: developed under USAID/MERP

28. Practices in Regional Planning of the EU Member States - Stage “Development" Baseline definition approaches • The approaches are not commented in reviewed plans • There are cases when, although the baseline is mentioned, the data concerns one particular year only • Energy balances of municipalities as key source • Related to the choice of the baseline year – in most cases 1990 • In some methodological guides the data analysis and determination of the baseline are done by modeling, which gives a very high level of integrity • In some plans the baseline energy consumption is given as a total for the region and separately for energy, fuel type, electricity, natural gas, petroleum products, and other fuels Disclaimer: developed under USAID/MERP

29. Practices in Regional Planning of the EU Member States - Stage “Development" Data collection and Baseline definition approaches - examples • Liverpool City Region - The baseline includes information on energy consumption and carbon emissions. When setting a baseline year for establishing and measuring targets, the UK typically uses a 1990 relative baseline. However, at a more local level a 1990 baseline is often unavailable • Denmark, Capital Region - One important deliverable from this project is a regional report, containing aggregated data collected from 29 individual energy balances conducted within all the participating municipalities in the region. The final report enables comparisons between municipalities and provides decision makers with a regional overview • Denmark - The Danish Energy Agency has published two guidebooks to guide the work process step-by-step; A guidebook on resource mapping and energy data collection and a guidebook containing recommendation and suggestions regarding scenario analyses and inspiration for how to organise the process of developing and implementing a strategic energy plan. Disclaimer: developed under USAID/MERP

30. Practices in Regional Planning of the EU Member States - Stage “Development" Data collection and Baseline definition approaches - examples • Lithuania, Kaunas District - Data for the use of various energy resources in Kaunas district in separate economy sectors are not enough, therefore, this study used data of the Lithuanian energy institute work [LEI, 2010]. DATA4ACTION, Data Access Guidebook for SEAPs Disclaimer: developed under USAID/MERP

31. Practices in Regional Planning of the EU Member States - Stage “Development" Identification of measures for supply and demand sides ranking of measures/projects • In most of the plans the identification of measures is not discussed • In the majority of cases the measures are presented with the energy savings data only, the emissions reduced and the necessary investments • Arguments of how and under which priorities and criteria the measures are selected are missing. • Ranking of projects, measures and activities is not present Disclaimer: developed under USAID/MERP

32. Practices in Regional Planning of the EU Member States - Stage “Development" Identification of measures for supply and demand sides ranking of measures/projects - example Liverpool region Disclaimer: developed under USAID/MERP

33. Practices in Regional Planning of the EU Member States - Stage “Development" Identification of funding sources and implementation timeframes • Typically, the potential sources of funding are described, not mentioning the specific amounts provided by the respective source and the terms of financing - interest rates, grace periods, own contribution, loan terms, collateral, type of projects, etc • Various, not-so-typical ways of financing such as "white certificates", municipal bonds and pension funds, etc. as well as establishment of a special fund to finance the implementation of the plan, are mentioned • Almost nothing for the time of implementation, and this is very important Disclaimer: developed under USAID/MERP

34. Practices in Regional Planning of the EU Member States - Stage “Development" Identification of funding sources and implementation timeframes - examples • To ensure the Liverpool City Region SEAP delivers the economic and environmental benefits needed in the City Region, several measures will be needed in order to understand the economic, energy and environmental impacts of actions. The City Region will work together with partners to develop the measures so that actions and projects can be measured in terms of jobs, economic growth, projects, energy and carbon emission savings. This will provide decision makers with a clear picture of each action’s economic and environmental credentials, allowing it to prioritise and maximise the impact of intervention measures. • Lithuania, Kaunas District - Investments required for the implementation of Sustainable Energy Action Plan will be provided from the budget of Kaunas District Municipality and the State budget, EU funds and other private funds. Part of investments will be attracted from EU funds, businesses and resident’spersonal contribution. The dissemination of information and the training of specialists from municipal institutions intended to finance 100% from the budget of Kaunas District. The installation of renewable energy sources intended to finance from private funds. Disclaimer: developed under USAID/MERP

35. Practices in Regional Planning of the EU Member States - Stage “Development" Instruments and mechanisms to support the development and implementation of plans • There are regional energy agencies in many regions • Assistance from the regional / territorial coordinators of CoM is mentioned • Some regions have their own bodies dealing with strategic planning and also Steering Committees, responsible for the preparation of the plan • State Inspectorate, which supports the major regional projects, is also mentioned • Another form of support is the Regional cooperation council between municipalities and a county; politically controlled - municipal interest organization mandated to support municipalities and facilitate cooperation and coordination between them. Disclaimer: developed under USAID/MERP

36. Practices in Regional Planning of the EU Member States - Stage “Development" Instruments and mechanisms to support the development and implementation of plans - examples Disclaimer: developed under USAID/MERP

37. Practices in Regional Planning of the EU Member States - Stage “Development" Instruments and mechanisms to support the development and implementation of plans – examples • The Liverpool City Region Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP) has been prepared with assistance from the Government’s Climate Change Skills Fund (administered by the Climate Change Local Authority Support Programme, CLASP). Work has been co-ordinated by Merseyside Environmental Advisory Service with the support of Arup and the participation of the Local Enterprise Partnership and six City Region Councils, Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens and Wirral. • Luthuania, Kaunas region - The control and operational planning of Sustainable energy action plan of Kaunas District at the political level implements Strategic Planning Committee of Kaunas District Municipality Council • England, City region - The spatial plan would be taken forward by the ten districts with the co-ordination of AGMA, the new governance structures for the City Region and the Climate Change Agency. Disclaimer: developed under USAID/MERP

38. Practices in Regional Planning of the EU Member States - Stage “Development" Methodologies for maintenance, development and implementation of plans • Almost all plans refer to the use or development of methodology for planning or part of it - for example for measuring and evaluation of the actions or activities results • There are serious documents binding the methodology with the process of optimization, achieved primarily by means of linear programming • The emphasis is on the detailed research and analysis of the existing systems, as well as of the potential and the existing constrains that could be associated with the region • The methodology adopted by CoM is also quoted Disclaimer: developed under USAID/MERP

39. Practices in Regional Planning of the EU Member States - Stage “Development" Methodologies for maintenance, development and implementation of plans – examples • England, Liverpool - The City Region must develop and implement a methodology for measuring all direct actions for energy demand, supply and transport action plans. • France, Methodological Framework for the analysis and development of a sustainable, integrated, regional energy plan Regional Integrated Energy Planning (RIEP) is an approach to find environmentally friendly, institutionally sound, socially acceptable and cost–effective solutions of the best mix of energy supply and demand options for a defined region in order to support long–term regional sustainable development. It is an opportunity for energy planners to present complex, uncertain issues in a structured, holistic and transparent way for interested parties to assess, understand and provide input to planning decisions [3]. RIEP is rather an open process with many decision makers with different interests and preferences, than a well defined single project Disclaimer: developed under USAID/MERP

40. Practices in Regional Planning of the EU Member States - Stage “Development" Methodologies for maintenance, development and implementation of plans– examples Disclaimer: developed under USAID/MERP

41. Practices in Regional Planning of the EU Member States - Stage “Development" Methodologies for maintenance, development and implementation of plans – examples Coopenergy Consortium, A Guide to Multi-level Governance -. Step-by-step Multy Level Governance (MLG) methodology Disclaimer: developed under USAID/MERP

42. Practices in Regional Planning of the EU Member States - Stage “Development" Methodologies for maintenance, development and implementation of plans – examples Municipal/regional energy planning methodology - EnEffect Disclaimer: developed under USAID/MERP

43. Practices in Regional Planning of the EU Member States - Stage “Implementation" Support in fund raising for plans implementation • External support is expected in accordance with government programs and initiatives, primarily the national EE and REE action plans, as well as legislative incentives, feed in tarrifs, under the EU Structural Funds, other financial and non-financial institutions that provide loans and grants for energy efficiency and renewable energy • Many sources and forms of financing are cited – from banks and funds to mortgage financing • But information about the specific relationship of the plan and the financial source - the volume of funds, percentage of grant if any, interest rates and repayment period, is missing in most plans • We should avoid similar weakness in our plans Disclaimer: developed under USAID/MERP

44. Practices in Regional Planning of the EU Member States - Stage “Implementation" Monitoring and reviewing of the implementation • In the frame of the plan implementation, monitoring and promotion, are most commonly existing elements in the plans • There are also cases, when the establishment of a local unit, dedicated to sustainable energy project development, implementation, monitoring and dissemination of information, is foreseen • The realization of pilot projects to validate the appropriateness of the various projects, measures, activities is provisioned in some of the plans • In general, the topic is not sufficiently represented - there is no Monitoring Plan Disclaimer: developed under USAID/MERP

45. Practices in Regional Planning of the EU Member States - Stage “Implementation" Monitoring and reviewing of the implementation – examples • Lithuania, Kaunas district - The control and operational planning of Sustainable energy action plan of Kaunas District at the political level implements Strategic Planning Committee of Kaunas District Municipality Council. Committee under its competence, examines issues related to the development of sustainable energy and control in Kaunas District Municipality, development, implementation and monitoring of Kaunas District sustainable energy action plan • Poland, Pomerania region - Implementation of the Action Plan should be monitored and evaluated against the assumptions made every two years. Monitoring can be carried out by the competent departments and the results may be analyzed by e.g. a joint commission for sustainable development • Czech Republic, Zlin Region - The regional energy agency, belonging 100% to the regional government, has the mandate to provide know-how, experience and advice as a part of the regional governance. The regional energy agency provides this advice service to both the regional government and its municipalities, in order to support the region to develop local SEAPs and projects focused on renewable energy and energy efficiency. Disclaimer: developed under USAID/MERP

46. Practices in Regional Planning of the EU Member States - Stage “Implementation" Information and communications • In most plans, information on the subject is missing • Where available it is without or with insufficient concreteness. • Communication between both the participants in the plan and the citizens is mentioned which includes mainly reports of the results and information on the potential for energy savings • This theme is a little bit neglected, but it is very important and should have particular participation in the plan Disclaimer: developed under USAID/MERP

47. Practices in Regional Planning of the EU Member States - Stage “Implementation" Information and communications – examples • Lithuania, Kaunas district - For the dissemination of achieved 25 results and good practices the use of electronic information tools and printed publications are planned. The dissemination of information and the training of specialists from municipal institutions intended to finance 100% from the budget of Kaunas District. • Italy, Emilia Romagna region - The actions which have been activated are both informational/promotional and educational/consultatory. Besides making use of the classic channels of mass communication, traditional media and new-media, the project has been promoted all over the Region through a “Io Partecipo corner”, with dedicated staff, where citizens may find information and support, located in every Public Relation Office (URP), all over the regional territory, and in all public events with some connections with the project goals (trade shows, events, conferences, etc.) • Denmark, HØJE TAASTRUP region - Additional activities include municipal facilitation tasks and network activities as well as a broad communication of the results from the already implemented activities and projects. Disclaimer: developed under USAID/MERP

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