Successful 5th Edition of ESEIA International Conference held in Cyprus
The 5th ESEIA International Conference entitled Towards Climate Neutral Energy Communities took place 2-3 November 2022 at The Cyprus Institute in Nicosia, Cyprus. We were thrilled to welcome 74 participants and see 49 organisations, of which 11 are ESEIA members, represented at the event.
During the two-day hybrid event, participants from 18 countries, mainly within the European Union but also from Australia and Turkey, had the opportunity to discuss the importance of successfully achieving climate neutrality.
From addressing the climate change impact on energy needs and sources to building climate-neutral communities through innovation, a wide range of topics were covered by speakers and panellists, giving place to thought-provoking discussions and rich networking opportunities among all the attendees.
In the end, the participants agreed that a transformative change is needed to mitigate energy intensity and carbon footprint and reduce vulnerability to climate change.
Day 1
The 5th ESEIA International Conference started with the opening remarks by the ESEIA Director Brigitte Hasewend, the Conference Chair Fabio Maria Montagnino, and the Conference Co-Chair Salvatore Carlucci, who reminded us of the importance of connecting and working together to tackle the challenges of the energy transition.
This was followed by a keynote speech delivered by the CEO of the Driving Urban Transitions (DUT) Partnership Margit Noll. She explained how the DUT Partnership, a public-public partnership co-funded by 28 European countries and the European Commission, aims to address complex urban challenges through integrated approaches to offer local authorities and municipalities, service and infrastructure providers, and citizens the means to act. “We want to create a framework for experimentation and cooperation,” she said, offering insights on urban transformation and building capacity to make it happen.
The Mayor of the Municipality of Limassol Nicos Nicolaides then highlighted the role cities play in achieving climate neutrality and introduced the “ambitious and difficult undertaking” of transforming Limassol into a low-carbon, climate-resilient, smart and sustainable city. His message was clear: There is still time to act on climate change and boost the urban transformation “if we manage to organise ourselves, to join forces, to talk at various levels.”
Following the keynote speeches, three parallel sessions took place, during which panellists, including ESEIA Working and Focus Groups coordinators, presented their scientific work and engaged in discussions with the audience.
In case you missed the 5th ESEIA International Conference, click here to watch the recording of the first day.
Day 2
The ESEIA Director Brigitte Hasewend and the Scientia Professor of High Performance Architecture at the University of New South Wales Mat Santamouris delivered keynote speeches on the second day.
In her speech, Brigitte Hasewend underlined the role ideas and networks play in paving the way towards a better future by presenting ESEIA as an example. “Why we found ESEIA? We realised that on a European level, we have a lot of knowledge, a lot of places for research and innovation, and a lot of people working in education, but still a very scattered landscape. The idea was to align and bring together all these forces under a thematic roof that would direct us towards climate neutrality,” she said. “That is what networks are all about,” she added. “They bring people who share the same aim” to cooperate and create knowledge that can be brought to the market and help us implement new solutions.
Mat Santamouris, the last keynote speaker of the conference, raised awareness of urban overheating and regional climate change and explained how heat mitigation technologies could improve sustainability in cities. “World cities are seriously overheated,” he said. It is a multidisciplinary problem that requires integrated and holistic mitigation policies based on scientific rather than empirical knowledge.
The second day was also marked by the innovative and entrepreneurial capacities of the Cypriot people showcased in a series of project presentations onsite and online. The Mighty Kitchen, KyklOIKOdromio, and Energy Communities are among the 11 projects presented at the event. More information about the projects, including posters, is available here.
In case you missed the 5th ESEIA International Conference, click here to watch the recording of the second day.
More photos of the event are available here.
ESEIA Business Meetings
Back-to-back with the 5th ESEIA International Conference, ESEIA held Business Meetings with its member and partner organisations to review current projects, discuss proposals, and provide updates on various aspects of the Alliance.
More information about ESEIA Business Meetings is available here (for members only).
Contact:
Conference Chair: Fabio Maria Montagnino, The Cyprus Institute, Cyprus: f.montagnino@cyi.ac.cy
ESEIA Team: office@eseia.eu
