On April 5, the Clean Energy for EU Islands Secretariat organized a workshop aiming at the advancement of the clean energy transition of the Greek islands. The focus of the workshop was on the active involvement of local authorities, local businesses, citizen’s initiatives, as well as educational institutions and academia.
The morning session of the workshop introduced the Clean Energy for EU Islands Secretariat’s activities, followed by presentations by the initiative’s pilot island Sifnos and the award winning TILOS (H2020 project). Further contributors included experts from the Regulatory Authority for Energy, the Hellenic Distribution Network Operator, the Independent Power Transmission Operator, and the executive structure of the Hellenic Ministry of Environment and Energy on the Partnership Agreement for the Development Framework.
The evening sessions involved a Greek guide for Community energy initiatives provided by Heinrich Böll Foundation Greece, existing tools for energy planning from local municipalities by the DAFNI Network, European experiences on the involvement of citizens on sustainable energy production, consumption and sustainable mobility solutions by the Technical University of Crete, as well as alternative technologies for sustainable energy production and storage by Energeiaki Samou and the Technical Educational Institute of Crete.
The workshop mobilized more than 60 participants from different Greek islands and the mainland, who participated very actively in the discussions throughout the day. All participants expressed their commitment to work towards the energy transition of their local context, learning from each other and building on the existing experiences regarding both the technical as well as the important social aspects of the energy transition.
During the workshop, it became clear that the complex effort of the energy transition of the island communities necessitates the active involvement and collaboration among a wide variety of actors with their respective areas of expertise.
The Secretariat will assist the island communities by linking such island actors with each other and by providing them with the tools to navigate the energy transition from the bottom-up. The next step in this effort will be the organization of an online meeting for continuing the discussion on the strategic support from the Secretariat.
The workshop was organized by the Clean Energy for EU Islands Secretariat with the support of the Network of Sustainable Greek Islands DAFNI and the Heinrich Böll Foundation Greece.
Before gathering in Athens for the national workshop, the Secretariat visited the island of Sifnos, where meetings were organized with the coordination team on the island, as well as with different island stakeholders involved in the island energy transition.
