NEW! AER conference on Climate Change, 30-31 March 2009, Limousin (F)

Limousin region, France, will host the AER plenary meetin in Spring 2009. This event will be combined with a conference on climate change. Further information available here!

Give us your input on the conference agenda!

In order for you to make the most out of this event, we would now like to ask for your input on the draft programme we have prepared. Our intention is to offer you the possibility to get detailed information on projects and strategies developed by regions both to mitigate, and adapt to, climate change. Which topics on the agenda are more/less relevant to you? Help us refine the programme to suit your needs! It will take you 5 minutes at most to complete and return the input form (click here!) so we can count on your support.

New! Draft agenda for the working group meeting planned on 28th October 2008 in Linz (Upper-Austria)

See below for more details

NEW! Call for regional best practices on climate change.

The AER Committee 1 is aiming to highlight the role of regions in the field of climate change by putting together regional best practices contributing to limit climate change through mitigation measures.

If you would like to join the discussion on climate change and bring your contribution, please download and fill-in the document below and return it to the AER secretariat.

NEW! Call for partners: INTERREG SUDOE 2007-2013 - PROJECT BIOS

ADRAT, a Portuguese organisation is looking for French partners to join the BIOS project.

The conditions of SUDOE programme to be partner of the project are:

1) To be located in one of the following regions: Poitou-Charentes, Aquitaine, Midi-Pyrénees, Limousin, Auvergne, Languedoc-Roussillon
2) To be a public or equivalent organisation or entity.

DEADLINE of the call is 13 June 2008

Call for partners for FP7 project on geothermy

The Region of Kirsehir in Turkey is currently looking for partners for a project on geothermy.

The project is aimed to be funded under the FP7 call FP7-REGIONS-2008-2. Facilitating the emergence of new regional research driven clusters and mutual exchange of information.

In the 2008 call, proposals should address one or both of the following topics:

• Maximising the benefits of research infrastructures for regional economic development
• Regional contributions to the reduction of CO2 emissions

The second topic would be at the heart of the project, in view of reducing CO2 emissions. There are currently two hotels in the Region which are used as SPA centres and 1800 buildings are using Geothermal Energy for heating.

Should you wish to provide Kirsehir with your experience or joint them in this project, please contact: Murat Gencer, Governorship of Kirsehir EU Programmes Coordinator, fp7projects(at)yahoo.com

Climate Protection and Renewable Energy: Medium and Small Communities facing the challenge - Rovigo (IT) 2-4 April 2008

The AER was a partner with ICLEI (Local Govenrments for Sustainability) in the organisation of this event. The European Climate Change Conference brought together advanced cities and towns who shared with committed municipalities their capacity and experiences about energy efficiency and renewable energy, district heating and co-generation, adaptation and other burning issues related to climate protection.

More information on the conference's outcomes available here

You can also contact the AER secretariat for a feedback on the meeting, provided by the AER representative in Rovigo.

A European Conference in Östersund, 20–21 July 2009: Renewable Energy and Clean Tech - Tools for Regional Development

Climate and environmental affairs are a top priority in the Mid Sweden region, as well as receiving high priority at an EU level. These topics are on the agenda of the forthcoming Swedish presidency of the EU.

During the Swedish EU presidency, the county administrative boards and county councils of Jämtland and Västernorrland will organise a conference on the theme of “Renewable energy and clean-tech - Tools for Regional Development” in Östersund, on 20–21 July, followed by technical visits in the two counties.

The conference’s target groups are decision-makers, officials, entrepreneurs and SMEs in the field of regional development, renewable energy and clean-tech. The purpose of the conference is to agree on a position document containing concrete proposals for boosting local, regional, national and European sustainable regional development through innovation in renewable energies and clean technology. This document will be communicated to the informal EU Council  meeting in Åre on the 23–24 July. 

Keynote speakers at the conference are Commissioner Danuta Hübner and Göran Carstedt, who is involved with the Clinton Climate Initiative. Speakers from the OECD and politicians from different European regions will also participate.

The Mid Sweden region contributes to the nation’s energy supply. Current activity indicates that this contribution would be even greater if wind power and biofuels, for example, were used in a more efficient way. Ambitious measures have also been initiated in order to save energy and find alternatives to fossil fuels.     

Many EU regions are discussing similar energy undertakings, thus amplifying the importance of providing a platform for benchmarking, knowledge exchange, the  promotion of new ideas and policy development.

More information will be published on www.rdc2009.se

For more information contact:

Ulrika Åberg, Länsstyrelsen i Västernorrlands län
Phone +46 (0)611 34 90 49, e-mail ulrika.abergdelete_me(at)lansstyrelsendelete_me.se

Olle Bertilsson, Västernorrlands läns landsting
Phone +46 (0)611 800 00, e-mail olle.bertilssondelete_me(at)lvndelete_me.se

Gunnar Fackel, Jämtlands läns landsting
Phone +46 (0)63 14 75 00, e-mail gunnar.fackeldelete_me(at)jlldelete_me.se

Olle Lundgren, Länsstyrelsen i Jämtlands län
Phone +46 (0)63 14 60 00, e-mail olle.lundgrendelete_me(at)lansstyrelsendelete_me.se

Workshop: "Which answers to climate changes in the rural areas?", European Countryside Movement, Brussels, 13 November 2008

The impacts of climate change can be already perceived in some fields, the most often in rural areas : natural disasters, drought and flooding, decrease of biodiversity, invasive species, loss of agricultural productivity, and even food shortage.

But the ongoing climate change affects also territorial cohesion and balanced linkage between towns and countryside. The contributions of rural actors (services, productions,..) and the amenities of the countryside (nature, landscape,..) are basic factors of a long-lasting societal equilibrium : some of these elements are threatened or affected by climate evolution.

How respond to climate change in rural areas ? How can rural actors reduce impacts and tackle causes of climate change ? Which rural contributions to face this global threat? By dealing with this issue from a rural approach, the seminar of the European Countryside Movement also renews a key point of the next decades: the recognition of rural areas and their actors as necessary stakeholders for the sustainable vitality of our planet.

For more information on this event, please see the conference programme.

Conference: "EU Funding for Environmental Projects" - 3-4 November, Berlin

The European Academy for Taxes, Economics & Law are organising an event on the EU funding programmes for environmental projects. This conference offers (1) a very good inside knowledge on the specific funding instruments for environmental projects; (2) first hand information on how to be the most successful in applying for EU environmental funding resources; (3) insider experience by a member of the LIFE+ Committee, responsible for evaluating and deciding on your project proposals; (4) key success criteria in order to promote successful funding for applications.

The programme of the conference is available here. For further information, please contact Regina Lüning +49 30 802080-246 or regina.luening(at)euroacad.de

Outcomes of the Spring session of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities (Malaga, 13-14 March 2008)

• Draft opinion of the Committee of the Regions on Addressing the challenges of water scarcity and droughts in the European Union

The Committee of the Regions will be voting on this draft opinion from the Sustainable Development Committee, during its plenary meeting on 9-10 April 2008. Rapporteur is Mr. Francisco Camps Ortiz (ES/PPE) from the region of Valencia whose aim is to find full support of the AER members that are also taking part in the Committee of the Regions and thus obtain the best results in April.

Publication of the Climate change package

The two presentations below from DG Agriculture and DG Environment 'Climate Action' of the European Commission give an overview of the Climate and Renewable Energy package adopted by the Commission on 23 January 2008. This package is the Commission's legislative proposal to achieve agreed EU objectives in the fight against climate change; it features measures on CO2 'burden sharing' and on the post 2013 period of carbon trading under the EU-ETS, revised EU state aid rules, a communication on carbon capture and storage (CCS), and a prosposed directive on renewable energies, including biofuels

AER Response to European Commission Green Paper on Climate Change

Committee 1 has published a response to the Green Paper from the Commission to the European Communities "Adapting to climate change in Europe: Options for EU action". This document has been submitted to the European Commission in response to the public consultation. To consult the EC Green Paper, please click here.

AER Resolution on climate change adopted in Kazan

Committee 1 has adopted a resolution on climate change during its plenary meeting in Kazan, Tatarstan (RU) on 19 September 2007.

AER Working group on climate change

The working group on climate change is chaired by the Region of Noord-Brabant (NL).

The next meeting will take place in Linz (Upper-Austria) on the occasion of AER Committee 1 plenary meeting.

AER Working group on water

The working group on water is chaired by the Region of Valencia (E).

The increasing demand by citizens and environment organisations for cleaner rivers and lakes, groundwater and coastal beaches has been evident for considerable time. It has recently been confirmed by a survey from Eurobarometer. Issues such as floods, water scarcity and droughts have become increasingly important on a technical and political level.

The objectives of the working group will be to follow the implementation of the Water Framework Directive, to lobby the EU institutions to keep in mind the role of all European regions in water-related problems as well as to inform Europe-wide of the importance of water policies.

If you would like to join the activities of either of these working groups, please contact the AER Secretariat.

On 30th April, the European Commission published the review of its activities in the field of environment in 2006. The first part was dedicated to climate change and the current and upcoming energy challenges. The second part dealt with Nature and biodiversity. The third part was on environment and health and the last one on resource use.

Links to related pages

AER & energy policies

AER & tourism policies

Past events

Sustainable rural development: Interministerial Conference on What future for rural areas in Europe?, Bari, Puglia, 13-14-15 May 2004

AER Seminar on Sustainable Development: Gera, Thüringen, 10 October 2003

UN Summit on Sustainable Development:

The AER Committee C 'Regional Policies' attended the UN Summit on Sustainable Development, notably its Local Government Session (LGS) (Johannesburg, 27-30 August 2002), which the AER co-organised together with the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI). The AER also took part in the Johannesburg event for Sub-national levels of Government (31 August).
Mr Thomas Hägg, County councillor from Jämtland (S), Committee C member, represented Committee C on these important occasions.
Moreover, Mr Bernard Soulage, AER Committee C member and Regional Councillor from Rhône-Alpes (F), also attended the Multi-stakeholders Dialogue.

An essential part of the LGS was the exchange of examples of good regional practices and partnership initiatives in different fields of sustainable development. The AER, co-organisor of the LGS, presented its member regions' concrete actions in favour of sustainable development.

The paper which the AER presented during the Summit and the follow-up report on the participation of the AER are available upon request at the AER Committee C Secretariat.

In 2002-2003, the Working group 'CAP and its impact on Sustainable rural and agricultural development' of AER Committee C, co-ordinated by Gloucestershire, established a report on regional good practices in the field of rural development. A 'Rural form', available in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish, was set up.This form listed key issues linked to rural development. Of course, this list was not exhaustive and Regions were invited to complete it with their own suggestions. For every question, Regions were asked to indicate whether they face these issues, to specify how these issues expressed themselves and, above all, to describe the actions they undertook to address these issues.

The results of this survey were used for the AER report in Johannesburg.They also served for the production of an Interim Report which was forwarded to the European Commission, as a contribution to the mid-termreview of CAP, announced on 10 July 2003 y Commissioner Fischler. This report on CAP mid-term review is available upon request in English and French.