University of Tartu will upskill European municipalities for clean energy transition

Experts from the University of Tartu have been funded by the European Union to conduct a green transition project with international colleagues from Europe. The university will lead a thorough training programme related to clean energy transition to upskill experts in European municipalities and prepare them for implementing integrated clean energy planning. 

As the European Union has set a goal to decrease CO2 emissions by 40% by 2030, it stresses the urgent need for supporting small and remote communities in Europe in their efforts to meet the EU mid-term decarbonization targets. This involves aligning financial incentives with the clean energy transition (CET), supporting knowledge sharing, and building g capacity. To support these efforts, the Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies at the University of Tartu as well as its international partners were funded by the EU to accelerate the clean energy transition in local municipalities through the development of innovative approaches in LOCAL GoGREEN project. 

The Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies at University of Tartu is to develop a set of thorough training materials addressing specific gaps in the knowledge and capacity of local specialists compiling and implementing integrated climate and energy plans (ICEP). 

Based on this set of designated training materials, trainings will be carried out for public and private stakeholders of the 6 pilots (in Slovenia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Germany, Italy, and Spain), to upskill them in efficient integrated climate and energy planning and implementing integrated measures at local level. For that, a set of designated training materials is compiled covering key topics in 5 core sectors necessary of ICEP development (e-mobility, energy efficiency of buildings, renewable energy generation, landscape planning for increased carbon absorption, and waste-to-energy). In each partner region, 300 experts and 300 key stakeholders are trained. 

Through a coherent roadmap, each pilot will prepare a project pipeline and develop pre-feasibility studies. A Transnational Expert Group will advise the local working groups on the technical, financial, social, and environmental aspects of the project pipelines. Project results will be upscaled through the clusters, the training platform and Transnational Municipal Collaborative Network created within the project. 

LOCAL GoGREEN project is coordinated by Local Energy Agency Spodnje Podravje on Slovenia. Other partner organisations of the project include the National Research Council in Italy, environmental consultancy Aberon in Bulgaria, the Spanish Association of Energy Efficiency Companies, energy industry experts from Enerkon in Croatia, the European Institute for Innovation–Technology located in Germany and Dr. Jakob energy research consultancy in Germany. 

The LOCAL GoGREEN project ("Empowering local authorities for accelerating the CET") has received funding from the European Union’s Programme for the Environment and Climate Action (LIFE 2021-2027) under grant agreement n° LIFE 101120811. The budget of the project is EUR 1.47 million, of which the amount of EU support is EUR 1.4 million. The project duration is from 1 November 2023 – 31 October 2026.