Winner Announced for the Roger Léron Award 2015

The Roger Léron Award celebrates outstanding contributions to the development of sustainable energy in the EU at the regional and/or local levels. It aims to acknowledge persistency, positive attitude, a proactive approach and successful implementation of various projects.

The selected winner was Herbert Stava (Austria) amongst four nominees.

Starting in 1985 as the city councillor for the environment in his hometown, Herbert Stava has been continuously engaged in energy efficiency, renewable energy, and sustainability for 30 years now.

He founded Energiepark Bruck/Leitha, an innovation and development centre (NGO), to transition his hometown towards a 100% renewable energy city and in a second step to develop the whole region towards 100% energy independence. See his page here

The evening also celebrated the outstanding contributions of the 3 other nominees:

Andrei Chiliman, the Mayor of Bucharest District 1 since 2004 who initiated one of the largest energy efficiency projects in Europe in order to transform District 1 into “the first energy-efficient community in Romania” succeeding in making energy efficiency policies popular.

Fred Nordstrom, the founder of the renowned Regional Energy Agency of Norrbotten (NENET), is a pioneer in his country with long-standing experience and knowledge in the field of sustainable energy at the local and regional levels. See his page here

The Tipperary Energy Agency (TEA), an exemplary local energy agency, has over the last 18 years achieved a significant reduction in public sector energy use. TEA has participated in many projects and has managed to boost the economy and create more than 400 jobs over the last 5 years.

The Roger Léron Award will be awarded every year to an individual or organisation for outstanding merit in our field of activities.

For the next edition, we will open the applications in January 2016.

FEDARENE believes that the regional and local levels of governance play a central role in energy and climate issues, through their responsibility for many policy areas (energy, transport, housing…), their proximity to citizens, their thorough knowledge of the territory, and their greater flexibility than national governments. Regional and local players’ contributions are notably helping reduce Europe’s dependence on foreign energy, ensure Europe’s security of energy supply and prevent further impact on our climate.

The Award is named in memory of Roger Léron, a pioneer of regional energy development in Europe and one of the FEDARENE founders who also served as its President for over a decade (1995-2007). Deeply rooted in local and regional development, he had a far-reaching vision for greater European sustainability.