Auvergne-Rhône Alpes Energy and Environment Agency

The Agency

Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Énergie Environnement (AURA-EE) is the regional energy and environment agency of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. Created in 1978 with the support of the Regional Council, the agency aims at promoting, co-ordinating and developing programmes and actions in favour of sustainable energies in the building and transport sectors, climate change mitigation and adaptation, environment protection and sustainable development.
Its activities are mainly targeted at local and regional authorities of the public and social sectors. The agency is accompanying them through their process of project development and implementation as well as the definition of local policies and programmes.

AURA-EE is a private non-profit organization gathering more than 80 members including regional and local public authorities, energy producers, distributors and retailers, NGOs in the field of sustainable energy and environment protection, professionals’ organisations in the social housing, energy and service sectors, financial bodies, etc.

Areas of Intervention

The Agency coordinates multiple regional level thematic networks, allowing regional and local stakeholders to share experiences and join forces in the following areas:

• sustainable energy & climate action planning,
• decentralized sustainable energy production,
• smart energy networks,
• sustainable buildings,
• energy communities,
• climate adaptation,
• wastes and circular economy
• green public procurement.

At national level, AURA-EE is chairing the RARE network, the French network of regional energy agencies; at EU level, AURA-EE is co-leading the EUSALP (EU Strategy for the Alpine Region) Action Group 9 on sustainable energy.
 

Projects and Initiatives

• AURA-EE has a long-standing European experience, started back in the mid ’90s, in developing, coordinating, and participating in EU-funded projects. It has been involved in the following programmes: Altener, SAVE, IEE, H2020, FP7, Interreg IV A, B, and C, etc.
  
• The Agency is also a founding member of FEDARENE, the European Federation of Agencies and Regions for Energy and the Environment.
  
• AURA-EE supports the EU Covenant of Mayors (CoM) initiative and signed up to the CoM as a supporting regional energy agency.