New Compete4SECAP project – Teaming up for Energy

The new Compete4SECAP project, or C4S, is building on resources developed in previous projects such as 50000&1 SEAPs working on the topics of energy management and action plan standards and the Save@Work project that organised municipal energy-saving competitions.

This European funded project, coordinated by Latvian partner Ekodoma, will help local authorities put their existing Sustainable Energy Action Plans (SEAPs) into action. The project promotes the adoption of standardized energy management systems in municipalities through the coordination of national competitions and peer-to-peer exchanges which steer the attention and involvement of local to national authorities in 8 European countries. The project also helps facilitate the upgrade of SEAPs into Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans (SECAPs), as per new planning approaches promoted by the Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy.

“Energy management and competition, when combined, can trigger significant benefits. They provide an innovative and effective way to involve local authorities which have their SEAPs, but have not yet thoroughly fostered their integrated development at a local level. Trained and engaged employees will be able to better implement energy efficiency measures and support the fulfilment of energy and climate targets on a national and EU level” Marika Rošā  and Līga Žogla. EKODOMA, Project coordinator.

Recruiting cities

The C4S project covers 8 countries across Europe, and will recruit at least 32 local authorities. Each town will designate a local Energy Management Team to implement Energy Management System (EnMS) in public buildings and other municipal operations (i.e. public facilities, street lighting, municipal vehicle fleets). A national energy management group is also to be created in each country, involving representatives from each of the four participating cities, as well as national policymakers, other stakeholders and the in-country project partner.

Teaming up for Energy

In order to facilitate the involvement of the cities and foster the implementation of project activities, a competition among the Energy Management Teams is being organized to help promote an exchange of experiences. They will compete for the most efficient way of implementing an EnMS and reaching the highest level of energy savings. The success of each city will depend on how well they team up to work together towards common goals. The best teams will be awarded at the final C4S conference.

Find out more: www.compete4secap.eu

Communication contact: Kelly Cotel, Communication Officer – ICLEI kelly.cotel@iclei.org