What is new?
As a frequent visitor of the AREA 21 website, you might have spotted a new logo on the landing page: The EUSBSR flagship stamp. We are proud to announce that the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR) has just awarded the project so-called flagship status. This means that AREA 21 and our Energy Improvement District concept are considered particularly effective instruments for the region’s energy goals.
How AREA 21 makes a difference
Throughout the past years, we have developed the Energy Improvement District: A concept that brings energy planning to the neighbourhood level. The EID is an instrument that strategically coordinates the work of all relevant actors. This includes, for example, energy producers, municipal administration, citizens and interest groups. While sectoral and centralised approaches are often obstacles to sustainable energy planning, the EID concept is a cooperative counter-model. In this sense, Energy Improvement Districts improve coordination between stakeholders – and thus enable better coordinated measures for energy efficiency, green energy production and CO2 savings. So far, seven Energy Improvement Districts have been established in different countries.
EUSBSR – The EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region
The EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region is one of four so-called macro-regional strategies of the European Union. The EUSBSR is intended to facilitate the region’s sustainable development through a total of 14 Policy Areas. Besides, the EUSBSR, like all macro-regional strategies, is to anchor important EU goals in these regions. To this end, the EUSBSR has defined three overarching themes: (1) saving the sea, (2) connecting the region and (3) increasing prosperity. The EUSBSR is currently being revised for the new funding period (2021-2027).
EUSBSR flagship status for AREA 21
In this phase of change, AREA 21 has been distinguished: From the EUSBSR’s point of view, AREA 21 and its Energy Improvement Districts are a significant contribution to the EUSBSR’s objectives in the Policy Area Energy. This April, EUSBSR thus decided to award AREA 21 the flagship status. According to this award, AREA 21 sets standards for implementing the energy goals of the Baltic Sea Strategy (energy security, sustainability, competitiveness). Congratulations to the entire partnership!