On 4th and 5th October the representatives of the Environment, Energy and Climate Change Programme took part in an international networking conference Green HUB, organized by the State Environmental Fund of the Czech Republic as an intermediary of the CZ-Environment programme, which is financed by the Norwegian Funds.

Representatives of the EEA and Norway Grants „green“ programme operators from a total of nine countries accepted the invitation to the conference: Poland, Croatia, Greece, Portugal, Slovenia, Romania, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. In addition, the event was attended by staff from the Brussels Office of the Financial Mechanisms, the donor partner Norwegian Environment Agency and the Icelandic National Energy Authority. This was the first time that such a diverse group of participants had met.

The main purpose of the conference was to establish contacts and present examples of good practice with a view to establishing future cooperation.

On the first day, the guests were presented directly in the field with an innovative project aimed at the development and production of artificial floating islands, which are then placed on ponds. These islands provide safe nesting sites for birds, while the birds themselves and their eggs are protected from predators and other threats.

The second day of the Green HUB conference opened with a keynote address by the Norwegian Ambassador, His Excellency Victor Conrad Rønneberg. Also the presentation of Ragnar Ásmundsson from the National Energy Authority of Iceland was very interesting. He focused on the transition to renewable energy sources and in particular their financing in the Icelandic context. The morning programme included also a presentation of the „Discover and Protect“ project, aimed at communicating the issue of protecting aquatic ecosystems. Its essence is to show, using examples that people know well, what aquatic species specifically need to thrive, how they are threatened by human activity, how to prevent this threat and what each of us can do.

The conference was highlighted by roundtables on four themes (environment and circular economy, energy efficiency and renewables, climate change and adaptation, and programme administration). The main objective of this activity was to identify areas where countries can inspire others, where they need advice, and where future cooperation in the field of climate, sustainability and energy between the countries participating in the EEA and Norway Grants mechanism could be developed.

The organising representatives of the Czech CZ-Environment programme believe that this networking conference was a very beneficial start for future deeper cooperation between the countries benefiting from EEA and Norway Grants in the field of environmental protection and energy.

 

 Editorial

• Climate Programme projects database - link to our projects implemented under the Environment, Energy and Climate Change Programme 
• Find our project in your area – the polish website of the Climate Programme
• See the effects of projects from the thermal modernization call – the polish website of the Climate Programme
• See the EEA and Norway Grants data and results portal
• Learn about projects in the international Media library of the EEA and Norway Grants