Advancing Public Participation and stakeholdeR engagement fOr the improVement of renewable Energy policies

Programme 2014 - 2020 Interreg Europe

Date of latest update: 2023-12-02

Description

Description (EN):

APPROVE tackles the following barriers to the development of Renewable Energy Sources (RES): low level of knowledge in the general public, lack of expertise of RES proponents and civil servants dealing with permitting procedures, issues of public opposition within approval procedures. In line with the revised Renewable Energy Directive, APPROVE will consider awareness raising, capacity building and stakeholder participation as ways to enable and promote RES. The project will lead to the improvement of 4 policy instruments (Structural Funds operational programmes) with the aim to promote RES development, considering investment priorities related to TO4 “Supporting the shift towards a low-carbon economy in all sectors”, and addressing regional innovation strategies for smart specialisation. The partnership is composed by three 3 regional authorities, 1 regional energy entity, and a research centre (as advisory partner), covering 5 countries (EL, ES, FI, FR, IT). Through interregional cooperation, the territorial partners will identify, share and transfer good practices to improve the policy instruments. Such interregional learning process will interest the partners and groups of regional stakeholders that will be involved throughout the life of the project. The policy instruments will be improved mainly through funding of new projects and a better governance, considering the following areas of action: - awareness raising, providing general information on RES and creating a positive cultural environment; - capacity building, to improve skills and knowledge of all the actors that may influence RES development; - effective participation and involvement, engaging local population and relevant stakeholders from the very start of the planning process. In addition to the Policy Learning Platform, partners will seek a knowledge exchange at EU level, eg participating to S3 Energy Partnerships events.

Achievements (EN):

In terms of activities, the project has organised a total of 26 policy learning events. It has also identified 21 good practices, produced 4 action plans and led to the increased capacity of 45 people. In terms of results, the project has succeeded in improving 5 regional development policies for a total amount of funds influenced of EUR 932,265. 00.

Website: https://www.interregeurope.eu/interreg-europe-2014-2020

Expected Results (EN):

The objective of APPROVE is to improve 4 policy instruments (Structural Funds operational programmes) with the aim to promote the development of Renewable Energy Sources (RES), which is fundamental for the transition to a low-carbon economy. APPROVE will improve such policy instruments promoting best practices on engagement. For each addressed policy instrument, APPROVE will support the definition of specific actions to be integrated in the implementation of the instrument itself. Based on the preliminary assessments by the project partners, promising areas of action include: - awareness raising, providing information on renewables in general and pointing out benefits at the local level (eg, energy autonomy of the region) as well as at the global level (eg, reduction of GHG emissions), thus creating a positive cultural environment, - capacity building, for instance envisaging specific guidelines and training programs. The aim is to improve skills and knowledge of all the actors that may influence RES development, considering in particular civil servants (eg, for managing appropriate RES funding procedures) and potential proponents of RES plants (eg. for successfully participating in ERDF or CF calls), - effective participation and involvement, engaging local population and relevant stakeholders from the start of the planning process. While it might be unrealistic to gain the consensus of all actors involved (acceptance of final result), the rationale is to foster people to accept the outcome of the permitting process if they consider the procedure to be transparent, participatory and fair (acceptance of procedure). The barriers identified in the previous section apply in some measure to all RES types (eg, bioenergy, solar, wind, hydro, …). Therefore, APPROVE will consider all of them, yet developing a particular focus on bioenergy, which is of particular interest for all partners.

Expected Outputs (EN):

OUTPUTS: The main outputs will be the following: - 4 Preliminary Action Plans, - 4 Regional Action Plans, - 1 Report on gaps, needs and challenges , - 1 Report on Good Practices, - 4 Templates (T), for: Report on gaps, needs and challenges, Report on Good Practices, Preliminary Action Plans, Policy briefs, - 1 monitoring tool, - 5 interregional workshops (IWS), - 5 Interregional site visit (ISV), - 12 Regional Dissemination Activities (RDA), - 20 regional stakeholder group meetings (RSM), - 4 bilateral focused meetings (BFM), - 9 participations of 2 partners to Policy Learning Platform events (LP and the AP will participate in 6 Policy Learning Platform events each and the other PP in 2 events each), - 8 participations to EU level events (LP and AP will participate in at least 5 and 3 events, respectively), - 5 newsletter disseminated (N), - Setting up of website and updates with reports from the activities the semesters, - 4 kickoff press conferences, - 5 posters, - 1 communication plan, - 1 video for the promotion of the project, - 4 policy briefs documents - Signed Partnership agreement and Signed Subsidy contract, - 1 management guide and finance manual, - 7 Steering Committee Meetings and minutes, - 7 project reports, RESULTS: For policy instruments PI1, PI2, PI3, PI4 APPROVE foresees “type 1” improvements (implementation of new projects). Thanks to interregional cooperation, the partner regions will find inspiration in other regions to import new projects to be financed within their programmes. For instance, the Regional Council of Lapland aims at introducing new circular economy projects based on RES (PI1), while the Region of Epirus aims at integrating RES in the sustainable mobility plans and sustainable energy action plans to be funded (PI2). For PI1, PI2, PI3, PI4 also “type 2” improvements (change in the management of the policy instrument) are intended, considering for example improved methods for evaluation of measures and organisation of calls, coordination with other funding programmes. For instance, the Regional Council of Lapland (PI1) aims at promoting effective stakeholder engagement in the energy planning process, while the Normandy Regional Council (PI3) aims at enhancing the involvement of intermediate bodies in the management and monitoring of regional measures and projects. In addition to such improvements, the Region of Epirus aims at using ongoing outcomes of APPROVE to define policy changes in the ROP (PI2). APPROVE is expected to provide the necessary knowledge which will assist the Region of Epirus in presenting mid-term amendments to the ROP.

Thematic information

Regional planning and development Renewable energy

Specific Objective: Improve the implementation of regional development policies and programmes, in particular programmes for Investment for Growth and Jobs and, where relevant, ETC programmes, addressing the transition to a low-carbon economy

Thematic Objective: (04) supporting the shift towards a low-carbon economy in all sectors by:

Investment Priority: (04e) promoting low-carbon strategies for all types of territories, in particular for urban areas, including the promotion of sustainable multimodal urban mobility and mitigation-relevant adaptation measures

Partners (5)

Lead Partner: Lapin liitto

Department: Funding and regional development

Address: Hallituskatu 20 B, 96100 Rovaniemi, Finland

Legal status: public

Website: http://www.lappi.fi/lapinliitto/en

Total budget: EUR 328 137.00

ERDF budget: EUR 278 916.45

ΠΕΡΙΦΕΡΕΙΑ ΗΠΕΙΡΟΥ

Name: ΠΕΡΙΦΕΡΕΙΑ ΗΠΕΙΡΟΥ

Address: 1 Plateia Pyrrou (Pyrrou Square), 45211 Ioannina, Greece

Legal status: public

Website: http://www.php.gov.gr

Total budget: EUR 107 870.00

ERDF budget: EUR 91 689.50

Région Normandie

Name: Région Normandie

Department: Energy, Environnement, Sustainable Development Department / Renewable Energies unit

Address: Abbaye-aux-Dames, Place Reine Mathilde, CS50523, 14 035 Cedex 1 Caen, France

Legal status: public

Website: http://www.normandie.fr

Total budget: EUR 119 949.00

ERDF budget: EUR 101 956.65

Ente público Regional de la Energia de Castilla y León (EREN)

Name: Ente público Regional de la Energia de Castilla y León (EREN)

Department: External Relations, Studies and Training Department

Address: Av/ Reyes Leoneses, 11, 24008 León, Spain

Legal status: public

Website: http://www.energia.jcyl.es

Total budget: EUR 187 670.00

ERDF budget: EUR 159 519.50

Poliedra

Name: Poliedra

Address: Via Giuseppe Colombo 40, 20133 Milano, Italy

Legal status: private

Website: http://www.poliedra.polimi.it/?lang=en

Total budget: EUR 274 851.00

ERDF budget: EUR 206 138.25

Partners map

Partners and Projects info

Region of Epirus

Advancing Public Participation and stakeholdeR engagement fOr the improVement of renewable Energy policies

Partners and Projects info

Normandy Regional Council / Normandy Region

Advancing Public Participation and stakeholdeR engagement fOr the improVement of renewable Energy policies

Partners and Projects info

Regional public energy entity of Castilla y León (EREN)

Advancing Public Participation and stakeholdeR engagement fOr the improVement of renewable Energy policies

Partners and Projects info

Poliedra

Advancing Public Participation and stakeholdeR engagement fOr the improVement of renewable Energy policies

Partners and Projects info

Lapin liitto

Advancing Public Participation and stakeholdeR engagement fOr the improVement of renewable Energy policies

Lead partner

Project partner

Summary

Project name (EN): Advancing Public Participation and stakeholdeR engagement fOr the improVement of renewable Energy policies

Project acronym: APPROVE

Project start date: 2018-06-01

Project end date: 2022-11-30

Project status: closed

Total budget/expenditure: EUR 1 018 477.00

Total EU funding (amount): EUR 838 220.35

Co-financing sources:

ERDF: Amount, EUR 838 220.35.

Documents

Documents on this project are listed below, and organised by category. Please note field "Data source", attached to each document. Keep.eu users are free to use these documents as long as they mention the data source and keep.eu.

Reports

Action Plan for Improving the Low Carbon Economy in Bucharest – Ilfov Region

Attachment type: file

Type of document: Report

Data source: https://projects2014-2020.interregeurope.eu/smartedge/

Publication date: 2023-07-31

Document date: 2021-03-23

Languages: en

Attachment file: Download

Action Plan 2020-22 For The Improvement Of The Policies For Renewable Energies In Castilla Y Leon

Attachment type: file

Type of document: Report

Data source: https://projects2014-2020.interregeurope.eu/approve/

Publication date: 2023-07-31

Document date: 2021-07-29

Languages: en

Attachment file: Download

Action Plan Of The Regional Council Of Lapland For The Improvement Of Regional Policies Promoting Renewable Energy

Attachment type: file

Type of document: Report

Data source: https://projects2014-2020.interregeurope.eu/approve/

Publication date: 2023-07-31

Document date: 2021-08-31

Languages: en

Attachment file: Download

Epirus Region Action Plan 2020 - 2022 For The Improvement Of Regional Policies Promoting Renewable Energy

Attachment type: file

Type of document: Report

Data source: https://projects2014-2020.interregeurope.eu/approve/

Publication date: 2023-07-31

Document date: 2021-08-31

Languages: en

Attachment file: Download

Normandy Region Action Plan 2020-2022 For The Improvement Of Regional Policies Promoting Renewable Energy

Attachment type: file

Type of document: Report

Data source: https://projects2014-2020.interregeurope.eu/approve/

Publication date: 2023-07-31

Document date: 2021-07-22

Languages: en

Attachment file: Download

Report On Gaps, Needs And Challenges

Attachment type: file

Type of document: Report

Data source: https://projects2014-2020.interregeurope.eu/approve/

Publication date: 2023-07-31

Document date: 2019-09-30

Languages: en

Attachment file: Download

Report On Good Practices

Attachment type: file

Type of document: Report

Data source: https://projects2014-2020.interregeurope.eu/approve/

Publication date: 2023-07-31

Document date: 2019-11-30

Languages: en

Attachment file: Download

Action Plan for methodological and systematic framework for the Viken climate network

Attachment type: file

Type of document: Report

Data source: https://projects2014-2020.interregeurope.eu/smartedge/

Publication date: 2023-07-31

Document date: 2021-02-05

Languages: en

Attachment file: Download

Action Plan to be implemented in the 2030 Climate and Energy Plan of the Barcelona Metropolitan Area

Attachment type: file

Type of document: Report

Data source: https://projects2014-2020.interregeurope.eu/smartedge/

Publication date: 2023-07-31

Document date: 2021-03-29

Languages: en

Attachment file: Download

Studies / surveys

Analysis, identification of tools and actions, recommendations for the development of participatory and citizen-led renewable energy projects in Normandy

Attachment type: file

Type of document: Study / survey

Data source: https://projects2014-2020.interregeurope.eu/approve/

Publication date: 2023-07-31

Document date: 2020-04-08

Languages: en

Attachment file: Download

Videos / films

APPROVE - A project for the improvement of renewable energy policies

Attachment type: link

Type of document: Video / film

Data source: https://projects2014-2020.interregeurope.eu/approve/

Publication date: 2023-07-31

Document date: 2021-11-09

Languages: en

Information regarding the data in keep.eu on the programme financing this project

Financing programme

2014 - 2020 Interreg Europe

Last month that data in keep.eu was retrieved from the Programme's website or received from the Programme

2023-10-31

No. of projects in keep.eu / Total no. of projects (% of projects in keep.eu)

258 / 258 (100%)

No. of project partnerships in keep.eu / Total no. of project partnerships (% of project partnerships in keep.eu)

2 084 / 2 085 (99.95%)

Notes on the data

Information provided by the Programme.

The financial data featured in keep.eu for this programme, it's projects and its partners is not exact and should be taken as a reference only.

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Advancing Public Participation and stakeholdeR engagement fOr the improVement of renewable Energy policies

Description

Thematic information

Partners (5)

Partners map

Summary

Documents

Information regarding the data in keep.eu on the programme financing this project

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