Bringing Local and Regional municipalities towards owning their Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans (SECAPs)

Project partners

• EKODOMA, Latvia
• MT Partenaires ingénierie, France
• SEVEn: The Energy Efficiency Center, Czech Republic
• Institute of Systems and Robotics – University of Coimbra (ISR-UC), Portugal
• Energy Agency of Southeast Sweden (ESS), Sweden
• Energy Centre Bratislava (ECB), Slowakia
• Tipperary Energy Agency (TEA), Ireland
• SOGESCA (SOG), Italy
• Association of Municipalities Polish Network "Energie Cités" (PNEC), Poland
• EuroVértice Consultores, Spain
• e7 energy innovation & engineering, Austria

Project description

As part of the OwnYourSECAP project, the urgent challenges of energy transition, climate protection and climate change adaptation are being actively tackled at community level. Across the EU, municipalities and cities are working with energy and climate protection experts to develop and implement sustainable energy and climate action plans. The so-called SECAPs (Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans) should contain concrete climate protection and climate change adaptation measures and also tackle the issue of energy poverty. The central goal here is active participation by municipalities and cities in SECAP design, which allows them to actually "own" their action plans and makes implementation all the more exciting.

In Austria, e7 is already working with Baden, Ottensheim, Langenzersdorf and Steyr. As the project progresses, the number of e7 partner communities, both within and outside of Austria, will increase. In addition to Austria, partner companies and municipalities from Latvia, Spain, Sweden and several other countries are also involved in the project. This is intended to fulfill another central goal of the international exchange of knowledge and experience. Through peer-to-peer activities, community representatives have the opportunity to learn from each other and to draw on good practice examples in relation to climate protection, climate change adaptation and energy poverty. After the end of the project, an international network of European municipalities and cities should exist, which can serve a long-term exchange on these increasingly relevant topics.

About the partner municipalities

Langenzersdorf
Langenzersdorf has been part of the global climate protection network "Klimabündndis" since 1996 and has therefore been involved in climate protection for over 20 years. For example, a comprehensive municipal energy accounting system is maintained and a very conscious focus is placed on climate-friendly mobility options. Langenzersdorf recently received the VCÖ Mobility Award Lower Austria 2023 for its outstanding pedestrian traffic concept. Now the municipality wants to take the next step towards climate neutrality by participating in OwnYourSECAP. It has decided to organise the development of the SECAP as a participatory process. At the beginning of October 2023, we organised a vision workshop with over 50 people from Langenzersdorf to create visions of the future and proposed solutions for climate protection and adaptation. The resulting ideas now serve as the basis for the development of the SECAP. Langenzersdorf has also initiated the process of introducing an energy management system at the municipal level.

Feldkirchen an der Donau
Feldkirchen is part of the Urfahr West climate and energy model region, in which climate and energy-related measures are constantly being realised. By participating in the OwnYourSECAP project, the municipality now wants to develop a binding climate action plan. Feldkirchen an der Donau joined the project as a partner municipality at a slightly later date and we are looking forward to the upcoming collaboration! After an initial evaluation of the current situation in the municipality with regard to climate protection and adaptation, we will jointly determine the next steps.

Ottensheim
Ottensheim is part of the Austrian "Klimabündnis" and has been active in climate protection for some time. A strategy paper is currently being developed together with the Klimabündnis as part of the "Paris we're coming" programme. To this end, workshops are being organised on topics such as mobility, procurement, climate-neutral energy and buildings, etc. As part of OwnYourSECAP, the focus is on energy savings in municipal buildings, energy consumption monitoring, decarbonisation of the heat supply and the prevention of energy poverty.

Baden
Baden has been one of the climate and energy model regions since 2010 and over the years, the city has developed into a model municipality in the climate and energy sector and has already implemented a number of measures. In September 2021, the sector topic of spatial energy planning was commissioned by the municipal council as part of the local development concept. Shortly afterwards, in October 2021, Baden launched an innovative process with citizens in which recommendations were drawn up on measures that are key to becoming climate and CO2 neutral by 2040. A bundled climate neutrality roadmap is currently being developed on this basis, which will contain binding targets. By participating in the OwnYourSECAP project, the municipality has access to additional resources and tools that can facilitate the path to climate neutrality.