What are local governments across Europe doing to accelerate community-owned renewables towards 2030? How does the EU energy and policy framework for 2030 facilitate this process? What is the business sector’s position in this discussion? These questions and more will be answered at “Community energy: accelerating sustainable energy roll-out in Europe”, taking place on 25 June. Organised in the framework of the EUSEW 2014 High Level Policy Conference, it will focus on sustainable energy roll-out in Europe in the run-up to 2030, with a specific focus on the potential of community-led and owned RES for local and regional development.

From commitment to action, policy is instrumental in the implementation of successful and ambitious actions at the local level. At this event, cities will share best practices on community energy, from target setting to implementation, and will discuss future perspectives up to and beyond 2020, and specifically towards 2030. European, national, regional and local policy makers will participate alongside local government, networks and associations, rural communities, NGOs, RES developers, and more.

A panel of experts will provide advice and solutions to legal, financial and policy frameworks, as well as NGOs, grid and RES developers’ perspectives. Two “hot chairs” will allow the cities presenting, the experts intervening and the audience to address EU policy makers and the business community, to discuss how and to what extent the new 2030 Framework should and does support community energy.

The event is organised in collaboration with the CO-POWER project.

The programme and the presentations are available here.