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Clean Energy

Apr 04 2018
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Creating Eco-Societies through Urban Commons Transitions (Brussels)

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Context: Towards socio-ecological societies

Cities are becoming a new and hopeful transnational governance level. They are organising themselves in a whole tissue of networks (Fearless Cities, Fabcities, etc.), working together in domains like climate policy, renewable energy and urban economy.

At the same time, citizens are developing a whole range of urban commons, based on co-operation and an ethics of care. Tired of only being a powerless consumer or a passive citizen, we get active as maker, urban farmer, solidarity volunteer, user of shared resources, civic or social entrepreneur, etc. This goes along with the establishment of new organisations and infrastructures like fab labs, energy co-ops, co-working spaces, urban food production plots, and many more.

In recent years, we have seen cities like Ghent and Bologna moving a step further, establishing structures and processes that aim at building synergies between the public and the commons domain. This is part of a new political vision, the Partner State. So, a partner city sustains and gives incentives to alternative civil and economic institutions, like the commons and cooperatives. The conference, as part of this year’s transnational project around Urban Commons Transitions, therefore aims to look at these developments of collaborative city-making and to examine those prototypes of transformative cities as a driving force towards socio-ecological societies.

About the Event: A conference to inspire and motivate

Lately institutions, research groups and organisations were created to investigate how commons could be integrated in a more sustainable way in the vivid networks of cities. During this conference, organised with the support of the Flemish Think Tank Oikos, experts from different projects and institutions will inspire you with their knowledge and findings about sustainable commons in cities. 

Draft Programme

19:30 – 19:40 INTRODUCTION Dirk Holemans, Director of Oikos and GEF Board member

19:40 – 20:20 THE VISION OF TWO EXPERTS Michel Bauwens & Elena De Nictolis

20:20 – 20:50 THREE STORIES ON URBAN COMMONS

Marie Haspeslagh, Enchanté – a network of warm-hearted merchants

Lucie Evers, Partago – a coop for electric car sharing – Mobility Factory

3rd speaker to be announced

20:50 – 21:10 PANEL DISCUSSION “CHANGING THE CITY”, Marie Haspeslagh, Lucie Evers, tbc

21:10 – 21:30 CLOSING PANEL “URBAN COMMONS TRANSITION”, Michel Bauwens & Elena De Nictolis

Keynote speakers

Michel Bauwens

Founder and director of the P2P Foundation and expert in peer production, governance and property. Bauwens is a well-known public speaker and thought leader. In 2017 he wrote the Commons Transition Plan for Ghent, after a similar project for Ecuador.

 

Elena De Nictolis

Research associate at LabGov, the LABoratory for the GOVernance of the City as a Commons. She prepares a Phd thesis on public policies for urban co-governance and the relation with the quality of city democracy at LUISS University of Rome.

 

Register now

To attend this inspiring conference, follow this link and order your tickets on the bottom of the page.

To complete your registration, transfer the entrance fee of 5 € to BE29 0015 9877 0164 (BIC: GEBA BE BB) Oikos vzw with the reference ‘Commons Congress’.

Stay tuned for updates

Subscribe to our Facebook event, where you will receive the latest news on speakers and the detailed programme, and follow us on Facebook or Twitter to learn about our other activities.

 

Mar 21 2018
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Energy

Energy Democracy: Changing the Energy System

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Europe has to change its energy system into a fully renewable one to transition to a sustainable economy and to establish a real climate policy. This is a major challenge for every Member State of the European Union, but will only succeed if the states work to together (connecting each other’s grid, exchanging know-how, etc.).

European citizens are taking initiative

European citizens are already playing an active role, together with governments at different levels, as they are organising themselves in national energy cooperatives and also the European Federation REScoop. This state of play was recently recognised when the European Parliament’s ITRE Committee approved what can be called ‘a new Renewables Directive’ that defines the development of renewable energy until 2030. Among other things, the provisions introduce unprecedented rights that provide individual citizens and communities with an equal playing field so they can participate in and benefit from the energy transition.

Studies show that by 2050, around 45% of all EU households could be producing their own renewable energy, more than a third could come through renewable energy cooperatives. This constitutes a huge opportunity for regional economic development, as locally-owned renewable energy projects deliver eight times the value of projects that are owned by private companies not from the area. The reality in the different Member States is however extremely diverse. While the contribution of citizens’ Energy co-ops and local communities is well recognized in Western Europe, the situation in Eastern Europe is quite the opposite.

Project Activities

This project will address the challenge to develop national frameworks (legal, fiscal, etc.) that not only recognise the role of citizens and communities (or regions), but actively stimulate their role while looking at best practices in particular from Germany and Denmark.

On the basis of a framing paper, fed by research of all project partners in their respective countries, all involved partners will organise a project activity to foster the discourse about the change of the energy system in their respective country.

 

This graphic recording was designed by Alejandro Gil, one of our Greenr Visual Interpreters, during the event Energy Democracy: Changing the Energy System that took place on 18th May 2021.