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In our calendar, you can find all the events organised or sponsored by the EU-Japan Centre, as well as other events related to EU-Japan relations.
14/07/2010 - Tokyo, Japan
European Initiatives for Promoting Smart Communities (Seminar)
On 14 July 2010 during the “Electric Vehicle Development Technology Exhibition (EVEX) & Clean Energy & Smart Grid Fair (CSF) 2010â€, the EU-Japan Centre organised an open seminar on “European Initiatives for Promoting Smart Communities†with a guest speaker from the Scottish Development International.
With four out of five Europeans living in towns and cities, most of the environmental challenges facing Europe originate from urban areas and the EU recognises the important role that local authorities play in its fight against climate change. The seminar presented an overview of the EU action against climate change (20-20-20 by 2020) and of two EU-level initiatives targeting cities: (1) EU Covenant of Mayors and (2) European Green Capital Award. More than 500 European mayors has made commitment to cut CO2 emissions by more than 20%, save energy and foster renewable energy by signing a Commission-led “Covenant of Mayorsâ€. Cities endorsing the covenant commit themselves to analyse how much CO2 they emit today, outline how they will reach the goal and evaluate their actions annually. The European Green Capital Award is also a new Commission initiative, an annual award presented to a European city with consistent record of achieving high environmental standards and with on-going and ambitious goals for environmental improvement and sustainable development. Stockholm has been chosen as the first European Green Capital in 2010.
In the seminar, the Scottish Development International presented a case study of how a European region, Scotland, is trying to turn into a sustainable community. The Scottish government targets 42% reduction in carbon emissions by 2020 and its commercial capital, Glasgow, was one of the applicant cities in the 2012-2013 race for the European Green Capital. Once known as “dark, dirty and coal-burning†city, Glasgow today applies a multi-strand approach to become a sustainable, green capital while revitalising its economy with low carbon opportunities.
The seminar (open seminar on stage) was attended by the exhibition’s participants and visitors from business as well as local and municipal government or commercial organisations looking for inspiration for how their communities could develop low carbon society (approximately 70 - 80 audience in total).
The EU-Japan Centre also organised an information booth during the 3 days of the fair to disseminate information on (1) EU-level initiatives to encourage development of smart / sustainable cities (“European Green Capital Award†and “Covenant of Mayorsâ€), (2) EU action against climate change (e.g. 20-20-20 by 2020), (3) EU general information and (4) programmes and services of the EU-Japan Centre.
