During a vibrant impact event in Tourcoing, France, from 4-5 December the full spectrum of Interreg NWE funded projects came together to discuss the uptake of results, opportunities and barriers on a broader level. The Climate Active Neighbourhoods (CAN) project was not only part of a dynamic exhibition area, where “A look into Climate Active Neighbourhoods”, a picture gallery was presented, but also part of a workshop on “The pathway to high-performance buildings”.
Key objectives and results of CAN were presented to a wider audience by project leader Jenny-Claire Keilmann. Innovative bottom-up approaches to reshape the interaction and cooperation between local authorities and citizens on a neighbourhood level in the field of climate action is at the heart of CAN. Cross-benefits for health and well-being, tackling energy poverty, developing support and financial tools as well as a transfer of knowledge and best-practices across five countries were achieved (find a collection of best practices in the CAN Practice Cube).
After getting a glimpse into other successful projects during the workshop and site visits, questions were targeted towards potential opportunities and barriers in the sector, but also how the upcoming Interreg NWE programme can help to overcome these challenges. The participants agreed that education, communication and transfer of knowledge are very important tools to accelerate the delivery of impactful results. The human and social dimension of change has not yet been sufficiently acknowledged, but is a key component throughout all sectors and needs to be considered in all activities, especially in the sustainable building and energy efficiency sector.
The opportunity to network with other project leaders during the impact event has lead to very valuable insights and exchanges of ideas across the Northwest European region.
