The local governments and players have for a long time been committed to adapting to climate change. From 30 January to 1 February 2018, they will be meeting up in the cross-border area of Greater Geneva for the 19th edition of the European Energy Transition Conference to discuss the topic « Cooperate in order to make a success of energy transition ».  Below is a focus on this event which promises to confirm and amplify the movement while at the same time opening up fresh horizons!

The European Energy Transition Conference:

An event that counts for a lot in the energy transition international calendar

Launched in 1999 by the Dunkirk Urban Community and ADEME, then co-organized by Bordeaux Métropole and the Greater Geneva Cross-Border Conurbation, the « European Energy Transition Conference » has become over the course of time an annual “must” for the local European players committed to energy transition. The next edition, scheduled to follow up UNO’s A.G.M. and COP 23, is more than ever the opportunity to confirm and amplify the movement initiated at the local level. During 3 days, nearly 3500 participants from all over Europe - local elected representatives, technicians, companies, associations, researchers and citizens – are awaited at the Palexpo Exhibition and Congress Centre in Geneva to discuss and share their experience of energy transition and its many benefits at the local level: whether for the economy, employment, biodiversity, conservation of resources or again the quality of life.

A programme rooted in current events that promotes sharing, inspiration and co-construction

As is the case every year, the co-organizers of the European Energy Transition Conference expressed the wish to draw up a programme as close as possible to the concrete issues encountered by the local players in the implementation of energy transition. A call for contributions, open to everyone, was therefore launched this summer and nearly 300 intervention proposals and suggestions were received. Whereas the final programme will be disclosed in December, several high spots have already been confirmed: plenary sessions that will give the floor to many European local authorities, several dozen theme workshops that will invite the participants to share, exchange and co-create, «The Academy of Elected Representatives » - a high spot dedicated to local elected representatives or again the “Energy Transition Jobs Forum” , dedicated to career guidance, training and employment in the energy sector. Lastly, an « OFF programme» for the Energy Conference will enable the general public to be sensitized to energy transition issues through a series of events organized on either side of the Franco-Swiss border, in the Greater Geneva area: exhibitions, film shows, outings etc.

 «Cooperate in order to make a success of Energy Transition»:

The leitmotif for 2018 inspired by Greater Geneva – the host area for this new edition

Travel, working life, housing, cultural and sporting practices: no fewer than a million inhabitants of Greater Geneva experience this cross-border dimension on a daily basis. The intensification of the cross-border interconnections, in all fields demonstrates the vitality of this area where the borders are not natural but purely administrative. In order to attain its objectives in terms of energy transition, Greater Geneva has necessarily to cooperate in order to bring closer the private and public worlds, the citizens and the elected representatives, the companies and the laboratories, in order to experiment and innovate. As the new host and co-organizer of the European Energy Transition Conference, the area wishes to share this proactive policy and promises, thanks to the leitmotif « Cooperate in order to make a success of energy transition », an edition that will open up once more new  prospects.

PRESS CONTACTS:

RP carrées - Sophie ROBERT-BEYS and Sophie LUSSIEZ –– sophie.robert-beys@rp-carrees.com Tel : + 33 (0)3 28 52 03 95

Greater Geneva – Laure FABIANI – communication@grand-geneve.org  Tel : +33 (0)6 89 16 32 28

ORGANIZATION CONTACTS :

Permanent  Secretariat– Martine MONBORREN - Martine.MONBORREN@cud.fr Tel : +33 (0)3 28 62 71 82

Greater  Geneva – Hervé FAUVAIN - Fauvain Hervé (DETA) <herve.fauvain@etat.ge.ch Tel : +41.22.546.73.41