Local Renewables Project launched at ICLEI’s 2006 World Congress

^Local Renewables Model Communities Network launched at ICLEI’s 2006 World Congress

Bhubaneswar, Coimbatore and Nagpur have been selected as model cities to participate in the new three-year initiative, the ^Local Renewables Model Communities Network. Supported by BMZ and the GTZ (Germany), and coordinated by ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, the project aims to motivate and enable these local governments in India to incorporate renewable energy services in their municipal development strategies and to initiate related activities.

Through the project, these three communities have committed to create local policies that will include the development and use of renewable energy in their growth strategies and policies. A long-term objective of this project is that these three model communities will then serve as examples and centers of excellence for other local governments around the world.

Along with Bhubaneswar, Coimbatore and Nagpur in India, the Network also includes Betim, Brazil, the European cities of Bonn (Germany), Freiburg (Germany), and Växjö (Sweden), and Cape Town (South Africa).

The project activities include:

• establishing capacity centres in the three Indian cities, creating stakeholders group, conduct awareness programs, building private partnerships, etc to promote renewable and other energy efficiency technologies;
• developing local policies for energy efficiency and promotion of renewable energy;
• linking the activities in India to the experiences of European cities as well as model communities in Brazil;
• expanding the activities to further Indian cities and building a international network of committed cities;
• international advocacy for local renewable energy sources and fundraising for model projects in further countries.

The project impacts at the local level include:

• improved access to lower cost energy services for the urban poor;
• reduction in carbon dioxide emissions and other pollutants;
• a healthier, cheaper and more sustainable source of energy; and
• job creation.

The project impacts at the national and international level include the establishment of a benchmark for other local governments in the formulation and implementation of energy policies, and increased demand for renewable energy technologies.

Local action moves the world.

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