ENER’Monts du Lyonnais

The end of 2023 was busy for RURENER as we had the chance to gather in the association of Communities Les Monts du Lyonnais from November 30th to December 2nd to continue the building of the Rural Resilience Roadmap for the LINK-EU project.

The event started off with the usual welcoming dinner so that participants can get to know each other. The next day, after the official opening in the Park Eco Habitat in Saint Symphorien sur Coize, we started with the first visit of the anaerobic biogas plant Méthamoly and the biogas station right next to it. An inspiring example illustrating a successful cooperation between private (farmers) and public (the association of communities) entities to promote circular economy, renewable energy and waste management.

We kept on going towards the municipality of Meys where we had lunch before visiting the eco-neighborhood. The eco-neighborhood emerged from the problem of the size of the school becoming too small for the growing number of children. After a local dialogue, the construction of a new school using eco-materials and promoting sustainable practices (saving rain water, having a vegetalized rooftop to optimize comfort, etc) was decided. Around the school, shared gardens have been developed as well as social housing with a wood structure. Quite an inspiring initiative that led the mayor to extend the discussion to the organization of the whole village.

Later on, we continue our travel to th participative bar “Le P’tit Clem” in Saint Clément les Place. The place opened after the previous shop closed and the village was left with no place to socialize. The team is kind enough to offer us the space for a workshop introduced by Veronique Rizzi explaining the different levels of participation. The group started working after that on their own trajectory to becoming a sustainable community, including discussions on citizen participation, clean and affordable mobility and circular economy in rural areas.

Back to the hotel l’Orée du Bois, the event close off with a concert by the local band Clume. What a day!

The next day was as stimulating with the visit of the public restaurant of Saint Martin en Haut as a start-off. A restaurant in a building with a wood structure and heated by biomass energy. And that’s not even the most impressive about the restaurant : they get about 80% of their food supplies from 20kms around, work on waste reduction and send their food waste to the anaerobic digestor visited the day before! A neat example of circularity and education.

A workshop followed to allow participants to focus on the next step they must take to move towards resiliency and sustainability of their community. Each community defined 4-5 actions that they will take in the next 6 months, before our next encounter in Avila, Spain.

In the afternoon, we visited the local concrete company that presented its actions to green the process of concrete production. Once again an inspiring example of an engaged private actor!

The event was closed with the discussions with the member of European Parliament Sylvie GUILLAUME who gave us the honor of joining us. Interesting discussions followed about the challenges faced in rural communities, but also the opportunity they represent on so many more subject than the energy transition.

Many thanks to all participants, we will see you soon!

ENER’do AVE 2022

The 2022 edition of RURENER annual meeting was yet another success! Thanks to the funding provided by the European Union through the Citizens Equality Rights and Values programme, this year’s event was a whirlwind of languages and discussions. Almost 40 participants from 7 EU countries took part in the workshops, presentations and visits between July 6th and July 8th, 2022. You can check the full report of the event here.

As the main goal of the LINK-EU project is the building of the Rural Resilience Roadmap, a key document for RURENER’s members, we are also opening up a public consultation to collect more contributions on the trajectory of rural territories, the current barriers and initiatives. Take a few minutes to give us your feedback!

Thanks to all for your participation and contributions, see to the next event in Les Monts du Lyonnais (France), from November 30th to December 2nd!

2022, Launch of Massif Central in Transitions

In February 2022, the “Massif Central in Transitions” projet was launched in the Monts du Lyonnais. During two days, actors from Creuse, Lot, and the Ouest Rhodanien gathered together to work on this project. Technicians, elected officials and socio-economic actors were present.

The first day began with the welcome by the mayor of Meys, followed by a presentation of the territory, and the several projects that were implemented in this territory.

After this presentation, we visited Meys’ eco-district, a project that started with the construction of a new school, but that was extended to the building of new social housing and areas for children.

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RURENER Let’s cooperate!

Using the Interreg Europe catchphrase seems quite adequate to describe the online workshop organized by RURENER on November 26th aiming at building cooperation project ideas from shared challenges between the rural territories of the network.

A rich discussion followed-up by small groups talks to dig in the project ideas mentionned. From a participative observatory of rural transition policies and measures to the development of Green industrial zones adapted to rural areas or mobility challenges… The topics discussed were very stimulating and promising for future project proposals of high quality!

Ask us for the full report!

ENER’Prespes 2021

From October 20th to 23rd, the municipality of Prespes, Greece, hosted RURENER 2021 General Assembly meeting. After a year of online meetings, it felt so good to go on the field again to share experiences and get inspired!

From energy upgrades in public buildings to a carbon positive territory, Prespes’ engagement has been growing over the year, along with the development of EU projects, in particular transborder cooperation with Albania and the Republic of North Macedonia.

Check out the full report if you want your eyes to be filled with stars. In English, it’s here. Pour la version française c’est par ici!

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