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Conferences   

Croatian starting conference – 21/07/2020

The starting conference of the SEPlaM-CC project was held in Čakovec on 21st of July 2020. With this conference the project implementation officially started. The conference started with welcoming speeches of the Deputy Prefect of Medjimurje County, Mr. Josip Grivec and director of Medjimurje Energy Agency Ltd., Mr. Alen Visnjic.

After that, the employees of Medjimurje Energy Agency Ltd. presented the project, its activities, goals and expected results and Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan for Town of Čakovec, which was developed by the Agency in 2018. The conference was attended by more than twenty participants who, after the conference, were given the opportunity to ask questions related to the project and the possibilities of involvement in its implementation.

 

Hungarian starting conference – 15/09/2020

As a part of the SEPIaM-CC project, Zala County Foundation and Enterprise Promotion organised starting conference for awarness raising involved authorities, experts and stakeholders in Hungary. The aim of the conference was to increase awareness of the participants and show how they can support climate change and benefit by implementing SEPaM-CC project.

After greeting the audience ZMVA introduced the project SEPIaM-CC and presented the background, the problems, challenges, target groups, objectives of the project and benefits of the project.

The main message of starting conference, apart from the mentioned introduction to the difficult subject of the project, will concern the subsequent results of the project. The message should take into account the local context and the involvement of event participants so far in activities aimed at stop climate change and energy efficiency.

After the lectures the stakeholders had opportunity to ask questions and make discussion.

 

Croatian closing conference – 16/02/2022

Medjimurje Energy Agency Ltd. organized the closing conference of the project SEPlaM-CC on Wednesday, 16th of February 2022 starting at 10:00 a.m. in the premises of the Technology Innovation Centre Medjimurje Ltd. in order to officially mark the finalization of the project implementation. During the closing conference, the implemented project activities and the results achieved during the twenty months of the project implementation which began in early July 2020 were presented. Within the second presentation the Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan for town of Mursko Središće developed by Medjimurje Energy Agency Ltd. was presented. The approval of the document by the Town Council is expected in March 2022.

In addition to experts from Medjimurje Energy Agency Ltd., experts from Regional Energy Agency North were also invited to held a presentation on their experiences in the process of developing Joint SECAP.

 

Hungarian closing conference 16/02/2022

Zala County Foundation for Enterprise Promotion organized the Hungarian national closing conference of the project Raising capacity of cross-border public institutions in sustainable energy planning and management and climate change mitigation – SEPlaM-CC in the town of Lenti. The closing conference was organized on 16th of February 2022 at the Thermal Hotel Balance starting at 9:30 a.m.

After introductory speech of Mr. Varga who is the managing director of the foundation, the SEPlaM-CC project, its goals, activities and achieved results were presented. The second presentation was held by the mayor of Town of Lenti, Mr. Horváth who held a presentation on the topic Lenti as a sustainable city. In addition to Mr. Horváth, as an external lecturer participated also Mr. Žohar from the Local Energy Agency Pomurje from Slovenia who held a presentation on the topic Regional living labs as a concept of integrated sustainable energy planning (2ISECAP).

The final presentation was held by Mr. Heves on the topic Development of SECAP for Town of Lenti, which was developed as part of the SEPlaM-CC project activities. After the presentations, the participants had the opportunity to ask questions to the lecturers, which resulted in a quality discussion in which all participants actively participated.

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Project partner meetings

First project partner meeting – 29/07/2020

The first project partners meeting was held on Wednesday, 29th of July 2020. Due to COVID-19 virus pandemic, the partners agreed to hold the first meeting via Skype video call. During the one-hour meeting, the project partners discussed the activities to be implemented as well as the responsibilities that each partner will have within the project implementation.

The main topics of the meeting were: project management and administration, information and publicity, review of project activities and deadlines, analysis of existing practices in sustainable energy planning.

 

Second project partner meeting – 05/02/2021

Medjimurje energy agency Ltd. and Zala County Foundation for Enterprise Promotion held on 5th of February 2021 the second project partner meeting in virtual form through the ZOOM platform.

During the meeting Medjimurje energy agency Ltd. presented the project activities after which the partners defined future steps in the implementation of project activities. The topics of the meeting were the following: management and administration activities, information and promotion activities, analysis of current practices in sustainable energy planning, development of methodology on strategy planning and development of SECAP and capacity building and improvement of cross-border cooperation.

The meeting was very productive and the partners in cooperation defined joint activities that will be implemented in the coming months of project implementation.

 

Third project partner meeting – 08/06/2021

On 8th of June 2021, after the networking event within the project SEPlaM-CC, Medjimurje Energy Agency Ltd. organized the third project partner meeting in the premises of the Technology and Innovation Center Ltd. During the meeting project partners  discussed the key steps and activities which will be implemented by the end of the third reporting period, i.e., by the end of June 2021, and the activities that will be implemented in the next reporting periods.

The project partners agreed on their obligations regarding the implementation of individual project activities and it was concluded that the project implementation is proceeding as expected without major deviations in terms of achieving the planned project outputs and results.

 

Fourth project partner meeting – 09/02/2022

The last project partner meeting was organized on 9th of February 2022 by Hungarian partner Zala County Foundation for Enterprise Promotion. Meeting was held in Zalaegerszeg, in Hungary at the headquarters of the Hungarian project partner starting at 9:30 am.

The meeting was organized in two parts. Within the first part of the meeting, project partners discussed the final project activities and defined their final activities and responsibilities by the end of project implementation, i.e., by end of February 2022.

In the second part of the meeting, energy experts from both sides of the border discussed the development of Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans for Towns Mursko Srediće and Lenti. During this part, the experts from Medjimurje Energy Agency Ltd. and IMRO-DDKK Nonprofit Kft. presented the prepared documents and exchanged experiences in developing the SECAPs and shared knowledge in order to finalize the documents and present them at Towns Councils for adoption.

 

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Networking events

First cross-border networking event, Čakovec – 08/06/2021

On 8th of June 2021, starting at 9:30 a.m. in the premises of the Technology and Innovation Center Ltd., Medjimurje Energy Agency Ltd. organized first cross-border networking event “Cooperation and exchange of experience and knowledge in the field of energy planning and climate change mitigation” within the SEPlaM-CC project funded by the Interreg V-A Hungary-Croatia Co-operation Program 2014-2020.

The main goal of this cross-border networking event was to establish an effective cooperation between relevant stakeholders in the Hungarian-Croatian cross-border area for the purpose of development of a common cross-border methodology for strategic energy and climate planning and development of Sustainable Energy and Climate Change Action Plans. The workshop was intended for local and regional government units, energy and development agencies, small and medium enterprises, non-profit organizations and other relevant stakeholders who play a key role in the process of energy and climate planning. During the workshop, a consecutive translation from Croatian into Hungarian language and vice versa was provided.

Director of Medjimurje Energy Agency Ltd., Mr. Alen Višnjić opened the event with brief welcoming speech and thanked the participants for coming. Afterwards, SEPlaM-CC project, its activities, goals and expected results were briefly presented. Later, presentations on the topic of strategic energy and climate planning, development of  Sustainable Energy  and Climate Change Action Plans and challenges in the development of Sustainable Energy and Climate Change Action Plans for small towns were held.

The second part of the workshop was dedicated to the panel discussion “Challenges in the preparation and implementation of strategic and planning documents related to energy and climate with the following panelists Mr. Ivan Plačko, director of Technology Innovation Centre Medimurje Ltd., Mr. Miroslav Hržić who works as an economic advisor in the City of Prelog and Mr. Velimir Šegon, who holds the position of Deputy Director of the Regional Energy Agency of Northwest Croatia.

 

Second cross-border networking event, Zalaegerszeg – 29/06/2021

On Tuesday, 29th of June 2021, the second cross-border networking event “Cooperation and exchange of knowledge and experience in the field of energy planning and climate change mitigation” in organization of Zala County Foundation for Enterprise Promotion was held.

The second cross-border event was organized at the Green Campus of Pannonia University in Zalaegerszeg, Hungary starting at 9:30 a.m. The main goal of the event was to establish a cooperation and exchange the knowledge and experience in the field of sustainable energy planning and climate change mitigation, while the event was intended for relevant experts dealing with these topics, namely local and regional government units, development and energy agencies and other public and private institutions.

About 20 experts participated at the event, to whom the SEPlaM-CC project was presented at the very beginning of the event. After the presentation of the project, the presentations were held on the following topics: energy poverty, strategic energy and climate planning at local and regional government unit level, development of Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans and challenges in development of such documents for small towns.

After the thematic part of the event, a tour within the Green Campus of the University of Pannonia was organized.

 

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Information events

First cross-border workshop, Čakovec – 21/09/2021

Medjimurje Energy Agency Ltd. organized on Tuesday, 21st of September 2021, starting at 9:30 a.m. the first cross-border workshop “Capacity building for the purpose of efficient energy and climate planning” within the SEPlaM-CC project.

As the name suggests, the main goal of this cross-border workshop is to increase the capacity of local and regional government units, other public institutions and citizens in the energy and climate planning process through cooperation, exchange of knowledge and examples of good practices in project partner countries.

The workshop was held in the premises of the Technology and Innovation Center Međimurje located in the complex of Međimurje County Knowledge Center in Čakovec. The workshop was attended by twenty participants who had the opportunity to hear more about the SEPlaM-CC project, the issue of energy and climate planning at the local and regional level, as well as examples of good practice in energy and climate planning in Croatia and Hungary.

 

Second cross-border workshop, Lenti – 05/10/2021

Zala County Foundation for Enterprise Promotion organized on Tuesday, 5th of October 2021, starting at 9:00 a.m. the second cross-border workshop “Cooperation and exchange of knowledge for the purpose of common methodology on strategy planning and SECAP development” within the SEPlaM-CC project.

The main goal of this cross-border workshop is to increase the capacity of local and regional governments, other public institutions and citizens in the process of energy and climate planning through cooperation, exchange of knowledge and examples of good practice in project partner countries.

The workshop was held in the Cultural Center of Lenti. The workshop was attended by about thirty participants who had the opportunity to hear more about the project as well as examples of good practice in sustainable energy and climate planning in Croatia and Hungary.

 

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**The content is the sole responsibility of Medjimurje Energy Agency Ltd. and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union and/or the Managing Authority.