The ANSWER (A North Sea Way to Energy-efficient Regions) Project is an excellent example of how we are working with others to develop a sustainable Suffolk. For full details on how this project will support businesses and communities to improve their energy efficiency, see our website at www.answerproject.eu.
The project, which started in September 2008, has EU funding of €1.8 million (~£1.4 million) through the Interreg Programme. This will be used to support an ambitious programme developing new approaches to reducing carbon emissions across the partner regions. Suffolk County Council is the lead partner on this innovative project which aims to develop communities across the North Sea Region with increased awareness of environmental issues and reduced carbon emissions. This aim will be achieved through a range of actions to be implemented by partners in Germany, Belgium, Denmark and Norway, as well as the U.K. Importantly, all the partners involved in the project will learn from each others' experiences, helping to promote a more sustainable North Sea region.
Uniting the best for Success
The partnership involves a wealth of experience covering business and community engagement and energy management. By bringing this expertise together, the partnership aims to maximise the benefits of their activities and develop a template for future activity by other regions struggling with the same challenges. The project will focus on working with businesses and communities to develop lasting, affordable solutions that will reduce energy consumption, and associated emissions and costs.
The project will demonstrate and evaluate good practice, so other regions within the North Sea can use established models, tools and techniques. It is hoped this will help meet local, national, and international targets for greenhouse gas reduction and will lead to on-going reductions in energy use and carbon dioxide emissions.
The Project Plan
ANSWER will support urban and rural communities to reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions, compare results between pilot communities, help to install LED displays of real-time emissions, provide community footprints and reduction advice, encourage a sense of community-ownership and competition on emissions reduction and increase enthusiasm for behavioural change and ultimately reduced emissions, and finally examine and test common sourcing of energy supplies and the feasibility of options for co-operative green energy.
The project fits well into the aims of Creating the Greenest County. We hope to benefit from the experience and expertise of others, as well as to develop our own actions that will benefit the communities and businesses of Suffolk.
Partners include Suffolk County Council, Ipswich Borough Council, Norfolk County Council, Suffolk Chamber of Commerce, Environment Agency (all UK), West Flanders POM, East Flanders POM (both Flanders), Bremer Energie-Konsens, RKW Bremen GmbH, SUBVE (all Germany), Vaxjo kommun (Sweden), Stavanger Kommune and Rogaland Fylkeskommune (both Norway).
For further information on the project, please email Ned Harrison, Project Manager at Ned.Harrison@suffolkcc.gov.uk
Project Partners can access the members' area using the following link; http://www.answerproject.eu/extranet. Please email mailto:melissa.williams@suffolk.gov.uk if you are having difficulties accessing this page.