International Projects

Suffolk is taking a leading role on a project that 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 that are being developed 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.

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.

This page will be used to host further information of the project as it develops.

The ANSWER project

Suffolk will lead in carbon emission reduction thanks to ANSWER (A North Sea Way to Energy-Efficient Regions) an exciting new project bringing together European leaders to build a low-carbon, sustainable future for the region.

With EU funding of 1.8 million euros (£1.4 million), the project involves partners in the UK, Belgium, Norway, Germany, Denmark and will start in September 2008. ANSWER will support an ambitious programme of developing new approaches together to help in the challenge of reducing carbon emissions in the UK. Suffolk will offer leadership to establish these regions as low-carbon community and business pioneers.

Partners include Suffolk County Council, Ipswich Borough Council, Norfolk County Council, Suffolk Chamber of Commerce, Environment Agency, Province of West Flanders, Province of East Flanders, Bremen, Lolland, Stavanger, and Rogaland.

The ANSWER project will bring together existing expertise in renewable energies and will help to tackle common environmental problems identified by the regional partners.

The project will create an ambitious partnership of some North Sea Regions and 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.

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.

Project Partners can access the members' area here. Please email melissa.williams@econdev.suffolkcc.gov.uk if you are having difficulties accessing this page.