With its project approach, the Interreg North Sea project 2IMPREZ shows how you can contribute to shaping the energy transition in your region in order to save energy and reduce carbon emissions.
2IMPREZS has developed a practical approach to reduce energy consumption in school buildings, contributing to the reduction of carbon emissions in the five participating countries of the North Sea region (Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and the United Kingdom). From 2017 to 2021, the project promoted change in the current climate crisis and the resulting energy transition by promoting both behavioral and technically efficient energy-saving measures in schools. The strategy led to significant energy savings in hundreds of schools in the North Sea region, reducing emissions by at least 6,281 tons ofCO2 in the short term. This has been widely recognized: 2IMPREZS has attracted attention on numerous occasions at the highest European level and won the top prize of the Interact Project Slam 2019 at the European Week of Regions and Cities as well as the video competition for the North Sea Region in 2020.
The project has shown that there is a great need and demand for a transnational program that can help schools save not only energy but also money. Another important finding is that, despite the successes, there is still a lot of room for improvement and capacity building opportunities, especially with digital methods.
As the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and the general trend towards digitalization show, it has become particularly important in the last year to promote the exchange of information so that both the economy and the environment benefit from it.
Due to the success of the 2IMPREZS Energy Challenges, the project has been awarded additional European funding and extended for a further 18 months. This will allow even more schools to be reached, a digital program to be developed and the significant reduction in energy consumption and carbon emissions to continue. Therefore, the final conference of the 2IMPREZS project was also the mid-term conference of the extended project “2IMPREZS 4.0”.
The event was held in conjunction with the Belgian National Energy Week and the EU Sustainable Energy Week as Sustainable Energy Day to raise awareness at European and national level. The partners presented the results, communicated the impact of 2IMPREZS and laid the foundation for the next phase of the project.
In addition to informative panel discussions focusing on the implementation of the 2IMPREZS Energy Challenges in the partner regions, the two-hour event featured presentations of the digital 2IMPREZS tools – the interactive 2IMPREZS information sheets and the “Energy Detective”, E. Wattson, an interactive model for decision making in energy optimization.
In closing, Jesper Jönsson (Joint Secretariat of the North Sea Region) praised 2IMPREZS for its success in raising awareness among over 55,000 students, achieving significant energy savings and carbon reduction, and effectively bridging the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic by adapting and further building capacity of the 2IMPREZS concept.
Frans Timmermanns, Executive Vice-President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Climate Action, also congratulated the project and those involved and took the opportunity to make an appeal: “Your activities, your ideas and, above all, your commitment give us hope for the future. We are facing great challenges, but together we can overcome them. Thank you for your inspiring work – keep up the good work!”
And indeed – our work has only just begun here. Next stop: 2IMPREZS 4.0.
More information about 2IMPREZS
The implementation of the project’s comprehensive transnational strategy aims to achieve energy savings of 30% in 141 schools in the North Sea region. This corresponds to an emission reduction of 7320 tons ofCO2. Four schools in the North Sea region are also to be transformed into zero-energy buildings.
As a project partner, aconium is responsible for communication with the schools in the project region. The participating schools are supported throughout the entire project and have a fixed contact person for the implementation of the Energy Challenges and other activities. In addition, aconium GmbH organizes the local meetings of the schools in order to promote the transnational exchange of knowledge.
More information on the 2IMPREZS and 2IMPREZS 4.0 projects can be found here: www.northsearegion.eu/2imprezs.