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Monthly Newsletter edited by Cittadinanzattiva-Active Citizenship Network
Civic Activism | Patients' Rights | Consumers' Rights | Support ACN
Year 5th, number 45 - January-February 2017

SPECIAL EDITION ON “CITIZENERGY - EUROPEAN CITIZENS FOR RENEWABLE” EU PROJECT

Highlight

Crowd votes Spanish off-grid eco complex best contributor to sustainable energy future
The award celebrates the one-year anniversary of the Citizenergy portal for community energy investment. The portal has shown considerable growth in the last several months: over 28 crowdfunding platforms and energy cooperatives from 13 European countries now feature their projects on Citizenergy.
The overwhelmingly clear results of the award were a product of votes cast by hundreds of individuals, each of whom rated crowdfunded and cooperative based energy projects according to their contribution to a sustainable energy future.
Community energy portal Citizenergy bestowed its 2016 Project of the Year Award to Spanish crowdfunding platform ECrowd! and the Mar de Fulles eco-complex for the pair’s outstanding contribution to a sustainable energy future. The results, presented in front of full house during a special EU Parliament event on citizen engagement last February 1st, are the outcome of some 430 votes cast in December 2016. Ecrowd! and the Mar de Fulles project took home an incredible 79% of the total vote. Read more

Focus

The TripAdvisor of our sustainable energy landscape: fill the questionnaire
The engagement of citizens in sustainable energy projects depends on the promotion of initiatives such as those hosted by Citizenergy online platform. What do you think about that? Have you had experience with crowdfunding before? Filling the anonymous online questionnaire, you will help to identify weaknesses of the platforms and possible improvements. The questionnaire will take only 10 minutes, if you are interested click here.

More information on the EU project “Citizenergy”:
To read more about the project, click here
To visit the official website of the project, click here
Watch the video on reasons to invest in community-based, sustainable energy projects
Watch the video on how invest in crowdfunding project

The engagement of citizens in sustainable energy. Sharing successful experiences across Europe
Last February 1st, Active Citizenship Network organized at the EU Parliament a conference dedicated to the consumers’ engagement across Europe in the fields of sustainable and renewable energies. Indeed, last May, the European Parliament voted the Resolution on delivering a new deal for energy consumers (2015/2323(INI)) in which citizens will play a more active role in getting the goals of the new European energy strategy.
The main aims of the event was to provide and analyse citizens’ perspectives and their active participation in this context, presenting experiences focused on civic participation, presenting the experience of “Citizenergy” platform to the European Institutions and the relevant stakeholders. To read more and download the event description, the final programme and all the presentations, click here.

More information on the event:

- Press release
- The poster of the initiative
-
Watch the recording (ITEN)
- Watch the photo gallery on facebook

Panelists' Profile

Eero Ailio works at the European Commission as Deputy Head of Unit at the Directorate-General Energy. Eero Ailio concluded negotiations on the Directive for the safety on the safety of offshore oil and gas operations as well as coordinated the hydrocarbon and solid fuel policies; his focus is now on developing policies for retail energy markets. He chairs the Vulnerable Consumers Working Group under Citizens Energy Forum.

Nuno Brito Jorge is Consortium leader of Citizenergy. Until 2013 he worked in the European Parliament as an advisor for energy and environmental policy (BE), as an innovation consultant in Spain and Portugal. Since then, he became a cofounder of Boa Energia, a co-founder and president of the board of Coopérnico (Portugal’s first renewable energy cooperative) and recently also started goparity, Portugal's first sustainable development crowdfunding platform.

Henrique Burnay is the managing partner of Eupportunity. Henrique holds a Degree in Law from Faculdade de Direito de Lisboa and a Master’s Degree in Political Science and International Relations from Instituto de Estudos Políticos at Universidade Católica Portuguesa. Henrique was a political adviser in the Portuguese Parliament and in the European Parliament and a press advisor for the Minister of Justice.

Sara Capuzzo is Vice-president and Head of Communication at ènostra, the energy cooperative which provides sustainable electricity to households and businesses. Since 2005 she is the head of communications at EnergoClub not for profit organization since 2005, with tasks of communication, media relations, public awareness campaigns on energy saving and efficiency in buildings, also within Covenant of Mayors' SEAP programs.

Josep Antoni Nebot Garriga partner in Mar de Fulles is a low-carbon economy expert with over 20 years of experience in the field. Besides being partner in Mar de Fulles Ecotourism project, he has managed other sustainability and low carbon economy projects. He is founder of several SMEs such as HELIOTEC and has participated in various European.

Bartolomeo Grippo is a lawyer and the coordinator of the European Consumer Union (ECU), a European association which actively participates in European policies aimed at consumers. Indeed, ECU was established in 2009 with the main objective to unite European consumers organizations in order to collaborate on all matters related to consumerism and to support the causes of the pan-European citizens.

Stefano da Empoli is the president and the principal policy analyst at of I-Com, the Institute for Competitiveness, a think tank based in Rome and Brussels which he founded in 2005. Stefano has served in key advisory or expert positions on a number of taskforces or scientific boards; he has authored numerous publications on economic themes, particularly with regard to policy and regulation of the energy market and infrastructural services and the governance of the institutions.

Andrew Ebrill is the Secretary General of the Council of European Energy Regulators (CEER), which is the voice of 35 energy regulators from across Europe. Andrew, an Irish national, joined CEER last February after working as a manager for many years on energy regulatory issues with Ireland's Commission for Energy Regulation.

Karl Harder co-founded Abundance, the world’s first renewable energy crowdfunding platform. Abundance has been central to the development of UK crowdfunding rules and regulation and recently launched a pension and ISA product within the UK market. Abundance remains the world’s largest dedicated renewable energy crowdfunding platform.

Sara Mekjian is the communication Director of Climate Alliance and leads communications of Citizenergy. She is a communication professional with a background in environmental science. Sarah has vast experience communicating with stakeholders as well as managing cross‐cultural projects and networks to promote sustainability.

Sébastien Occhipenti works in the Directorate-General for Energy of the European Commission where he is in charge of the Covenant of Mayors and consumer issues. He studied international relations and geopolitics at the Sorbonne in Paris before joining the European Economic and Social Committee. After working initially on transport issues he worked for 6 years on energy and public engagement.

Dario Tamburrano, Member of the European Parliament, is an Italian environmental activist and one of the first members of the Five Stars Movement (Movimento Cinque Stelle, M5S). In the European Parliament, he is coordinator for the EFDD group in the Industry, Research and Energy Committee (ITRE). Since 2015, he is vice-president of the parliamentary intergroup “Common Goods and Public Services” and of the Extended Board of European Forum for Renewable Energy Sources (EUFORES).

Matthieu van Haperen founder of Ecrowd is a chemical engineer with an MBA from the IESE Business School. He has worked in large organisations and has also worked as a strategy consultant with McKinsey & Co, but decided that his true calling is in starting new things. Before founding ECrowd!, he worked for over 6 years in the renewable energy sector as a founder and director of Solariza Energía.

Mariano Votta is Director of Active Citizenship Network and Responsible for European Affairs at Cittadinanzattiva. Last August 2016, the EU Commission officially appointed Mariano Votta as a Full Member of the European Consumer Consultative Group (ECCG) for the next 3 years. This role entails the protection of consumer interests from their respective Member States, and bring the national perspective into the discussions at EU level, providing the Commission with advice and opinions.

News
Consumers' Rights

Energy and vulnerable groups in Italy: survey on energy bonus promoted by Consumer Associations Italian consumer associations (Cittadinanzattiva, Acu, Adiconsum, Adoc, Associazione Utenti Radiotelevisivi, Assoconsum, Assoutenti, Codacons, Codici, Confconsumatori, Federazione Confconsumatori-Acp, Federconsumatori, Lega Consumatori, Movimento Consumatori, Movimento difesa del cittadino, Unione Nazionale Consumatori) have presented the results of a survey conducted on energy allowances for vulnerable groups in Italy. The survey has identified major issues related to the energy bonuses, and highlighted also the need to offer correct and thorough information to citizens.
Watch the video (IT version) and read more

Events

15 February 2017, Brussels (Belgium): “Mid-term evaluation of the Europe for Citizens Programme”
Active Citizenship Network, as official member of the Civil Dialogue Group, will participate to the workshop carried out by Deloitte on behalf of the European Commission. The Civil Dialogue Group, managed by DG Migration and Home Affairs, discusses all matters relating to the Europe for Citizens Programme - including “Remembrance” and “Democratic and civic engagement” - and to its implementation. It encourages exchanges of experiences and good practices in those fields and contributes to the dissemination of the Programme’s results. It monitors and discusses policy developments in related fields. Read more

22-24 February 2017, Rome (Italy): Public-Private Cooperation in Economic Development and Job Creation: the Role of Local Authorities
The event is organised by CIME-Consiglio Italiano del Movimento Europeo and it is promoted in the framework of EU project LADDER. For further information, please contact: info@movimentoeuropeo.it

1 March 2017, Brussels (Belgium): Exploring areas and benefits of cooperation in cross-border healthcare to protect patients’ rights
Active Citizenship Network is glad to invite you to the conference “Exploring areas and benefits of cooperation in cross-border healthcare to protect patients’ rights” on 1 March 2017 at the European Parliament (Room ASP7H1, 10:30-12:30 AM) in Brussels.
The meeting is organised in the framework of the EU communication campaign “Patients’ rights have no borders” and will be hosted by the MEPs Interest Group “European Patients’ Rights & Cross-Border Healthcare”.
The conference intends to offer a debate on the necessity and benefits of fostering cooperation among Institutions, patient organizations, National Contact Points and European Reference Networks to improve patients’ awareness and access to care abroad. Hopefully, during the conference some practical ways of collaborating effectively will be shared through the presentation of case histories, experiences, good practices of efficient cross-border cooperation between some Member States.
Read more about the event here. To participate please REGISTER HERE.

1 March 2017, Brussels (Belgium): Eco&Equo – Meet the Italian eco-innovators
The conference on Eco-Technologies will be held on 1st March, 2017 at the European Parliament in Brussels, from 9:30 to 13:00 in the room ASP1E2. It is organized in collaboration with the MEP Dario Tamburrano of EFDD group. The event will be translated in IT, EN, FR and will be available the live streaming at the following link: youtu.be/EnQG1wJ_iws
For the registration send to dario.tamburrano@europarl.europa.eu the following data: name, surname, organization. If you do not have the European Parliament’s badge send also date of birth, nationality and ID/passport number. For more information: www.ecquologia.com, www.ecofuturo.eu

2-3 March 2017, Brussels (Belgium): Training for civil society organisations on tax avoidance
The initiative is reserved for European civil society and organised by the European Commission Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union. Active Citizenship Network was invited to participate. Read more

9-10 March 2017, Vilnius (Lithuania): Third Conference on European Reference Networks
The event organised by the European Commission will focus on the presentation of the newly approved European Reference Networks. Active Citizenship Network was invited to participate due its commitment on cross-border healthcare. For further information, please visit the webpage or contact: ern2017@tipik.eu.

21 March 2017, Brussels (Belgium): Cluster Headache: one of the worst pains known to man!”
Active Citizenship Network will participate as panelist in the conference “Cluster Headache - One of the worst pains known to man!” organized by the European Headache Federation and the European Headache Alliance to celebrate the second edition of the European Cluster Headache Day. The event will be held on March 21st 2017 from 11:00 to 13:30 in Brussels at the European Parliament in room ASP1H1. For further information on the event, please visit the website

8 April 2017, Riolo Terme (Itlay): “Active Thermalism. The individual at the heart of care and as a driver of change”
Active Citizenship Network will be one of the panelists of the conference organised by EAPTC-European Association of Patients and Users of Thermal Centres. What is the psycho-physical and behavioural profile of the typical patient/user of thermal establishments? What possible areas for contact and collaboration exist between thermal centres and the associations for the protection of patients/users? What input can thermal care provide to the welfare offering? Panelists are invited to share experiences and information on the topic. Read more

10 May 2017, Brussels (Belgium): 11th European Patients’ Rights Day on “The European & National Medicines Regulatory Systems: the challenges for an equitable, timely and suitable access to innovation”
Active Citizenship Network will celebrate the 11th European Patients’ Rights Day with a multi-stakeholder conference to be held on 10 May 2017 at the EU Parliament in Brussels. It will be hosted by the Italian MEP Elisabetta Gardini, member of the group of the European People's Party.
The aim of the convention is to discuss, inform and suggest new approaches to the existing European and National Medicines Regulatory Systems, for better management of access to innovation. Indeed, the access to innovative therapies strongly contributes to define the quality of life of patients and the quality of healthcare services provided, respecting the fundamental values recognised by the European Charter of Patients’ Rights. The event will be an occasion to inform, discuss and take commitments to improve the respect of patients’ rights and their involvement in the policy-making and regulatory processes at national and European level. For further information please contact Daniela Quaggia: d.quaggia@activecitizenship.net.

The sole responsibility for the content of this document lies with the authors. It does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Union. Neither the EASME nor the European Commission are responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.


Director and Editor in chief: Mariano Votta
Editors: Sonia Belfiore, Eleonora Di Donna, Giuseppe Perretti
Coordination and Production: Giacomo D'Orazio // Photo ©Elio Germani

To contribute, plase write to: mail@activecitizenship.net
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