Project Plenary Forum in Syracuse, Italy

PEARLS‘ attendance team

The Project Plenary Forum (PPF) of the European Project PEARLS has taken place in Syracuse on 7^th and 8^th September thanks to the organisation by University of Seville and Ethics4Growth.

During this PPF the leaders for the different Work Packages presented and commented the results, sharing the analysis of their work with the attendants. Also, some secondees shared their experiences during the project and the work they have been doing throughout the last years to achieve positive results in their secondments.

Due to inclement weather it was not possible to carry out this activity, so the Mayor of Ferla intervened in the seminar with a Case Study which helped a lot to facilitate the exchange of knowledge, the acquisition of new competences and the professional development of the research and innovation staff members. All in all, an interesting example of good practice for all attendees.

The implementation of the project through secondments is the nucleus of this Action. Knowledge exchange in addition to the personal experience it has afforded. The opportunity to analyse in person the impact of renewable energies in the case studies has enabled regional differences to be incorporated into the analysis.

After more than five years of intensive collaboration PEARLS has brought together a great team that has been able to contribute to all areas of the project. We are pleased with the work done and the results obtained. We are committed to continue working until the end of the project and really looking forward to further cooperation in the future.

Palazzo Beneventano where the PPF takes place

Today the Project Plenary Forum begins in Syracuse, the company Ethic 4 Growth in collaboration with the University of Seville have a co-organized a meeting in Syracuse, on the ionian coast of Sicily. This activity presents the results of the research carried out in the different work packages.

In addition, the visit to the Ferla Energy Community serves the participants to share the results and their experience. Also, cultural spaces of the city of Ortygia, where the role of energy among heritage can be analised which is important in this activity to deepen the field work.

You can find the program here

Paros Spring School participants

Between 11th and 12th of May 2023, the company GeosystemsHellas S.A. in collaboration with the University of Seville have a co-organized a Spring School in Parikia, on the Greek island of Paros. During this activity, the results of the investigations carried out during the secondments hosted by said company from Trento and Huelva have been presented.

All of them have taken wind energy installations on the island as a case study, and in particular the project of a new wind park in Paros island. The main objective was to verify the results in situ in a comparative way in relation to their level of impact and to confirm the validity of the arguments that have led to the suspension of the project.

Ana Rita Antunes, Executive Coordinator of Coopernico, in Thessaloniki promoting this Lecture about Energy Cooperatives in Europe

Lecture about Energy Cooperatives in Europe at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

Our partner Ana introduced Coopernico to the audience at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. As a branch of her expertise, she has introduced concepts about the energy cooperative movement across Europe within the concept of energy democracy. As REScoop.eu member, the aim of the organization is to represent the voice of citizens, providing services for the European REScoops or facilizing international exchanges and cooperating between energy cooperatives. Furthermore, promoting a model based on cooperation as Energy Democracy has, it is important for us because it has a main idea like the objectives of PEARLS project.

By 2050, around 45% of renewable energy production could be in the hands of citizens, about a quarter of which could come through participation in a cooperative. Energy communities create social cohesion and spaces to educate people on issues around energy and democracy, triggering behavioral change and energy savings through a deeper and more conscious involvement within the energy system.

In the past year, SP Interface has published a few critical reports against the Israeli government policy to promote more deep sea natural gas explorations. Their main arguments are that this policy is contradictory for greenhouse gases emissions reduction efforts. Also, if more deep sea natural gas fields will be found, the natural gas will be available only by the end of this decade, when natural gas demand is expected to dwindle. Therefore, new expensive deep sea natural gas explorations makes no economical sense and will probable turn into stranded assets. SP Interface therefore call for the end of governmental natural gas subsidies and investments.

SP Interface pointed already in the fall of 2021, that the European dependency on Russian fossil fuels prevents a unified and strong opposition to the Russian aggression in Ukraine and elsewhere. And, that as long as democratic countries rely on energy (and other crucial commodities) import from autocratic regimes, they are subject to geopolitical manipulations and can’t fully implement democratic values in their foreign affairs. Moreover, as proven again during 2022, this dependency on imported fossil fuels is a critical threat to energy resiliency.

Also, the populist divergence from nuclear energy in the 1980s and 1990s, that was based on unfounded and exaggerated fears and not on data and facts, has deepened the fossil fuels addiction, and brought us to these energy, geopolitical, humanitarian, food, refugees and climate crises. This emphasizes the need to properly and thoroughly promote public acceptance of renewables and participation in their deployment.

Energy sectors based on local energy production such as renewables, energy storage and nuclear- mitigate climate change, and also free

adverse autocratic regimes influences. Energy policy must work on a set of factors such as cost, modularity, resilience, energy security, economic sustainability, environmental implications, landscape changes, geopolitical implications and population quality of life.

SP Interface, together with the Israeli Society for Ecology and Environmental Sciences, published these views also in newspapers and social media.

Due to the COVID pandemic and its effects on the planned working agenda, PEARLS project is temporarily suspended.

The consortium has agreed to continue working on the communication and dissemination activites without putting at risk the health of the participants, relatives and colleagues.

We hope to re-establish the project soon.

The Social Acceptance of Renewable Energy Landscapes

by Anna Codemo, Rossano Albatici, Bruno Zanon
PhD candidate and Professors of the Department of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering (DICAM) of the University of Trento.

Last 6^th October, the University of Trento published on its website an article about the PEARLS Project and its participation as a research group in the framework of WP3 y WP4, whose experimental case will be in the city of Trento to investigate the use of passive and active measures to regenerate the built environment and to understand the citizens’ resistance to energy efficiency and the use of renewable resources.

Renewable Energy Landscapes are characterized by the presence of infrastructures and facilities that are necessary to generate renewable energy. Planning these landscapes is difficult in terms of design and social acceptance, and these issues are exacerbated by the commitment of the European Union to shift to a low-carbon economy. Many renewable energy plants are large-scale plants, often built on natural or agricultural areas, which change the landscape and its perception. 

Italy has a wealth of renewable energy plants that exploit different resources in different areas, with biomass and hydro plants in the north, for the most part, while wind farms are more prevalent in the south. Italy is committed to achieve the European Union goal of increasing energy production from renewable sources by 30% by 2030, and this will require the development and strengthening of the energy infrastructure, including distributed energy sources and large facilities. These investments promote a transition that is centred on citizens and businesses, encouraging self-consumption, energy cooperatives and market transparency.

Renewables and the acceptance of renewable energy landscapes are two crucial elements of energy policies and are the basis of the approach of social sciences to bring about a change in the

energy model.

This transition will not be smooth, as it requires actions to improve space planning and social innovation processes. 

You can read the complete article here:

L’accettazione sociale dei paesaggi dell’energia rinnovabile | UniTrentoMag (unitn.it)