Workshop on green urbanisation to meet the challenges of urban development
The Danish Energy Agency, the Danish Embassy to China and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development held a Sino-Danish Workshop on Green Urbanisation as one of the sessions at the Conference on Urban Development and Planning in Tianjin on 24 September 2014.
8 October 2014
The theme of the Conference on Urban Development and Planning was “Eco-City Guiding Organic Decentralization” with the aim to provide a platform for experience, innovative technologies and approaches to meet the challenges of urban development.
The session on Green Urbanisation included a key note speech by Deputy Director General of the Department of Building Energy Efficiency and Science & Technology, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and presentations by the Vice Mayor of Sonderborg, the Mayor of Haiyan, Danfoss, COWI, the Chinese Society for Urban Studies and the Danish Energy Agency.
The Danish Energy Agency presented the Green Urban Denmark publication prepared by the Ministry of Housing, Urban and Rural Affairs, the cities of Copenhagen, Aarhus and Sonderborg.
The Green transition in Denmark is driven by national policy and by visionary local authorities and citizens. There are several Danish regions and municipalities which adopted their own ambitious climate and energy targets, like the city of Sonderborg.
The Mayor of Sonderborg shared the vision of the city of Sonderborg of becoming Carbon Neutral by 2029 with a special focus on participation of key stakeholders. Also it was highlighted that energy efficiency and renewable energy solution are important priorities for Sonderborg. The first Zerohome has been built in Sonderborg with the purpose of encouraging families to save energy. Also, the partnership between the City of Sonderborg and Haiyan County which include the creation of a Danish Low-Carbon Street in Haiyan was one of the ongoing activities as presented by the Mayor of Haiyan.
The cities of Copenhagen and Aarhus are also examples of municipalities with municipalities which ambitious climate and energy targets. The City of Copenhagen has prepared a 2025 Climate Plan which the focus on retrofitting, energy supply reorganization and transport patterns in the city. While the city of Aarhus aims at becoming carbon neutral by 2030 through a focus on innovative partnerships like carbon neutral district heating based on biomass.
The DEA also presented on behalf of Nordic Innovation the Nordic Built ten principles, which is a public declaration of the values, intentions and ambitions of the Nordic building sector. The Nordic Built principles reflect a holistic approach to the built environment taking energy, climate, economy and people into account.
The workshop brought together vital stakeholders on green urbanisation in terms of government, municipalities, private sector and research institutions in an attempt to explore approaches to green urbanisation. The workshop also highlighted possible ways ahead taking into account vital aspects on green urbanisation like planning and policy, energy supply and consumption, behaviour and energy users as well as eco city development and city regeneration approaches.
Kamilla Kristensen Rai
Specialkonsulent
Center for Global Rådgivning og Forhandling
Tlf.: 33 92 75 56
kkr@ens.dk