The prize-giving closing event of the energy saving programme 'E.ON EnergyNeigbourhoods' was held on 10th June 2017 in Budapest. At the end of the six months' competition, energy saving efforts and creativity of communities, as well as volunteer climate coordinators were awarded by the organisor, GreenDependent Institute.
EnergyNeighbourhoods programme has been running since 2011 in Hungary. The programme's main target is to promote low-carbon and green lifestyle among families, households and small communities. The campaign's main message is that significant amount of energy (and money) can be saved by changing everyday routines and habits, without major investments. It is also emphasized that climate-friendly, green lifestyle can be implemented by anyone, and change to greener lifestyle is easier in communities.
Altogether, 116 households (incl. 420 people) had applied for the energy-saving competition from the whole country, even from abroad (Transilvania and Vojvodina). During the six months of the competition they were monitoring their energy consumption and tried to save energy by using energy saving tips and advices provided by GDI. In addition, each neighbourhood solved three creative tasks during the competition, such as defining undertakings based on a DIY home audit; holding an energy fasting and creating a poster about challenges, success factors and future plans.
Participats of the closing event were welcome by Norbert Pál, Managing Director at E.ON Energy Supplier Ltd. and by Dr. Gyula Bándi, Ombudsman for Future Generations and patron of the competition. They both emphasized that each small step matters when establishing sustainable and liveable future.
Communities saving the most energy also held a presentation about their efforts and results, and received valuable, eco-friendly prices.
The first prize was awarded to a Roma community called Kerasz Khetane (Let's do together in Roma language) achieving 27% energy saving. The second community saved 20.4%, while the third group could save as much as 14.7%.
During the event the three winning communities held a presentation about their efforts and challenges. Following that, two interesting and inspiring presenters shared their thoughts with the audience: Iván Gyulai, ecologist and president of the Ecological Institute for Sustainable Development talked about the relationship between global climate change and houeholds/families, highlighting alternatives for the challenges. Nóra Feldmár, industrial ecologist and assotiate of the Transforming Communities talked about energy poverty as well as sustainable and cheap energy solutions available for the poor.
After lunch there was a small-group conversation about challenges, success stories and future plans.
After lunch there was a small-group conversation about challenges, success stories and future plans.
At the event, there was an exhibition about green and sustainable products and photos about former events.
GDI has paid special attention to the environmental impact of the event: food and drink was climate-friendly (mainly from fair-trade, local and organic sources). In addition, carbon-emission of the event was offset by giving 100 native fruit trees to participants.
More details, photos and presentations are available here (in Hungarian).
You can watch a short film of the closing event here.
You can read more about the EnergyNeighbourhoods programme here.