The EPN Consulting Newsletter - 064 - December 2015
Editorial
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Dear Colleague,

As you may have seen we have a bit refreshed the outlook of The EPN Consulting Newsletter although some more changes can be expected in the future.

In these days all media are talking about the COP21 (Conference of Parties) held in Paris (FR) about Climate Change.
The climate change effects are tangibly disruptive but unfortunately some countries still don't understand that without strict and committed changes of habits, this is going to impact everybody's life (not only life quality).
It's news of these hours that China finally realised something must change soon as the air quality in Beijing (Peking) has dramatically worsened and all outdoor activities have been temporarily banned.

In Europe we may be a bit more sensitive about these risks also thanks to several initiatives organised by the European Commission (i.e. European Mobility Week) as well as to the money allocated by the EU to fund projects that can reduce the human footprints (i.e. Horizon 2020 programme).
In EPN Consulting we have always paid attention to air pollution and we are convinced that circular economy can help devise a better future. We organise the majority of our travelling by Public Transport. When meetings don't require physical presence, we use VoIP facilities such as Skype and virtual meeting platforms such as GoToMeeting and WebEx to avoid unnecessary generation of CO2. That's why six years ago we chose to specialise in Sustainable Transport, Smart Cities and EU projects to promote alternatives that can be applied to daily life making each of us, as European, an effective contributor to the environmentally-friendly trend.

We take the chance to remind you of the first 2016 deadlines of Horizon 2020 calls for proposals:
20 Jan - Stage1 of some Transport topics
03 Feb - Phase2 SME Instrument
24 Feb - Phase1 SME Instrument
15 Mar - Fast Track to Innovation

Many other deadlines are around these dates and we invite you to contact us for further information.


We wish our Members, Clients, Readers and their Families a Merry Christmas and a Very Happy 2016!

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Kind Regards,

EPN Consulting Ltd.
Founder, CEO


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EU
Horizon 2020 & other calls close to deadline
EU
EU Transport Scoreboard shows Transport is improving in Member States

20 Nov 2015 - The European Commission published the second edition of the "EU Transport Scoreboard", a benchmark which compares how Member States perform in 29 categories covering all aspects of transport.

The objective of the Scoreboard is to help Member States to identify areas requiring priority investments and actions, in order to create a Single European Transport Area with high standards, notably in terms of sustainability.
This is essential to the deepening of the internal market and to the shift towards a low-carbon economy, two priorities of the Commission

Read more
How good are we at predicting the Future?

01 Dec 2015 - One-hundred years ago, what did people think today's world would look like? Between 1899 and 1910, Jean-Marc Côté and other artists made a series of images predicting what the world would look like in the year 2000. These images originally appeared in the form of paper cards which were stuffed in cigarette or cigar boxes or as postcards.

In total, 87 images are known to have been produced. The examples show how difficult it is to accurately predict the technologies that will shape our future.
Can we do a better job at predicting the future today? What will the world be like in 2100?

Read more
EBRD held Climate Technology Transfer event at the COP21

02 Dec 2015 - At the Paris COP21 climate talks, the EBRD held a half-day side event on Climate Technology Transfer issues.  Mr Figueres stressed the environmental urgency of climate change in a difficult global context characterised by weakness in economic development, political tensions and the decline of multilateralism.

Philippe Benoit of the International Energy Agency (IEA) then delivered a keynote presentation highlighting that 70% of the cost-effective carbon emission reductions are happening outside the OECD in emerging economies, especially in East and South Asia.

The final discussion saw the EBRD, joined by the operating entities of the UNFCCC’s Technology Mechanism as well as the Financial Mechanism, together discuss what they would like to see as an outcome from COP21. Jukka Uosukainen of the Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN) expressed the need for better coordination between the various operating entities, to increase effectiveness of existing funding.

Read more
Aarhus (DK) is giving Bikers the Green Light

07 Dec 2015 - As part of a pilot program to encourage biking, the city has engineered a popular intersection to be responsive to bikers. Riders carrying an RFID tag that triggers a sensor, turning the light green in their favor.

By making the streets more bike friendly, city planners hope that they can cut car congestion and pollution.The city's bike program has given 200 bikers the tags and installed the sensor at the very first intersection.

The RFID bike project is one facet of the EU's RADICAL Project, which is incorporating tech projects into city planning in five "smart cities" across Europe: Santander (ES); Issy-les-Moulineaux (FR) ; Athens (GR); Genoa (IT) and Aarhus (DK).

Read more
London to  take Circular Economy "Leadership Role"

09 Dec 2015 - The London Waste and Recycling Board (LWARB) and Greater London Authority (GLA) will work with stakeholders to focus on making sure London benefits from a new circular economy.
 The "Towards a Circular Economy" Report (PDF) aims to set out the context and opportunities for a London circular economy route map and also aims to inform about future policy and raise awareness within both the private and public sector of what a circular economy is.

Initial focus areas for action in London have been identified as: i) the built environment; ii) food; iii) textiles; iv) electricals; v) plastics. These focus areas have been chosen because of their "high environmental impact, their retained financial value and potential for reuse".

Read more
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Upcoming Professional Events in Europe
The Website of the Month:
The Bristol Method

In 2015 Bristol (UK) has been the 2015 European Green Capital  awarded by the European Commission after a competition that took some months.
During this year Bristol has organised a number of events and designed strategies focused on how to make the city more livable and respectful of environment.

One of the major results obtained is The Bristol Method, a knowledge-transfer programme aimed at helping people in other cities understand and apply the lessons that Bristol has learned in becoming a more sustainable city, not just in 2015 but over the last decade. It regarded Economy, Energy, Transport, Resources and Food & Nature.  Bristol 2015 attended the COP21 in Paris.

The 2016 European Green Capital will be Ljubljana (SLO) and the 2017 one will be Essen (DE).
 

Go to the Website of the Month
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