Presentation Abstracts
Eco-innovations for Green Economic Change and Shared Prosperity
Presentation Abstracts
Approaches to Energy Transition the EU and CEE
Ruslan Žechkov, Consultant, Technopolis Group, France
The presentation would be based on a benchmarking study for the Topenergy (the Dutch Government) exploring approaches to energy transition in several EU countries: UK, France, Sweden and Germany. The presentation would point at cultural and historic factors for energy transition, key legal acts and energy interests in society, policy making, the role of the civil society, etc.
Climate Friendly Green Economy Policies
Ozgecаn Kara, Green Thought Association, Turkey
The challenges of global warming can’t be overcome by solely raising consumer awareness or by encouraging the private sector to adapt cleaner production practices alone. We need a system that will enable decision-makers of all levels, from individuals to international institutions, to act as a coherent whole on the path to achieve the determined targets. Green economy offers a conceptual, theoretical, and practical framework that will enable this transformation. That is why Green Thought Association, Green European Foundation and Istanbul Policy Center prepared the Climate Friendly Green Economy Policies report, which puts forward EU countries’ best green economy practices and policies that mitigate from and adapt to climate change and discuss specific policy proposals for Turkey in three key systems of economy: city, energy and land use. This presentation will share the highlights from the report and discuss the what kind of city, what kind of land use and which energy policies are needed for a climate friendly green economy transformation.
Democratizing Green Energy: Turning a Village House Energy Sustainable
prof. Evgeni Dainov, New Bulgarian University
We live at the nexus of two powerful political trends. One: concentration of power in oligarchies and a fusion of unaccountable financial and political power nationally and globally; the risk is a return to what Aristotle called "despotic power". The other: new technology, which empowers individuals and groups and carries with it a tremendous potential of emancipation and resistance against the global oligarchy. In my country house, I have managed to become electricity-independent, by using solar power. This has emancipated me from the fraudulent bills sent by the electricity monopolist. It has also empowered me in the sense that: a/ when power lines are down, I have electricity, unlike everyone else; b/ I may be the only inhabitant of a village in Bulgaria who has, constantly 220volts electric power. How do you enslave a man who has power over power?
Eco-innovation as Part of Socio-Ecological Transformation
Dirk Holemans, Director, Oikos Foundation
Our European societies are facing different challenges, such as climate change, increasing inequality and an outdated model of a throw-away-economy. To get futureproof, a new societal model is needed that delivers freedom & security for all within the limits of the planet. For this transformation into a socio-ecological society, eco-innovation is an essential building block, as driver towards a circular and collaborative economy. How much new technologies are needed, innovation is always a social process including institutional, cultural, business and regulatory elements. We need a new economy that is distributive by design and regenerative in its working.
Institutional and Practical Challenges to Private Consumers in the Production of Green Energy in Bulgaria
Ilian Iliev, Director, Public Center for Environment and Sustainable Development, Varna
The reorganization of the system for energy production and supply is one of key for the introduction of the Green economy. Unfortunately the suppliers of energy are monopoly structures in Bulgaria. That make them very difficult and slowest for changing. At the same time the challenges of climate change require radical changes in them. The changes need to put the citizens (consumers) at the center of the problem. It needs a more flexible energy market, which will increase the percent of the renewable energy. This would be done by empowering consumers and engaging them in energy production. Small producers (households) should be encouraged to meet their needs by the production of RES energy. This should be include the democratization of the process. That will help citizens overcome administrative barriers for the installation and management of small photo-voltaic plants up to 5 kilowatts to provide RES-equipped households.
Policies for Resource Efficiency: Industrial Symbiosis as a Model for Optimisation of the Use of Natural Resources
Ruslan Žechkov, Consultant,Technopolis Group, France
The presentation would be based on a benchmarking study in eight countries: France, Netherlands, UK, Germany, Japan, Korea, Canada and US. The study addresses the issue of material efficiency for the industrial and the construction sectors. Material efficiency reflects the ambition of industrial societies to switch to a more sustainable way of manufacturing goods and constructing buildings. I would not focus on energy (just materials) and I would almost not speak about recycling.
The Green Challenge for the Economy
Martin Zaimov, Deputy Chair, Association for Electric Vehicles, Bulgaria
The words Economy and Ecology are synonyms. Both words derive from human's desire to conceptualise habitat management.The first derives from the Greek word meaning household management and the second from the XIX century scientific desire to understand, in this case the relationship of living things with their
environment. (The word was invented by the German zoologist Ernst Haeckel). Essentially both words mean the same thing, the first refers to the natural and/or human rules or laws governing the human world and the second to the epistemology and understanding of those same rules or laws. The point of the presentation will be precisely to show the limitations of our comprehension and inbred knowledge. Current political classifications and institutions are grossly inadequate for understanding our human world and for enhancing our capacity to define the public interest and to make sensible related decisions. Growing people's segmentation and technological progress increase our power and freedom tremendously. Our power and freedom provide no clues, however, to where we would like to be and to where we are heading. Strangely, formulating these and related questions might be the way in which we shall determine the future.
Towards Sustainable Development and Green Economy in Roma Communities: the Role of Public Investment
Yva Alexandrova, freelance researcher, Great Britain
The presentation is based on a research report developed by the author for the Centre for the Study of Democracy (CSD) entitled Socio-Economic Effects of Public Investments for Roma Inclusion in Kavarna. It was published in 2015 and provides new data and insight on the social and economic effects of public investments in the Roma community in Kavarna. The research focused on public investments made by Kavarna municipality in the mostly-Roma neighbourhood of Hadji Dimitar, for a period of ten years, between 2004 and 2014. The investment covered areas such as housing and infrastructure, healthcare, employment, income, poverty and social exclusion. It reviewed a range of indicators with the aim of establishing the effects of these investments on the social and economic development of the neighbourhood and its residents, both Roma and non-Roma. The current proposal will discuss some of the ecological effects that were also observed as a result of the investments, which included the removal of the old rubbish tip, the introduction of regular garbage collection, building of a sewage system, reducing the risk of flooding by repairing the roads. Its purpose is to inform with new data and stimulate a discussion on the role of local level public investments for social inclusion and the positive ecological effects of these in the context of creating a shared prosperity and inclusive environmentally sustainable development. It also discusses bringing together of eco and social innovations on a local level to promote the transformation to a greener economy.
