The Dutch Climate Agreement as well as the latest EU targets aim to reduce CO2 emissions profoundly in the years and decades to come. Making the built environment more sustainable can contribute a great deal. In the Netherlands, the drastic decision to stop natural gas extraction by 2030 means that 7.8 million homes and 1.1 million office buildings must be made sustainable and natural gas-free. While the Dutch case is unique in some aspects, other countries face similar challenges regarding the transformation of residential and other buildings into sustainable or even zero-emission neighbourhoods.
The Dutch Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations has commissioned the European Urban Knowledge Network - EUKN to organise a conference that sheds light on this large-scale challenge from a European point of view. The event will bring together Dutch and European experts to share their experiences in transforming the existing building stock into green, energy-efficient buildings. The conference will focus on successful policy instruments and will explore how authorities and other key actors can create societal support for the massive transformation processes.
Two core aspects will be stressed:
1. what policy instruments can be used by national, regional and local authorities to speed up and to scale up the energy transformation of existing residential and commercial buildings, and
2. how to ensure the needed societal support, without which these transformation processes cannot be realised?
The conference addresses Dutch stakeholders in particular while the working language is English. Participation is free of charge. Experts and those directly involved in sustainability projects targeting the built environment, including civil society organisations, are particularly encouraged to register. Registration is open until 30 November 2018. Sign up now to secure one of the limited places!
Contact EUKN Secretariat for further details about the conference via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. The programme is available here.
