image2 11.01.2019

The “City2City” exchange programme within the framework of the "Covenant of Mayors-East"

To the attention of the Covenant of Mayors signatories! The Covenant of Mayors - East project launched a series of thematic internships for representatives of signatories and the application deadline has been extended, until 16.01.2019.

Objective.

This action is meant to build the capacities of the cities that are at the beginning of development of their sustainable energy policy within the framework of the implementation of the "Covenant of Mayors" initiative.

As part of this activity, it is planned that energy managers (or relevant responsible staff for developing and implementing energy efficiency policies) will be selected through an open competition and will be able to visit a more advanced signatory city of the Covenant of Mayors that gained successful results in energy efficiency and is among the leaders within CoM.

Participants of the program will have an opportunity to get acquainted with the practical work of successful energy managers, to study existing regulatory documents, to learn about existing mechanisms for financing energy efficient projects, to test energy monitoring tools, to receive useful recommendations for the development and implementation of energy policy.

Who can take part?

The call is open for the representatives of Covenant signatories from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia and Moldova that have high motivation to participate in the study visit, meet the formal criteria and will be ready to apply the knowledge in practice.

Requirements for candidates:

- To be the representative of the signatory city of the Covenant of Mayors, which is at the stage of elaboration of the Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan (SE(C)AP) (cities with developed and submitted SE(C)AP, as well as suspended signatories in the Covenant of Mayors are NOT a target group for this call);

- To be directly involved in the development and further implementation of SE(C)AP;

- To be willing to share the obtained experience with colleagues and apply the acquired knowledge and skills in everyday work;

- To demonstrate high motivation to participate in study visit.

How to apply?

Persons interested in participating in the exchange program are invited to submit an online application, which will be evaluated by the "Covenant of Mayors - East" office under control of European Commission. In the framework of the application form applicants (potential participants) will be asked to express their needs, select the priority topics for the internship program and indicate the desired format for obtaining information (presentations, visits, meetings, etc.). Based on the assessment of the needs of selected participants, the final agenda for study visit will be developed.

Time frame.

• Submission of applications - until January 16, 2019

• Organization and implementation of the internship program "City2City" – February-April 2019.

Contacts.

If you have any questions, please contact the Covenant of Mayors – East office via email: iryna.horodyska@eumayors.eu

Please note that this is the only channel for receiving official clarifications on the “City2City” programme.

Background information:

Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy is an urban climate and energy initiative of the European Union bringing together local, regional and national authorities voluntarily committed to implementing the EU climate and energy objectives. With over 7755 signatories representing more than 252 million citizens, it has become the world’s largest climate and energy initiatives.

Covenant of Mayors East (CoM East) is the EU-funded Project aimed at bringing together local and regional authorities of the Eastern Partnership countries in implementing sustainable energy policies, reducing their dependence on fossil fuels, increasing security of energy supply and facilitating the global movement on climate change mitigation. Out of more than 368 communities from the Eastern Partnership countries 48 Belarusian local government bodies committed themselves to reduce carbon dioxide emissions to 20% or 30%. 

EU4Energy Initiative covers all EU support to improve energy supply, security and connectivity, as well as to promote energy efficiency and the use of renewables in the Eastern Partner countries Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. It does this by financing projects and programmes that help to reform energy markets and to reduce national energy dependence and consumption. Over the longer term, this makes energy supply more reliable, transparent and affordable, thus reducing energy poverty and energy bills for both citizens and the private sector.