TOWARDS THE IMPLEMENTATION OF SEAP [BE]

Through the «Pollec» program, Wallonia supports municipalities that put in place action plans in their territory to reduce energy consumption and adapt to climate change.

Various municipalities started the implementation of their Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan (SECAP) thanks to the financial support from Wallonia for developing alternative financing schemes. As an example, two municipalities have launched “Cooperatives for Social Purposes” on their territory: Mouscron and Herve.

Mouscron, one of the first municipalities to have signed the Covenant of Mayors, started the «Cooperative Energy Mouscron» (COOPEM SCRL) in May 2017. The objective of this Cooperative is to promote the deployment of photovoltaic installations to citizens and businesses of the territory by offering them support for the various steps of their project.

The municipality of Herve was at the initiative of the creation of a cooperative called “Bocagen”. The cooperative participated in the installation of photovoltaic panels on the sports and cultural center of Welkenraedt, a nearby town. One of the objectives of the Cooperative was also to fully fund this equipment by the citizens of the municipality. A participatory audit will then be conducted with building users to raise peoples’ awareness of sustainable development and energy saving.

These two examples show that, through their SECAP, municipalities can be at the initiative of developing local, democratic and sustainable projects.

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CONTACT: conventiondesmairesspw [dot] wallonie [dot] be (conventiondesmaires[at]spw[dot]wallonie[dot]be)

Photo credit: SPW Wallonia