EU Memorandum of Split: long-term structure for supporting EU Islands in their transition to clean energy

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On 24.06.2020 the European Commission together with 14 Member States (Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden), signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) (the Memorandum of Split) to ensure the future of the Clean Energy for EU Islands Initiative.  The Memorandum of Split was announced the same day during a press conference of the Croatian Presidency, who has worked with all signing parties over the last months to finalise this document. A specific priority of the Croatian Presidency was reinforcing the support to clean energy islands.

EU islands, where 15 million citizens live, have the potential to be frontrunners in the clean energy transition by adopting new technologies and implementing innovative solutions.

What does this mean for the Clean Energy for EU Islands Initiative?

The MoU ensures the establishment of a long-term structure for supporting EU islands in their energy transition. Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson highlighted in her statement that this Memorandum is an example of great cooperation among EU Member States. During the press conference, Croatian Minister of Environment Tomislav ĆORIĆ outlined the objectives of the initiative moving forward, namely

  • The Memorandum of Split will firstly give the needed support to islands in preparation of their transition agendas while promoting the participation, the engagement and empowerment of citizens. In addition, the structured cooperation will facilitate the creation of energy communities on islands.
  • The Memorandum of Split has also recognized the importance of the implementation of pilot projects aimed at increasing the use of renewables using storage systems, innovative technologies, developing clean and sustainable transport, sector integration by integrating the electricity system with other sectors such as heating, cooling, island water systems and with the scalable demand response on the islands.
  • We should not forget where everything started from, and that is the connection problems. Therefore, the Memorandum of Split recognized the necessary support to islands not connected to the national grid in their decarbonisation process through the increased use of renewables in final use of electricity and of transport, heating and cooling.
  • In the end, since sharing means caring, the special emphasize in the Memorandum of Split was given to the promotion and exchange of best practices because dissemination of lessons learned can only make a Europe stronger in a world of challenges.

Why the Memorandum of Split?

The Memorandum of Split is a continuation of many years of efforts by the EU islands community to advance the energy transition in their territories.

  • In May 2017 the European Commission, together with 14 Member States, had signed the “Political Declaration on Clean Energy For EU Islands” under the Maltese Presidency. This declaration (Valletta Declaration) was born out of the recognition that islands and island regions face a particular set of energy challenges and opportunities due to their specific geographic and climatic conditions. The opportunities have the potential to make Europe’s island communities innovation leaders in the clean energy transition for Europe and beyond – a fact the European Commission explicitly recognised in its Communication on “Clean Energy for All Europeans“, reassuring its commitment to ensure that the energy concerns of island inhabitants are at the forefront of the energy transition and related policy developments.
  • In cooperation with the European Parliament, the Commission in 2018 set up a Secretariat to deliver the objectives of the Clean Energy for EU Islands Initiative.
  • Over the last two years, the Clean Energy for EU Islands Secretariat has been supporting islands all across the EU in developing Clean Energy Transition Agendas, providing in-person and online capacity-building trainings as well as project-specific support to island communities, and supporting community building at from the local to the pan-European level.

The Memorandum of Split hence represents a continuation of the work done jointly by all members of the EU islands communities over the last years, which is now also enshrined in the EU Green Deal.

A new Wind of Renewal’s intercultural course: COLLAGE – THERAPY for women

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COLLAGE – THERAPY for women

Anemos Ananeosis / Wind of Renewal starts in its innovative WELCOMMON HOSTEL a new inclusive and intercultural course for women open to all (locals, refugees, migrants, volunteers) from September on:

Collage – therapy for women!
Let’s do some whimsical art without prerequisites!
It’s just imagination, to mix ideas and create something new and expressive!

Starting –
September, 1 (on Tuesdays)
15:00h – 16:30h

Starting –
September, 2 ( on Wednesdays)
15:00h – 16:30h”

The courses are open to women and girls from 14 years old.
Each group will consist of 5 persons and has to implement the health protocols for protection against COVID -19.

Fatima, our volunteer, who will coordinate the courses is an illustrator from Brazil and Portugal, who graduated in Fashion Design and has experience as an illustration teacher. You can see here part of her art work: Ventapane

Registration
– by email to: windofrenewal@gmail.com,
– sending a message to www.facebook.com/daysofwelcommon
or
at the WELCOMMON HOSTEL daily on 14.00.

Intercultural and inclusive courses open for all

Anemos Ananeosis / Wind of Renewal reorganised and started new volunteering projects in our innovative WELCOMMON HOSTEL, which are more inclusive and offer intercultural courses for all: refugees, locals, migrants, volunteers, tourists. “Learn and teach”, is our new moto.

The projects are realized with the participation and contribution of volunteers from all over the world. Since 2016, Anemos Ananeosis has collaborated with more than 320 volunteers, 30 NGOs and many universities.

Until COVID-19 and the lockdown we were offering a great selection of educational courses: language lessons (English, French, Chinese, Turkish etc), painting, photography, drama, music etc and we offered the opportunity to volunteers and our guests/visitors to organize in collaboration with Anemos Ananeosis / Wind of Renewal and the WELCOMMON HOSTEL many intercultural events “knowing better each other like (Greek, USA, Italian, Indian, Ukraine, Pakistan, Scandinavian, Chinese, French… Nights). There are people from all over the world they would like to know better other cultures.

We continue our intercultural courses implementing the health protocols for COVID-19. The measures has an impact on our volunteering work but we try to do our best in the new period, to show solidarity in a period of social distancing. At the memont we offer language lessons and collage-therapy.

Our moto is: “Be a teacher and at the same time a pupil. We learn from each other”.

About us

ANEMOΣ ΑΝΑNEΩΣΗΣ / WIND of RENEWAL is a social cooperative for social – green economy and innovation, empowerment and social inclusion www.anemosananeosis.gr, 2103803959, 2103810646

WELCOMMON HOSTEL, is our innovative hostel with social and green impact,  www.welcommonhostel.gr
www.facebook.com/welcommonhostel

#cooperatives #socEnt #socialinclusion #empowerment #withrefugees #WindofRenewal #WelcommonHostel #art #volunteers #ErasmusPlus #EuropeanSolidarityCorps #GreenSocialInnovationESC Ventapane Social Cooperatives

Thomas: I would be proud to be a part of it!

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My name is Thomas and I am a 30 years old French person who decided to come to Greece to help with the refugee situation. I am also an engineer who had the crazy idea to change career four years ago to get involved in teaching and humanitarian projects.

My original plan, earlier this year, was to volunteer on Lesbos, in the Moria camp. Unfortunately my trip to the island was canceled on the very day I arrived in Athens because of the border crisis with Turkey early March. Of course I am not the type of person who gets discouraged by such a minor setback. I set out to look for a volunteering opportunity in Athens itself and found the social project of the social cooperative Anemos Ananeosis / Wind of Renewal and its Welcommon Hostel. After a couple of emails, I met the volunteers already working with the project. They explained what they were doing and it sounded exactly like what I was looking for: informal teaching and social empowerment.

My first contact with Anemos Ananeosis and Welcommon Hostel was on a Sunday, I started volunteering on Monday and on …Wednesday the activities stopped because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Of course I am not the type of person who gets discouraged by such a minor setback. As all the volunteers flew back home to spend the lockdown with their families, I decided to wait out the pandemic confined in the hostel until May. After all, I had arrived in Athens only two weeks before and had no interest in going back to France.

The Welcommon Hostel reopened on the first of June and we could slowly start the activities again, while being careful to observe the sanitary restrictions / health protocols. Since I was the only volunteer left in the hostel and since I had had only two days of experience working for the project before the lockdown, I began from almost zero. I was left to work quite independently and was trusted with the organisation of language lessons. It was agreed that the evening activities that were happening before the Covid crisis (Karaoke, movie nights, etc…) would be too difficult to organise in a sanitary satisfying way.

I created three level groups for English classes: beginner, intermediate and advanced, with no more than five students per group. It quickly became clear that there were a lot more than fifteen students interested in the lessons and I had to create more groups and therefore put in more hours (because I was still the only teacher).

That month of June was an abrupt waking up from almost three month of hibernation. Athens was slowly coming back to life and I didn’t know anyone there (except for the cashier of the supermarket maybe). My whole life became about my students, some of whom were coming to the hostel almost everyday, demanding extra lessons which I gladly provided. I created very strong connections with several of them, learned a lot from their stories, and was humbled by their resilience.

In July, new volunteers came and we were able to organise a more formal timetable and to take-in more students. Even though I still maintained a close bond with my students, spending time with the other volunteers in the evening and on the weekends was a welcomed change of pace from the intense month of June. We even restarted the evening activities once a week (a French cooking night, a game night, and a movie night) and Sunday outdoors activities.

I started volunteering with Anemos Ananeosis / Wind of Renewal in the Welcommon hostel with the intent of only staying for a few weeks before traveling to an island and ending up staying for six month. This is not only the result of the lockdown; I enjoyed the atmosphere, the mix between refugees, volunteers and travelers, I enjoyed the freedom I was given, I enjoyed the people I met. But the main reason why I stayed and why I will probably come back in the near future is the potential I see in this place and in my students.

With more people, more money and a real organisation, this place could change the life of a lot of people and I would be proud to be a part of it.