Project of the week – 2017, sustainability and citizen involvement (Samso Island)

To ensure that activities continue after 2017, Samso Energy Academy will host a series of workshops in the years leading up to 2017. The aim is to make the 2017-projects ambassadors of ECoC 2017’s core values: sustainability and citizen involvement. The project culminates with a major sustainability festival on the island in 2017.

Workshops on sustainability
Thursday, September 18., Samso Energy Academy and World Perfect have joined forces and organized a workshop on sustainability and how we can rethink this concept. From Aarhus 2017’s four program tracks on sustainability - Climate/Energy, Gastronomy, Architecture/Design and Arts - those participating in the workshop will be working to come up with creative suggestions for experiences that can make sustainability feel present and important to a broad audience. 

A broad range of stakeholders in the various areas, including Aarhus University, Energy City Skive, Randers Art Museum, Aarhus Food Festival and many more, will participate in the workshop. 

The workshop is the first in a series that aims to upgrade the 2017-projects to be ambassadors of Aarhus 2017’s core values of sustainability and citizen involvement. The next workshop is scheduled for 22nd-23rd of October 2014, when Samso Energy Academy invites the participants to the island. Primarily, the workshops are about to show the good examples and inspire other to take action.

To ensure that the core values survive beyond the year of ECoC 2017, the series of workshops will be followed by public meetings and other events on the home turf of the 2017-projects in the 19 municipalities. And the Energy Academy will create visibility through a number of network meetings and events where representatives of upcoming European Capitals are invited. It will all culminate with a big sustainability festival held on Samso in 2017. 

Peter Christensen, who is project manager at the Energy Academy’s Aarhus department, is excited about the role the Energy Academy will play: 

"Samso Energy Academy has been involved in 2017 since the first workshop in Ridehuset 5 or 6 years ago. Interestingly enough, we have been targeted for the same role all the way; partly as an inspiration and mentor to other 2017-projects around the region; partly to strengthen the European dimension in relation to Aarhus 2017 through the huge international network, the Academy has built up over time. Although many of our guests come with a background in energy and climate, we talk more about the process of sustainability in practice, public participation, local involvement, community power etc. Much of what we say is the simple things that are easily accessible and work by local adaptation. Although things will, of course, take time," says Peter Christensen.

Sustainable since 1997
Actually, it all started as a bit of a coincidence. The year was 1997. Minister for the Environment and Energy at the time, Svend Auken,
Erstwhile Environment and Energy Auken held a government competition to become a model renewable energy island. A pioneer place and showcase that would apply new technologies and strategies and inspire the rest of Denmark and the world around us to move away from fossil CO2 polluting fuels. The challenge was simple: become 100 percent self-sufficient in renewable energy in 10 years.

Samso won the competition. The rest is - as they say - history. The goal of self-sufficiency has long since been reached. Onshore windmills produce energy to cover the entire island's needs. Ten windmills in the sea produce enough electricity to compensate for the energy consumption of transportation on Samso. Wind power is supplemented by solar and geothermal heat. And all district heating is based on straw, solar heat and wood chips.

Watch an overview of renewable energy on the island.

Samso Energy Academy was built in 2006 and opened for visitors in 2007. The locals actively supports it, and the interest from the media is great - both nationally and internationally. Peter Christensen explains:

"Samso is constantly visited by foreign journalists. Last month, a film crew from the German TV station ARTE spent several weeks on the island to film a 45-minute feature about what is happening here. Recently, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall from the program 'River Cottage' also visited the island. It is quite remarkable with all the attention. But the island is a strong brand. Therefore, it is also gratifying that the Energy Academy will take on a strategic advisor role to the many 2017-projects," says Peter Christensen of the Energy Academy.

Read more about the Energy Academy on their website.

Read article from The New Yorker.