On the occasion of its Third Regional Seminar, the EUROCLIMA programme organized on October 18 an optional field visit to the city of Liege to get to know first-hand the city´s strategy and actions on energy and climate change as part of the European initiative "Covenant of Mayors". The EUROCLIMA delegation included representatives from Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panamá, Paraguay and one representative of the EU Delegation in Peru.

Before participants embarked on the trip to Liege Mr. Pedro Ballesteros, International Relations Officer at the Directorate General for Energy of the European Commission, explained the European movement "Covenant of Mayors" (www.covenantofmayors.eu) to which Liege is a signatory. All signatories of the pact are local and regional authorities that have committed themselves on a voluntary basis to improve the quality of life for its inhabitants by improving energy efficiency and using renewable energy sources in their territories. Currently there are more than 5,000 signatories covering over 170 million people.

To see the initiative in action, the participants visited the city of Liege, which signed the Covenant in 2008. The city's Council, Ms Julie Fernandez-Fernandez welcomed the EUROCLIMA delegation to the municipality. "In any case, to get results, as they say, everyone should be on the bridge". With this expression she emphasized that the focus of the city has been getting all civil society committed to reducing energy consumption. "From the political representatives to the citizens, including economic and social actors, everyone should be able to contribute to the conception of a new model of society more respectful towards people and the planet."

Mr Marc Schlitz, Environmental expert and Head of the Climate Change and Energy Strategy of the city, presented in detail the strategy which is implemented through three main components: Balance of emissions, Action Plan by sector, and Appropriation by the civil society and citizens. This last is achieved through the implementation in Liege of the European communication campaign about climate action ENGAGE. This flexible and friendly campaign is now open to all local entities around the world and can be adapted to the local context.  According to Mr Schlitz this campaign could be a good opportunity for Latin American cities. The presentation of Mr. Schlitz is available in French here.

During the afternoon, participants visited four of the projects of this strategy:

• Urban regeneration - Sainte - Marguerite Neighbourhood: Federal Plan for Major Cities
• Tram Project of the city of Liege
• City Social Renewal - Social Housing Liège - Angleur
• Biomass Cogeneration of the University of Liège

The participants of the delegation of EUROCLIMA agreed that leaving the meeting rooms of the Seminar to see the implementation of the climate change strategy of a European city served them to exchange experiences with European and Latin American peers, to compare this strategy with their own realities and to provide ideas to climate change strategies in their countries.

To see the photos from the field trip click here.