City Stories by Energy Cities

Energy Cities
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Welcome to City Stories, the podcast by Energy Cities. Energy Cities is the European city network of local authorities in energy transition with over 1000 members from 30 countries. This podcast is for those who want to learn more about how cities go about with the energy transition. The challenge is big, but there are so many new, collaborative practices that emerge and that make this challenge fun and feasible. Each month we invite passionate European guests from different horizons and sectors who dedicate much of their time to making the energy transition more democratic. Each conversation brings out a city’s story as well as very personal opinions and motivations. The podcast is moderated by Miriam Eisermann. It is available on Spotify, Google Podcasts and Apple Podcasts

  1. Jul 24

    Transformative district heating & cooling in Brussels City: Frederik Ceulemans, Dep. Mayor

    District heating and cooling still is a new approach for many local governments. And it’s not just about installing underground pipes, it's a whole urban transformation. We wanted to hear from Frederik Ceulemans from the City of Brussels how they deal with that big challenge. As Deputy Mayor, Frederik has a large portfolio spanning from Urban Renovation and Climate, to Citizen Participation and Dutch-speaking culture. In this episode he told us how they started planning and implementing district heating and cooling in a socially very diverse neighbourhood of Brussels. If you wonder how to design a network that is free of gas, profitable and still affordable, this episode is for you. If you want to learn more about cleaner heating, you should check out Energy Cities’ #MakingHeatSafe campaign: energy-cities.eu/making-heat-safe/

    Transformative district heating & cooling in Brussels City: Frederik Ceulemans, Dep. Mayor

  2. Jun 30

    How to turn a city into a “cool” place. Interview with Mariam Emelien, Grenobles Alpes Métropole

    How to turn a city into a “cool” place. Interview with Mariam Emelien, Grenobles Alpes Métropole by Energy Cities

    How to turn a city into a “cool” place. Interview with Mariam Emelien, Grenobles Alpes Métropole

  3. Apr 13

    Feeding the city: a conversation with food expert Dorothée Meyer, Alysère

    Food is our everyday fuel and we often don’t really know in detail how it has come to our plate. In our Energy Cities network, many cities are figuring out healthy and local food can be provided to everyone and how to grow awareness around it. Albertville in the French Alps is one of those cities. Albertville counts around 20,000 inhabitants and is running several programs as part of its sustainable food plan. known as the Projet Alimentaire Territorial. This masterplan aims to connect producers with local consumers, including public canteens in and around Albertville. Each day, the city’s central canteen prepares around 1,200 meals and it is serving schools, elderly residents, and several neighbouring municipalities. For this episode I spoke with Dorothée Meyer, who is connecting the dots between farmers, residents, school personnel and others around this food masterplan. She is working at the inter-municipal organisation Arlysere. When Dorothée talks about farming and school canteens, her voice and eyes are filled with passion. I felt that Dorothee believes in the power of big transitions starting literally on the ground. Our conversation took us all along the food chain: We talked about the land use challenges of high quality farming, the need to rebuild trust between consumers and those who produce what we eat and the big question of how citizens can pay and eat better local food. Enjoy the episode. Bon appétit. This episode was made possible thanks to the EU-funded SPARKLE project: https://energy-cities.eu/project/sparkle/

    Feeding the city: a conversation with food expert Dorothée Meyer, Alysère

  4. Mar 5

    Turin giving a new life to textiles: a talk with Laura Ribotta, Environmental Innovation Expert

    There is this one shirt that you won’t wear anymore. It’s too good to be thrown away, but is there any alternative in your town? Each European generates 16 kilos of clothing and shoe waste per year, but only about 15 % is separately collected. The rest still ends up in mixed household waste. That’s why many European cities struggle with that textile waste: Shirts, shoes and towels pollute through microplastics, toxic emissions, and land use. Yes, textiles are a waste AND a climate issue. Torino, one of the 100 Climate Neutral Cities, decided to approach textiles differently by preventing them from becoming waste in the first place. Besides AI monitored containers and a very clever app, the city gave citizens the know-how to reduce, repair or recycle their textiles. and artisan engagement via two local initiatives. Let’s explore with Laura Ribotta, Environmental innovation expert at Comune di Torino how to lift the stigma of second hand, how police uniforms became the sweet spot and what other cities can learn. This episode was made possible thanks to the CLIMABOROUGH project, co-funded by the European Union and CINEA. It has the ambition to bridge the gap between design and implementation of urban innovations, particularly in the face of climatic change and its consequential needs for adaptation and mitigation. https://climaborough.eu/

    Turin giving a new life to textiles: a talk with Laura Ribotta, Environmental Innovation Expert

  5. 11/12/2025

    15/15 Mayors Talk about the housing crisis with Dennis de Vries, Deputy Mayor at City of Utrecht

    In many European cities, residents struggle to find affordable housing, whether it’s for rent or purchase. And paradoxically, at the same time, many cities register a growing number of real estate space that is empty and unused. How can we better match housing supply with demand? And how can public administrations regain control over the housing stock? We asked Mr Dennis de Vries, who was our guest at the latest 15/15 Mayors Energy Talk organised by Energy Cities. Mr de Vries is Alderman of the city of Utrecht in The Netherlands and in charge of Housing and Real Estate. He works daily on the challenge of combining sufficiency and wellbeing of all inhabitants. Tune in to hear Mr De Vries share hands-on insights and practical ideas to tackle the housing crisis head-on. This episode was made possible thanks to funding from the French Agency for Ecological Transition ADEME.

    15/15 Mayors Talk about the housing crisis with Dennis de Vries, Deputy Mayor at City of Utrecht

  6. 10/28/2025

    Detox city of Domokos, Greece: Small city innovating with purpose

    Today we’re heading to Central Greece, to the municipality of Domokos. Domokos with its 9000 inhabitants is the recent winner of the Covenant of Mayors award. I’m joined by the Mayor of Domokos Mr Liolios and his colleague Mrs. Zisopoulou from the Mayor’s Office. Together, they’ll walk us through the project that earned them the award: how it came about, who got involved, and what it really takes for a small city to mobilise its people around the energy transition. We’ll also hear their reflections about the advantages — and the challenges — of being a small municipality trying to lead big change. This episode was made possible thanks to funding by the Covenant of Mayors.

    Detox city of Domokos, Greece: Small city innovating with purpose

  7. 09/25/2025

    City-citizen collaboration: Episode on the LIFE LOOP journey for vibrant energy communities

    In this episode of City Stories, I’m joined by two community energy experts I know well and I loved working with lately: my colleague Anna Francis from Energy Cities and Dimitris Katsakaprakis from Minoan Energy Community, the biggest energy community in Greece. Together, we’ve been working in the LIFE LOOP project, helping cities and communities set up joint local renewable energy projects. We’ll talk about what it takes to make city services and citizen groups work together. What culture and knowledge does it require to come up with a viable energy community where ownership is shared? https://energy-cities.eu/lifeloop This episode was made possible by funding from the EU LIFE-CET program.

    City-citizen collaboration: Episode on the LIFE LOOP journey for vibrant energy communities

  8. 09/09/2025

    Detox City Lapeenranta: Interview about municipal innovation in heat with Ilkka Räsänen

    In this episode we interview Ilkka Räsänen, a 63-year old jovial Fin who is one of the innovation leaders in his municipality. Electricity prices in Finland are amongst the cheapest in Europe and one reason for Finland’s big move towards electrification of heat. lkka Rasanen works for the municipality of Lappeenranta in the South East of Finland. The 700.000 inhabitants are essentially getting their heat through a district heating network which is owned by the municipality and supplied by clean energy from the municipal utility. The future in that Finnish town is electric and you’ll understand why Lappeenranta was awarded this year’s Covenant of Mayors award as part of the Cities Heat Detox Campaign. Find inspiration for your city’s heat detox at the Covenant of Mayors’ website: www.eumayors.eu.

    Detox City Lapeenranta: Interview about municipal innovation in heat with Ilkka Räsänen
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About

Welcome to City Stories, the podcast by Energy Cities. Energy Cities is the European city network of local authorities in energy transition with over 1000 members from 30 countries. This podcast is for those who want to learn more about how cities go about with the energy transition. The challenge is big, but there are so many new, collaborative practices that emerge and that make this challenge fun and feasible. Each month we invite passionate European guests from different horizons and sectors who dedicate much of their time to making the energy transition more democratic. Each conversation brings out a city’s story as well as very personal opinions and motivations. The podcast is moderated by Miriam Eisermann. It is available on Spotify, Google Podcasts and Apple Podcasts

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