From being a participant at last year’s European Youth Energy Forum (EYEF) to joining the organizing team this year with the European Youth Energy Network - EYEN. 🦜
#EYEF2024 #EYEN was both challenging and deeply rewarding. The preparations spanned several months of dedication, balancing the intense commitment with the responsibilities of being a working student, attending lectures, and tackling exams. Yet, seeing how our collective effort has taken shape has made it all worthwhile.
This year's theme, "Sustainable Cities of the Future," brought together a group of 60 carefully selected young professionals and students from the energy sector. Over two months, they collaborated to create innovative solutions addressing the most pressing challenges related to this topic. The outcome was six detailed policy proposals, focusing on community engagement, demand response, sustainable mobility, energy poverty, financing mechanisms, and energy-efficient urban planning.
Mentoring diverse teams of young professionals and students with different ages and backgrounds was an experience I'll always treasure. At first, meeting in person in Budapest after two months of online collaboration felt surreal. Supporting them in those initial days and watching them transform into a well-coordinated, self-driven group that developed a fantastic proposal on energy-efficient urban planning was inspiring.
I am incredibly grateful to the whole organizing team: Margarida Canavilhas Marques, Noemi Kristine Licini, Ariadne R., Belen De Bacco, Matteo Riberi, Rodrigo Neno, Jacopo Sala, Med Wael BEN KHALED, Márcio Sobral, Aleksandra Stojanoska, Fjolla Murati, Jonathan Ngund and also president of EYEN Federico Barbieri. Your commitment and collaboration brought this amazing event to life! 🚀
A special shout-out to the presenters from my policy group on energy-efficient urban planning, Promise Ahante and Vlera Zeqiri, and the entire group — Rafael Castro-Amoedo, Elif Gödekmerdan, Dr. Kiron C. Neale, Hugo López Romano, Lisa Pardini, Sara Aleksoska, and Alex Braggins — for your brilliant ideas and hard work.
Now, our proposals are on their way to COP29 in Azerbaijan. Let’s see how the decision-makers will respond to these innovative ideas for driving a sustainable and inclusive energy future! ⚡️
#EYEF2024 #EYEN
