{"id":524,"date":"2022-03-23T15:07:49","date_gmt":"2022-03-23T15:07:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aurora-h2020.eu\/?p=524"},"modified":"2022-07-29T16:24:05","modified_gmt":"2022-07-29T14:24:05","slug":"press-release-empowering-citizens-to-tackle-the-climate-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aurora-h2020.eu\/de\/2022\/03\/23\/press-release-empowering-citizens-to-tackle-the-climate-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Press Release: Empowering Citizens to Tackle the Climate Crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"

International project AURORA launched to empower the people of Europe to take ownership of the climate change debate. Five crowdfunded demonstrators in Denmark, England, Portugal, Slovenia
and Spain will be built to reduce the carbon footprint of 7000 citizens.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to an ambitious new research project, the climate crisis can only be tackled effectively if citizens are empowered to play a much more active role in transforming the energy sector, taking a stake in delivering the EU\u2019s ambitious target to reduce carbon emissions by 55% within a decade. Launched in December 2021 as part of the European \u2018Green Deal\u2019 initiative, the project called AURORA (\u201cAchieving a new European Energy Awareness\u201d) fosters an explicitly citizen-led, bottom-up approach compared to the more top-down strategies and political statements such as at the recent government summit in Glasgow (COP26).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is people who make the difference in climate change\u201d, says project coordinator Dr. Ana Bel\u00e9n Crist\u00f3bal L\u00f3pez, Technical University of Madrid: \u201cIndeed it is often the poorest in our society who stand to gain most from reducing their carbon emissions and saving money on heating, lighting and transport.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AURORA will work with 7,000 citizens across five locations in Denmark, England, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain, to give them a greater say in how their energy is generated and used. These communities of \u2018citizen scientists\u2019 will crowd-fund local photovoltaic facilities to produce a total of ca. 1 megawatt of renewable energy. To make the climate crisis less abstract for citizens, the project will first focus on creating awareness of the \u2018carbon footprints\u2019 of our daily energy choices. The citizens will receive tailored recommendations how to make more informed energy decisions to reduce their emissions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The results will be shared with many other citizens across Europe with the goal to start a bottom-up
movement for change. The project will therefore also advocate politically for a more citizen-driven approach to tackle the climate crisis, for instance by engaging with the Environment Programme of the United Nations and European policy makers preparing for the UN Climate Change Conference in Egypt (COP27) in 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The AURORA project is a part of the EU\u2019s renowned \u201cHorizon 2020\u201d programme and started in December 2021. \u20ac4.6 million will be invested over the next 3.5 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Background Information \u00bb<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The full press release is also available in the following languages:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n