Introduction
By Søren Hermansen – Director, Samsø Energy Academy
The coldest May in as long as we can remember! Is this climate change, or what the heck is going on? We keep watching the weather forecast with just a tiny glimpse of hope that summer will come. In the end also the national election was called, and right before deadline. Not that the cold summer and the election necessarily have anything to do with each other, but they are two distinctive experiences within a month’s time.
In the context of the national election we have been aware of the need to get the attention of the politicians. The Energy Academy has produced new materials to clarify who we are and what it is that we actually do down here. It has been a good process, both for us working in the house and for the board which has just been constituted with a new director and a couple of good, new members. A good anchor for our work and for setting the direction toward future projects.
The cold summer has reminded us that us on Samsoe and in the rest of the world we have a common project to administer the energy we have in the most sustainable way possible. The election reminded us that we need to have a constant finger on the pulse and always work to extend and use the excellent network we have. The political agenda inevitably defines some of the scope and conditions of the Academy’s work – but we are ready to face the challenges and changes the future might bring.
We will go on summer holiday knowing that when we return, we need to focus on content and results. From June until August the house is open Tuesdays and Thursdays. We welcomes guests and have given the keys to the house to our young summer helpers. The Energy Academy is a town hall for energetic people.
Local
The Energy Academy finds energy savings in stores
By Project Manager Jan Jantzen and Michael Kristensen
Category: Fossil Free Island
The Energy Academy has been doing fieldwork in our European project, Nighthawks. We have made a short video showing how we find energy savings in stores on Samsø. The video shows in 3 minutes how and which energy savings were found in SuperBrugsen in Tranebjerg. Read more here.
The island ferry Princess Isabella as a communication place
By Project Managers Trine Balskilde Stoltenberg, Jan Jantzen and Michael Kristensen
Category: Fossil Free Island
The new ferry sailing between Jutland and Samsø provides the perfect setting for dissemination for the duration of the trip. This platform has already been used by the partners in the biogas project EUDP. In April a seminar for stakeholders wanting to build a biogas plant on Samsø was held on the ferry. Read more here.
Water – the new black
By Project Manager Trine Balskilde Stoltenborg
Category Fossil Free Island
Water is a finite resource, and on an island it is extra costly if it runs out. We must therefore think in new constellations when it comes to water use and water flows. This is exactly the purpose of a recently completed Water Symbiosis project. Read more here.
Festival supports sustainability on Samsø
By daily manager Michael Larsen
Category: fossil free island
June 6th and 7th the Samsø Sustainability Festival took place for the 3rd time. The festival provides an opportunity for associations, local heroes, experts, citizens, guests and just everyone who cares about sustainability to meet.
The purpose is to share knowledge and ideas and to discuss every aspect of sustainability. Keynote speaks and activities were arranged for the many visitors. The festival is arranged by local associations and volunteers in cooperation with Samsø Energy Academy and Samsø Municipality.
Read more at Samsø Sustainability Festival’s website.
Are young people curious about their local communities?
By project manager Malene Annikki Lundén
Category: Education
Over the past 8 years at Samsø Energy Academy we have taught around 10.000 children and young people in our Energy Camp. They are well aware of that in the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Building, so when the ministry and now former minister Rasmus Helveg Petersen issued a climate campaign directed at young people, they did so in collaboration with the Danish Broadcasting Corporation’s (DR) school service and Samsø Energy Academy.
Read more here.
National
The future of the Energy Service
By Project Manager Michael Kristensen
Category: Fossil Free Island
Last year we learned that the funding for the Danish Energy Service will be discontinued from the start of 2015. This meant that there was no more funding for free, personal counseling through the Energy Service for the Danish islands Bornholm, Ærø and Samsø, that the office on Ærø unfortunately had to close, and that there would be lower activity on Bornholm and Samsø during the first months of 2015.
Fortunately, The Danish Energy Agency (DEA) offered a two-year project on energy advising, and the Danish Energy Service won the project at the end of April 2015. This means that there are now specifically earmarked financing to have information sessions on energy conservation, inspirational presentations, open house events, participation in fairs and school education.
This also means that we are working to start up the office on Ærø again by September 1st. In addition to these new developments, the Energy Service offices still have their free of charge nationwide telephone counselling on 70333777.
Circular economy and Samso knowledge in town development
By project manager Trine Balskilde Stoltenborg
Category: Education
One of the predominant sustainability trends at the moment is circular economy, reflecting a thinking which the Energy Academy has been a part of for several years. Therefore it is only natural that the Academy will participate in developing the new district Lisbjerg in the city of Aarhus from a circular economy-perspective.
The project aims at collecting knowledge and inspiration and disseminating circular economy concepts to public authorities, the construction industry, builders and others who can usefully think circular economy into their business models. Read more here.
Samso as an innovation case
By project manager Trine Balskilde Stoltenborg
Category: Education
Innovation and marketing are on the schedule for the students at the University of Copenhagen’s Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management. In one of the cases they help develop Samsø’s green golf course. This is done in a course led by Malene Lundén and Trine Balskilde Stoltenborg from Samsø Energy Academy. Read more here.
News from the Energy Academy’s office in Aarhus
By Project Managers Trine B. Stoltenborg and Peter Christensen
Category: partnerships
A branch of Samsø Energy Academy recently moved into the Film City on the Southern Harbour in Aarhus. From here we will work to spread and develop partnerships in the region as well as in the world.
The Energy Academy among other things collaborates with Aarhus European Cultural Capital 2017 on the sustainability dimensions of the project and is at work spreading the Energy Safari concept which was originally developed on Samsø. Read more here
A guide to local pioneer societies
By project leader Malene Annikki Lundén
Category: Education
The Samsinge (the name for the local islanders) know how to make things happen. Together they have placed Samsø on the world map. In our new Velux project we will investigate and further develop the key techniques employed to motivate pioneers and grassroots on the island; groups of people who have been crucial to Samsø’s sustainable transformation into Denmark’s Renewable Energy Island. Read more here.
Samsborg – a meeting place for sustainability and local development
By daily manager Michael Larsen
Category: partnerships
The Energy Academy together with the cooperation Samsø Energy Hotel, consisting of local companies and associations, have collaborated with the local development fund in Samsø Municipality to develop concept and project materials as the basis for the realisation of the Samsborg project. Now the next phase is to begin the concrete planning and fundraising. Read more here.
Global
Samsø til EU-topmøde I Brussel
By Director Søren Hermansen
Category: partnerships
To be fair, we were there duing the summit we weren’t there for the summit, but we did visit a bunch of EU commissioners who support our work and Samsø’s efforts to create sustainable life on the outskirts of the EU. The EU plays a significant role in a lot of the projects facilitated by the Academy. Since the birth of the Renewable Energy Island project in 1998, we have been a part of a lot of projects ranging from exchanging experiences to more hands-on projects looking at energy savings, education in sustainability, the implementation of renewable energy solutions and much more. Read more here.
How to improve the implementation of sustainable energy projects?
By daily manager Michael Larsen
Category: partnerships
12 project partners in the EU project SMILEGOV (concerned with the sustainable development of European islands) and invited participants from the project countries gathered in Brussels June 24th for the conference “Islands towards smarter multilevel governance in their path to 2020” . The participants were informed about the project status and they shared their experiences concerning the implementation of sustainable energy action plans and energy projects at the local level. Links and video here.
At an international academic conference about energy transitions
By PhD student at Copenhagen University, Irina Papazu
Category: Education
As a part of my PhD I travel a lot, visiting conferences and presenting my work. My PhD project is about Samsø, where I did fieldwork in 2013 and -14 in order to reach a closer understanding of how Samsø has managed to achieve what the rest of the world is only starting to perceive as a pressing and challenging goal: energy-selfsufficiency and CO2 neutrality.
Therefore, in the beginning of July, I participated in a conference in Tours, a beautiful city a two-hour trainride outside Paris. The conference 2nd International Days of Energy Sociology – Contemporary Societies Faced With Energy Transitions took place at Tours’ Université Francois-Rabelais. Around 200 participants, both scientists and experts from the energy business met here to discuss current energy-related challenges connected to the need to transform our energy systems. Read more here.
Six years of symposiums – From Best to Next Practice
By project leader, Malene Annikki Lundén
Category: Education
Back in 2008 the Energy Academy’s board of directors, the employees and members took a crucial decision, initiating a new internal strategy which we named Samsø 2.0. As part of this 2.0 strategy we are meant to host development meetings with our network and partners. They give us a reality check and help us make sure we are on the right track. We call this reality check “From Best to Next Practice”. Read more here.
Recent publications
Italien TV – minutes 77 – 81 total 5 minutes on Samsø
Grunfoss yearly report with article on Samsø, Denmark
Article from Søren Hermansen in member magazine “Hedeselskabet” (Danish)