3rd Energy Community Summer School kicks off in Split

Forty young women and men, postgraduate students and young professionals from 26 countries gathered in Split, Croatia on August 25, taking part in the official 3rd Energy Community Summer School Kick-off Ceremony. The School will run until September 1 and brings together participants and lecturers from various backgrounds. ORF-EE supports the implementation of the EnC Summer School for the third year in a row.  

The Summer School began with a keynote speech from Megan Richards, Director for Energy Policy in the Directorate General for Energy of the European Commission. She used the opportunity to remind of EU’s support for the creation of a single regulatory space and an effective energy market reform process, as referred to under the Energy Community (EnC) Treaty. In her speech, she also highlighted connectivity between the regions as a pivotal topic, which was addressed during the May 2018 Western Balkans-EU Leaders Summit and continues to be referred to in the context of barrier transcendence. Leaning on this statement, participants to the EnC Summer School will directly benefit from this connectivity and the energy market reform, having an essential role to play in ensuring that the right steps are taken now to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve quality of life and reduce energy costs for consumers in the future, Energy Community stated.

Welcoming words were given by Domagoj Validžić, Assistant Minister for Energy in the Ministry of Environment and Energy of the Republic of Croatia. Validžić stated “As a member of Energy Community, Croatia cooperates with other EnC members and is involved in common projects. On behalf of the Ministry, I am very pleased to state that the 3rd Energy Community Summer School 2018 is held in Split.” He added “I find the program very ambitious and I am very glad that many important energy sector topics will be covered.”

The focus of this year’s program is on energy sectors in transition. Through group work and interactive lectures economic, technical, legal and political dimensions of energy sector governance will be examined. Case studies are used to shed light on pipeline politics and new generation infrastructure financing.

Adding to the importance of the event, in her speech, Julia Nagel, ORF-EE Deputy Sector Fund Manager used the opportunity to highlight that knowledge and skills are important prerequisites for success and a sustainable energy future, which is in line with GIZ ORF-EE’s efforts and investments in South-East Europe. She stressed “the EnC Summer School program represents a great example of sharing know-how and experiences aimed at solving complex energy related challenges.“ She added that it is also a great networking opportunity for the young participants.

The Summer School is organized by the Energy Community Secretariat in cooperation with the Visegrad Fund and, on behalf of the German Government, the GIZ Open Regional Fund for South-East Europe – Energy Efficiency (ORF-EE).

Polis University, Tirana; Comenius University Bratislava; Jagiellonian University, Krakow; Masaryk University, Brno and REKK, Budapest act as project partners since 2016. DOOR and the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture in Split joined the team of partners in 2018.