Knauf Insulation spearheads new breakthrough energy efficiency event for Central and Eastern Europe

By Knauf Australia
September 01, 2016

More than 180 policy makers, business people, representatives of non-governmental organisations, trade associations and academia from 30 different countries attended the first Central and Eastern European Energy Efficiency Forum (C4E Forum).

More than 180 policy makers, business people, representatives of non-governmental organisations, trade associations and academia from 30 different countries attended the first Central and Eastern European Energy Efficiency Forum (C4E Forum).

The forum, co-organized by Chance for Buildings, European Climate Foundation and Bulgarian Green Building Council with intensive support of Knauf Insulation’s Public Affairs Director for Eastern Europe Ondrej Sramek, was a major breakthrough for the region and is now set to become a biennial event.

“Forums such as these are popular in Western Europe, but because they are focused on specific regional topics and often prohibitively expensive, Eastern Europeans rarely attend,” says Ondrej. “There was a clear need to create an affordable event in our region that focused on the critical issues that really matter to Central and Eastern Europe. So, that is what we did.”

Underlining the importance of the new initiative, Maroš Šefčovič, the Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of Energy Union opened the conference by saying: “Your forum provides a unique opportunity to share best practices, discuss cooperation across the region and create a truly regional energy efficiency community. This regional approach is the only way to advance towards our joint targets of efficiency and decarbonisation.”

Other forum highlights included an address by Bulgarian Minister of Regional Development Lilyana Pavlova on the need for renovation of neglected building stock; a presentation on the benefits of energy efficiency by Samuel Thomas of the International Energy Agency and a discussion with business representatives and the European Commission’s DG Energy which underlined calls for the EU’s energy efficiency target to be increased to a more ambitious 40%.

The programme also included workshops on specific policies and renovation incentive programmes across Central and Eastern European countries. Knauf Insulation also hosted a well-attended session on lobbying for energy efficiency in the new age by our Director of Public Affairs in Germany, Christoph “Spessi” Spesshardt.

All the events were set against a background of informal networking. The 11 Knauf Insulation representatives made the most of the opportunity to meet key policy makers across the region to discuss issues of energy efficiency, renovation and future opportunities. As one participant put it: “There was a Knauf person at almost every conversation I joined!”

A participants’ survey revealed the event was a great success. The top two reasons why people came were indeed the focus on the CEE region and the mix of stakeholders from across government, business and civil society. A total of 92% said they learned something new; 95%, said the C4E exceeded or met expectations; 58% are planning to come again and 90% would recommend C4E Forum to colleagues.

The forum is now set to become a biennial event with the next conference scheduled for 2018 and Knauf Insulation will be there again.

For more information: www.c4eforum.net

https://twitter.com/C4EForum