From 9 to 12 of October, Brussels hosted the 21st European Week of Regions and Cities, and the NESOI project had the chance to participate in this prestigious event. 

The EURegionsWeek is the biggest annual Brussels-based event dedicated to cohesion policy, which has grown to become a neutral platform to discuss common challenges for Europe’s regions and cities by bringing together a diverse community of speakers and participants. 

This session gathered the different partners of the project who explained how NESOI aims to accelerate the transition to renewable energy and increase the resilience of islands to the impacts of climate change. 

Janire García, representing ZABALA Innovation, was the lead coordinator of the workshop. The moderator introduced the project as well as the speakers and explained the important role of ZABALA Innovation for the development of NESOI. 

Andrea Martinez, director of Sinloc SpA and main coordinator of the project, talked about the financial and technical support that NESOI obtains from its team and local advisors, and how the project provides customized comprehensive technical assistance activities to support project structuring, financing and implementation. Martinez highlighted the impacts and results that have been already achieved in 63 islands and archipelagos in 11 countries, and the importance of stakeholders and local community engagement for the successful implementation of the initiatives. 

Mario Cortese, representing R2M Solution, explained the different tools that are being provided by the project: a Guidebook for replication, which is a means to stimulate the replication of the NESOI projects and provides indicators to analyse the replicability readiness level; coaching activities, that involve individual coaching, webinars and training material among others; white papers, to raise awareness around the challenges and opportunities in the replication of the initiatives and provide recommendations; and the NESOI Digital Platform itself. 

Lastly, Erini Lithoxoidu, project manager of the Centre for Research and Technology-Hellas, presented the NESOI Digital Platform to the audience, showing its functioning, and how it can be used to seek advice, look for partners, find financial and technical solutions, get in contact with potential clients, and increase skills and expertise. 

This session awoke high interest among the audience and was an amazing opportunity to reunite the different partners of the NESOI project.