The second edition of meetMED Week 2023, that took place in Marrakech, wittnessed the announcement of the fourteen Mediterranean cities selected for the twinning agreements. The three-day confrence, is the meetMED largest annual event, funded by the European Union, aimed at fostering the regional cooperation for the energy and climate transition in the Mediterranean countries.
The announcement came during one of the meetMED Week sessions devoted to the role of local authorities in the energy transition, bringing together representatives of Mediterranean cities – Lisbon (Portugal), Sahab (Jordan), and Tata (Morocco) – and the SEACAP4SDG and CLIMAMED projects.
During the session, Portuguese Energy Agency (ADENE) presented the 14 selected cities and the 6 partnerships identified, namely those that join Lisbon in Portugal with Al-Karak and Sahab in Jordan, Palmela in Portugal and Tata in Morocco, San Lucido in Italy and Moukhtara in Lebanon, Gozo in Malta and El Kef Lahmar in Algeria, Grevena in Greece to Abasan Al-Kabira in Palestine, as well as Grenoble in France with Sfax and Bizerte, both in Tunisia. A Spanish town and Cairo are still expected to join these partnerships.
Following the selection processes, the next steps will include signing Memorandums of Understanding with the cities, after which the Action Plans for each partnership will be prepared. These plans will address energy self-consumption, urban rehabilitation and renovation of buildings, the water-energy nexus, passive climate change mitigation measures, as well as actions to raise awareness and boost public participation.
Notably, the call for applications for meetMED twinning agreements was launched in January under project’s activity dedicated to promoting cooperation between cities in the north and south of the Mediterranean Basin region. Under the Portuguese Energy Agency (ADENE) leadership, the twinning agreements intend to promote dialogue, exchanging knowledge and experiences, and regional cooperation on energy efficiency in buildings.