Energy-challenge in Liège: how to make climate change a neighbourhood issue16 February 2012 | 10h55 | 234 visits As part of their local ENGAGE campaign, the City of Liège (Belgium) is organising an Energy Challenge to encourage citizens to monitor and reduce their energy consumption. Knowing how much energy you use is an essential step to save energy! Making use of little tips and tricks to prevent energy wastage is common sense! Of course… but when it comes to your everyday life, you could feel alone and lost: what can I really do to reduce my energy consumption, which habits should I change first so that I can also see the difference on the bill, how can I compare my gas consumption for January 2011 and 2012 since the weather was so different… These are many reasons to take part in the Energy challenge organised this winter in Liège. The concept of Energy Challenge was launched in Liège within the frame of the SUN euregional Project (Sustainable Urban Neighbourhoods) which is organised around 4 axes: boosting the local economy, improving social links, making the neighbourhood greener through participative plantations and energy related renovations. For this last topic, different activities were organised in the “Saint-Léonard” neighbourhood of Liège, which had been chosen as one of the 8 priority-neighbourhoods in Liège: information sessions about energy related renovation, counselling and home visits, grouping of orders for roof insulation and double-glazed window and an Energy Challenge in winter 2010-2011. The idea behind the Energy Challenge is that it’s easier to save energy when it is a game that evokes a bit of friendly competition, when you do it within a team (you get motivation and information from the others), when you hear that this little tip really works (it is much better than reading it in a pamphlet) and when the topic of energy saving can become fun and a reason for people to meet and get to know each other. This winter, winter 2011-2012, the concept was enlarged and all citizens from Liège were invited to join the initiative; this was made as a common ENGAGE-SUN initiative. How does it work ?
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