On Monday 22 and Tuesday 23 April, the second regular online meeting of the plenary partners of the Crete Valley project took place.
Forty‑one partners from eleven countries discussed the progress of implementing the Energy Valley of Crete, based on renewable energy sources. Four regions of the island will benefit from the development of energy production systems from renewable sources. These systems are designed to utilise the energy potential of each area (e.g. geothermal energy in Arvi, biomass in the Lassithi Plateau) and to respond to the specific energy needs of their residents.
Beyond the innovative technologies integrated into the project, particular emphasis is placed on methodologies that record all human factors influencing and strengthening social participation, not only during the phase of utilising the project’s results but also during the design of the infrastructures. Citizens are co‑shapers of what they will ultimately use at the lowest possible cost. And always with environmental protection as a guiding principle.
As planning matures and actions to inform and include local communities in the project design intensify—communities that will ultimately benefit—factors also emerge that add to the complexity of the endeavour.
It is an ambitious project, but the partners possess the necessary capacity to bring it to completion.
Minoan Energy Community, as the host of the projects being designed, with its scientific expertise and its understanding of the human geography of the beneficiary regions, participates actively in every stage of the project’s implementation.
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