Second National Roundtable in Bulgaria under the INFIRE Project
On the 29th of April 2025, the Second Round Table of the project INFIRE (INnovative FInancing solutions for climate planning of REsilient and carbon neutral living areas), co-funded by the Interreg Euro-MED Programme, was organized in Sofia, Bulgaria, during a meeting of the Standing Committee on European and National Funds, Mechanisms and Instruments of the National Association of the Municipalities in Republic of Bulgaria (NAMRB).
More than 50 representatives of municipal administrations from Bulgaria, as well as representatives of other organizations working in the field of climate change and sustainable energy, attended the event.
Mr. Georgi Simeonov, representative of the Regional Energy Agency of Pazardjik (REAP), presented the INFIRE project – its main objectives, partnership, and pilot actions which are being organized by different project partners, as well as upcoming activities and capacity building and training events.
The main goal of the INFIRE project is to establish a long-lasting support structure to build capacities of public authorities in the involved regions for developing, implementing and monitoring holistic Climate Adaptation and Carbon Neutrality (CACN) solutions and policy instruments.
During the meeting, the Bulgarian partner REAP presented first results and lessons learnt from activities implemented so far. These were mainly related to activities of work packages 1, 2 and 3 like:
- Training curricular for municipal staff on topics of energy poverty, the administrative role of the municipality, renewable energy sources, energy efficiency, financial instruments in the energy sector, etc.
- Good practices and pilot initiatives from project partner countries such as: Biosolar roof in Karlovac, Croatia; Nature-friendly solutions in Arrabida, Portugal; Green schoolyards in Belleville-en-Beaujol, France; Decarbonised heating in Trieste, Italy; Energy efficiency in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina; Integrated air-climate-energy planning in Lyon, France; Mobility centre in Kalamata, Greece.
The INFIRE project presentation was followed by a discussion on topics such as: creating energy communities, providing support to local authorities for sustainable energy solutions, and advising citizens on issues related to overcoming energy poverty. Considering the high percentage of the Bulgarian population at risk of energy poverty, it is important to showcase and discuss modern and innovative solutions, as well as to identify opportunities to manage them more effectively.
Presentation of the INFIRE project
