In Nova Varos on December 15th, a conference "Good Energy of the Zlatibor District" was held marking the beginning of preparation of a regional energy plan. The conference was organized by Belgrade Open School and RES Foundation in cooperation with Regional Development Agency Zlatibor, in order to gather stakeholders which are important for the local energy policy of the Zlatibor district.

Energy efficiency, biomass as the main energy potential of the region, sustainable management and linkage of all elements of the good energy production cycle were the topics of the conference. Mr. Dimitrije Paunovic, head of the Zlatibor district administration and Mr. Radoslav Vasiljevic, president of the municipality of Nova Varos opened the conference in front of representatives of the municipalities of the Zlatibor region, civil society organizations and the economic sector. In the introductory remarks, they emphasized the importance of rational and sustainable energy management at the local level, as well as potentials for the use of renewable and locally available energy sources in the Zlatibor district. As an example of importance and potential for savings in municipal budgets, Mr. Vasiljevic said that during the previous winter, Nova Varos was forced to spend close to one million dinars for energy products, due to extremely low temperatures.

Aleksandar Macura, program director of the RES Foundation, pointed out the importance of networking and sharing of resources among all actors as a very important step in sustainable energy management. This approach will enable all local self-government units, even those that do not have resources and capacities, to establish energy management in their territories, achieve significant savings in their budgets, reduce the rate of energy poverty and provide their citizens with more comfortable, healthier and better quality living conditions.

Belgrade Open School has worked in the Zlatibor region for quite some time and therefore recognizes the potential in this region to improve energy efficiency and the use of good, locally accessible and safe energy. Mirjana Jovanović, from Belgrade Open School, illustrated the region's commitment to energy management by the fact that almost all local self-governments that have to follow the energy management system have either appointed an energy manager or are at the end of the process. On the other hand, at the republic level, less than a fifth of local self-government units have completed this process.

Slavko Lukić, director of the Regional Development Agency Zlatibor, pointed out the potential of energy management as a drive for the local economy. Funds allocated by towns and municipalities each year for importing energy-generating products create the region's foreign trade deficit. If instead of mazut, coal and imported gas, locally available biomass was used, these funds would remain in the local economy and would be used for other purposes that would improve the living conditions of citizens. In addition to this, he also pointed out the health benefits of this approach, as greater use of biomass would reduce the use of the dirtiest fossil fuels that each year during the heating season cause drastic air pollution and damage the health of citizens.

Nikola Vujović and Željko Zečević, energy managers of Vrbas, presented the achievements of their energy management system that they established in 2009. They pointed out the importance of collecting data on energy use, establishing a reliable and up-to-date database and planning energy measures to attract resources from foreign funds for energy efficiency projects.

Vojo Djokovic, energy manager of Uzice, announced the future plans and determination of Uzice to continue and improve its energy efficiency policy. Djokovic also pointed out that Uzice has a big problem with local air pollution due to the large number of fireplaces, relief topography of relief and and therefore for this reason, its citizens have numerous health problems.

Sasa Vasilic, vice president of Priboj municipality, presented the results of this municipality in the field of energy efficiency and renewable energy sources. Among the most important projects he mentioned the heating transition of four public buildings to biomass and using energy efficient LED lighting for public lighting. In this way, the municipality saved about 6 million dinars from annual bill for public lighting,  reduced CO2 emissions by about 500t per year and air pollution, opened new green jobs. Vasilic also presented future plans and expressed the commitment of municipality of Priboj to be an energy independent municipality, which uses locally accessible, affordable and clean energy.

Djordje Marić, a forestry engineer, presented the results of research on the efficiency of wood biomass consumption in the Zlatibor district households, conducted by GIZ. The research has shown that about 90% of households in the region use biomass as an energy source, but that consumption efficiency is highly questionable. The main reasons for this are inefficient devices, untimely purchase and inadequate preparation of firewood.

Milos Radojevic, senior environmental advisor at RDA Zlatibor, announced the development of the Sustainalbe Energy and Climate Action Plan, Covenant of Mayors in the Zlatibor region. Some of the activities are preparation of the regional strategic-planning document, establishment of regional energy management and establishment of the Regional Working Group for energy of the Zlatibor region.

The Conference "Good energy of the Zlatibor district" was held as one of the activities of Network of Good Energy organized by Belgrade Open School, RES Foundation and Regional Development Agency Zlatibor, with the support of Heinrich Böll Foundation and Rockefeller Brothers Fund.

You can see the report by TV Forum from Prijepolje about the conference "Good Energy of the Zlatibor District" here.

Author of the photos: Belgrade Open School