APPROVE

APPROVE has tackled barriers to the development of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) such as:

• low level of knowledge in the general public,
• lack of expertise of RES proponents and civil servants dealing with permitting procedures
• issues of public opposition within approval procedures.

In line with the revised Renewable Energy Directive, APPROVE has considered awareness raising, capacity building and stakeholder participation as ways to enable and promote RES.  The project has led to the improvement of 4 Structural Funds operational programmes with the aim to promote RES development, considering investment priorities related to TO4 “Supporting the shift towards a low-carbon economy in all sectors”, and addressing regional innovation strategies for smart specialisation. The partnership is composed by 3 regional authorities, 1 regional energy entity, and a research centre (as advisory partner), covering 5 countries (Finland, France, Greece, Spain, Italy).
Through interregional cooperation, the territorial partners identify, shared and transferred good practices to improve the policy instruments. Such interregional learning process interests the partners and groups of regional stakeholders that have been involved throughout the life of the project.  The policy instruments were improved mainly through funding of new projects and a better governance, considering the following areas of action:

• awareness raising, providing general information on RES and creating a positive cultural environment;
• capacity building, to improve skills and knowledge of all the actors that may influence RES development;
• effective participation and involvement, engaging local population and relevant stakeholders from the very start of the planning process.

In addition to the Policy Learning Platform, partners seeked a knowledge exchange at EU level, eg participating to S3 Energy Partnerships events.