In the first edition of This is Europe, Shahidha Bari hears from members of the Interreg community who are creating a greener Europe.
Shahidha hops on her bike to take a tour of Steffen Nozon’s hometown of Rostock in northern Germany. Steffen, an avid cyclist, is a mobility manager transforming his local area into green, car-free ‘living streets’. Meeting local residents on her bike ride, Shahidha also hears from Stefanie Maack, communications officer for Interreg, who explains that Rostock is just one of 10 cities working together to reimagine transport networks in their respective communities.
To meet the EU’s 2050 target of carbon neutrality, millions of homes need to be renovated to be greener, smarter and more energy efficient. Thanks to Interreg, small housing associations across the EU are working together to achieve this ambitious goal. To find out more, Shahidha speaks to Rutger Vrielink, manager of strategy and innovation at the Domijn housing association in Enschede, Netherlands.
John Drysdale is an arable farmer on the Balgonie estate in Fife, Scotland. As a self-described shooter, forester and conservationist, John has always been interested in biodiversity. Taking us on a tour of his land, John explains what motivates him to work with Interreg and 10 other farms in five countries to encourage the grey partridge to thrive - a bird which is seen as a reliable indicator of biodiversity. Working with John is Fiona Torrance, from the Game and Wildlife Trust, who has developed a novel way to count the partridges - armed with a mobile phone and a bluetooth speaker.
Participating programmes: Interreg Baltic Sea Region, and Interreg North-Sea Region
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