The main item on the agenda was a presentation focused on the European projects PUSH-IT and SYNERGYS. The PUSH-IT project focuses on technologies for underground thermal energy storage, while SYNERGYS focuses on interconnecting various renewable energy sources and efficient energy sharing.
For many city secretaries, these topics offered a completely new perspective on urban energy self-sufficiency. “It was an interesting lecture because geothermal energy is still uncommon here,” one participant shared. Another added that the presentation provided crucial insight into synergies and energy sharing: “Underground storage is an interesting idea. It’s clear that research is already being put into practice, and we’re really looking forward to that.”
The participants did not hide their surprise at the scope and ambitions of the RINGEN center. “Logically, I would expect something like this in Scandinavia, Iceland, or New Zealand, but I wouldn’t expect it in the Czech Republic, and certainly not on such a scale,” one participant remarked during the discussion. In their view, the entire project gives Litoměřice a European dimension. Although the project is still in the research phase in many respects, municipal representatives see a clear future for it.
The Association of Municipal Secretaries is a professional organization founded in 2005. It serves as a platform for the exchange of experiences and data among local governments and currently has 83 members. One of the key activities is so-called benchmarking in public administration—an initiative that emerged “from the bottom up” out of the need for cities to compare their costs, performance, investments, and number of employees. As the participants themselves noted, benchmarking gives them a clear picture of how specific municipalities are actually faring.
We believe that the visit to RINGEN was inspiring for the association’s members and useful for their future work.
