The project ‘Green neighborhood a community-based approach to achieving energy efficiency’ celebrated on Thursday 27^th April its closing ceremony with the presence of the European Union ambassador to Israel, Lars Faaborg – Andersen in Eilat. More than 500 persons gathered at the Mitse Yam School –one of the beneficiary institutions of the programme, to celebrate the achievements in energy efficiency brought by the installation of LED bulbs, presence detectors and smart meters.

The objective of the Eilat municipality through this project funded by the European Union (EU) was to “increase the capacity to develop and promote smart solutions to the city’s environmental challenges and energy consumption”. To achieve this proposition, the neighbourhood of Mizpe Yam was selected as a pilot district to implement the project initiatives.

Through the EU funding, Eilat’s municipality has changed 800 light-fixtures into LED bulbs. This change has allowed the district of Mizpe Yam to reduce in a 50 % the energy consumption. The beneficiaries of this initiative have been 6 kindergartens, one primary school, a public park, a synagogue.  Smart metering systems have been distributed for 900 households in the mentioned district. This technology has allowed the neighbours to manage energy consumption in a more efficient and smart way.  

One of the most important outputs of this EU initiative is the aim of the municipality to change into LED systems the whole municipality street public lighting, according to Assaf Admon, the Director of Eilat Environmental Unit.

SUDEP-South project started its activities in early 2015 over 12 cities in 6 countries of the southern Mediterranean. The overall objective of the SUDEP Programme is to assist local authorities on responding to sustainable energy challenges.

The specific objective is to enable local authorities to implement sustainable energy actions leading to energy savings, energy efficiency and more use of renewable energy sources as solar energy.

A Support Mechanism (SUDEP-South SM) has been established and operated to:

• Assist local authorities  and reinforce their capacities  and their partners in the implementation of their demonstration projects.
• Promote the replication of innovative actions and the visibility of the programme’s results.
• Create the enabling environment for the exchange of good practices between projects beneficiaries
• Develop their own local strategies to ensure widespread dissemination and sustainability of their projects.