INTERNATIONAL SOLAR CITY INITIATIVE  - ISCI
ISCI is a organization for sustainable action in the urban energy sector world-wide.
It is a partnership between concerned cities and researches in climate research, renewable energy,
and urban design.
The emphasis is on total city energy planning, based on a per capita emissions target for atmos-
pheric sustainability by 2050.

OBJECTIVES
• Providing a forum for the exchange of scientific and technical knowledge
• Assisting member cities in the coordination of global emission targets with other social, economic 
  and environmental goals
• Encourage cities to parcitipate in new business opportunities created through the use of advance
  emissions reduction techniques

International Solar Cities conferences
Korea 2004
Oxford 2006
Adelaide/Australien 17.-21. februar 2008: www.solarcitiescongress.com.au

More info about ISCI: www.martinot.info/solarcities.htm


THE EUPOPEAN SOLAR CITY INITIATIVE - ESCI
ESCI is an umbrella organisation for different actions in the city energy sector. It acts as a forum for setting up consortia, lobbying, resources and mutual support. From the initiative will spring different projects to be handed in to the European Commission or other organisations. The aim is the large-scale integration of sustainable energy sources into city planning and urban concepts, to transform European cities into solar cities.

The goal of the Initiative is to support the European energy and climate policy by stimulating the interests of European "high performance" cities and surrounding regions, the European research community and the European sustainable energy industry. The objective is to increase the rational use of energy (RUE) and the percentage of renewable energies sources (RES) in the European supply mix.

The Initiative therefore aims at:
Mobilizing actors in the city area to accept ambitious goals.
Increasing communication among different actors in the city energy sector.
Integrating Eastern European organisations in the important field of energy in cities.
Providing information as a basis on which city representatives can take decisions for ambitious activities.

ESCI Objectives
The aim of the initiative is to support the European energy and climate policy by stimulating the interests of European "high performance" cities and surrounding regions (prospective "Solar Cities"), the European research community and the European sustainable energy industry.
The Initiative will mobilise a critical mass of participants to find efficient and rapid ways to implement RES and RUE in European cities through research, development, demonstration and information dissemination activities and through stakeholder participation (citizen and others). The goal is to speed up the transformation of the European cities into Solar Cities.

Initiative Approach
ESCi will build on the work of existing research, development and demonstration collaborations. It aims to reflect some of the work presently carried out in the cities in Europe by community representatives, urban planners, utilities, energy agencies, end users and industry. 

Some of the concrete goals that were defined can be summarized:

To lower greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 to an amount equal to the partner's 1990 population level (or nominal equivalent) multiplied by 3.3 tons CO2 (scientifically defined as a globally sustainable level),
To identify near- and medium-term milestones for greenhouse gas reductions according to a schedule for the years 2005 to 2050, and

To identify corresponding improvements in the following indicators: (i) transformation of energy production to solar and other renewable systems; (ii) reduced energy consumption; (iii) reduced consumption of natural resources; (iv) protection and improvement of urban environmental quality; (v) improvement of social equity and access; and (vi) improved quality of life.

More info about ESCI: www.eu-solarcities.org