The leadership of the Ministry of Environment and Energy held a working meeting with KEDE’s board as part of the state’s dialogue with local government.
The meeting, held in the “Stefanos Manos” conference room, was attended on behalf of the ministry by Minister Stavros Papastavrou, Deputy Ministers Marilena Soukouli and Nikos Tsafos, and Secretaries-General Petros Varelidis, Evangelos Kyriazopoulos, Despina Paliarouta, Manolis Grafakos and Stathis Stathopoulos. KEDE was represented by its president and mayor of Ampelokipoi-Menemeni, Lazaros Kyrizoglou; its first vice-president and mayor of Vari-Voula-Vouliagmeni, Grigoris Konstantellos; its second vice-president and mayor of Agrinio, Giorgos Pap anastasiou; a member of KEDE’s Executive Committee and mayor of Karystos, Lefteris Raviolos; and former Thessaloniki mayor Konstantinos Zervas.
Minister Stavros Papastavrou welcomed KEDE’s board, stressing that “pooling resources and constructive cooperation between the government and local government are crucial to delivering meaningful solutions that improve citizens’ quality of life. Municipalities know the needs of their local communities first-hand.” The ministry’s issues, particularly those concerning energy, urban planning and the environment, were discussed in detail in a positive atmosphere. Mr Papastavrou briefed the board on securing funding for and implementing the Phoebus-Athena and Electra programmes to improve the energy efficiency of public buildings, as well as on the redesign of the Apollo programme to help local authorities save energy. It was also agreed that working groups involving KEDE would be set up to work through the institutional aspects of specific issues and accelerate the necessary measures.