Affordable Housing: the issue makes its come back on the European Agenda

What can be done to avoid evictions? How can a city provide housing to the most vulnerable groups and to the young talented people? Can low-carbon housing be affordable?
Barcelona , Dupnitsa and Poznan have developed interesting initiatives to work towards “Housing for All”, looking at the social, environmental and physical aspects of housing policies.

In an excellent article on the meaning of affordable housing,Laura Colini wrote the following: “If affordable housing simply means that adequate housing should be accessible and affordable to all, -and primarily to those at risk of becoming or already less well off- its meaning remains not universally shared in public policies all over Europe… the statistics on Affordability of housing by Eurostat from November 2015 are reporting for 2014 that 11.4 % share of the EU-28 population lived in households that spent 40% or more of their “equivalised disposable income” on housing.”

Corporate Sustainability and Eco-innovations

The conference will take place on November 18-19, 2013 at the premises of the Kozminski University in Warsaw.

It will bring together scholars from a variety of disciplinary and methodological perspectives interested in advancing research on corporate sustainability and eco-innovation. It should provide a forum for business and academics to grapple with some of the most pressing problems facing businesses all over the world, and the new horizons coming from business to fill a wide range of expectations concerning sustainable development and eco-innovation.

Radisson Blu Hotel Krakow Wins Leaders of Sustainable Development Contest

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Radisson Blu hotel in Krakow has won the "Leaders of Sustainable Development" contest that was organized by Forbes Magazine in Poland. Fulfilling the criteria of eco-certification BS8901 has been revealed as one of the seven most important initiatives in Poland.

Located in the heart of the city, the Radisson Blu hotel Krakow was appreciated by the Forbes magazine for being the world's first hotel with prestigious BS 8901 Certification.

EU Polish presidency, sustainable Europe and future EU budget top the agenda of the EESC July plenary session

On 13 July, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) will debate the priorities of the EU Council Polish presidency with Waldemar Pawlak, Polish deputy prime minister and Jerzy Buzek, president of the European Parliament. Scenarios for the development of a sustainable Europe, key element of the political programme of EESC president, Staffan Nilsson, will be discussed. The following day, Janusz Lewandowski, commissioner for financial programming and budget, will comment on the EESC's recent clear position on the EU budget review.

Source: cese.europa.eu

EBRD promotes energy efficiency in Poland

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The EBRD is promoting energy efficiency in Poland with a €50 million loan to Bank BGZ and €35 million loan to Bank Millennium for on-lending to local small and medium enerprises (SMEs) undertaking sustainable energy investments.

The loans are part of the EBRD’s €150 million Poland Sustainable Energy Financing Facility (PolSEFF).



Majority owned by Rabobank, Bank BGZ is a leading bank in Poland with national outreach, focusing on small and medium companies both in big cities as well as in rural regions.
Bank Millennium, majority owned by Banco Comercial Português, is a universal bank providing a full range of lending, transaction and savings products to retail and business customers. Millennium will strengthen its focus on increasing its business in the SME segment in Poland.

The EBRD financing will support the banks in extending sustainable energy financing to SMEs operating in the manufacturing, services, retail, agri-business and other sectors.