PREPARE for Urban Energy Resources and Closed Cycle Economy

More than 50% of the world´s population live in cities, and in some regions more than two-thirds! And this fraction is fast growing. So the transition to a new economic concept will take place in cities or it will fail. The limits of growth on earth are given by the stock (material available on earth) for matter and on flow (solar radiation) for energy. Both are interlinked since material flows need energy to drive them. The future economic system has to be one of closed cycles driven by local renewable energy. Positive Energy Quarters are strongly linked to production and consumption systems with availability in short distances and conscious consumers. So we also need a change in the consumption behavior of commercial and private consumers including the localization of investments in energy and material efficient products. The PREPARE workshop session aims at the exchange of experiences in the fields of activities related to the generation of local economic cycles and the utilization of local renewable resources for energy (presentations and discussion) and will foster the exchange of experience and future joint activities (workshop).