In this interview, the lead project manager of CSSC Lab, Marko Cavar from North-West Croatia Regional Energy Agency, will share his impressions on the project to date.

Marko, the project started almost a year ago. Has everything worked out as expected?

Indeed, we have managed to stick to the planned schedule in most cases thanks to our close cooperation with the Work Package leaders.  As planned, the demo labs in Austria and Bulgaria have been launched and those in Croatia and Slovenia will be opened shortly with a slight delay. They will demonstrate how CSSC technologies can be applied in a real-life municipal context in smaller cities in the Danube Region.  These will then be shared on our live Platform, which we have been working hard on developing!

Otherwise, as expected, the regional analyses on CSSC potential have been conducted, as has the benchmark study on the status quo of CSSC implementation across Danubian partner regions. In addition, a significant number of good practices within the Danube region have been identified as planned and are about to be published! We have also finalised the CSSC matrix with the different city types and corresponding CSSC technological solutions, which was later used to develop 6 model solutions.  

Are you satisfied with how the project is going and what has been one of the main successes of the project so far?

In general, I am very satisfied with how the project is going and there aretwo aspects, which really stand out as successes. First of all, the launch of the demo sites in Austria and Bulgaria, which will serve as lighthouse projects for the region and secondly, the large database of information collected on CSSC technologies in the area where we are working.  I am confident that both of these activities will greatly contribute to promoting CSSC technologies in the region in the long-term!

What areas still need improvement?

Given that the project consortium is made up of 17 partners working in varying contexts, project implementation will have to be adapted to the realities on the ground a bit more. The initial proposal did take this into account but we need even more room for manoeuvre than initially planned because the local circumstances do differ substantially.

Why do you think such projects are important for the Danube Region?

Such projects are very important because they make it possible for a large number of partners to work together across many countries allowing for knowledge transfer and joint learning experiences while still taking into account the diverse local and regional contexts. We really see a lot of potential for replication, which is really important too!

What are the most interesting and exciting activities to be expected in the upcoming 12 months?

In the upcoming period we will focus on regional action planning and the capacity building programme (events) where stakeholders will be included in a large number of workshops, webinars and trainings. These activities will tackle the current legislative situation, the perception of CSSC and the benefits of its integration. Specified model solutions and assessment tools will in drafted and tested for quick-check calculations. Moreover, we will launch the Croatian and the Slovenian demo centres and document this on our Platform!