Kaunas is the second largest city and the most important industrial centre in Lithuania, located at the confluence of the two largest rivers of the country, Nemunas and Neris. The city’s leadership treat the issue of RES and EE as one of the most important priorities and signing the Covenant of Mayors demonstrates this well. 

 

Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) is the largest technical university in the Baltic States. Being one of the most dynamic centres for higher education in Lithuania, KTU is often regarded as a research and study leader in various fields. KTU's mission is to: contribute to building up the global university community, become a leading Lithuanian scientific institution, participate in the development of information and knowledge society, and pursue excellence through diversity. The Institute of Environmental Engineering (APINI) is an integrated part of KTU. Since its establishment in 1991, it has been working as a multidisciplinary research institute, its international reputation spanning over two decades. APINI has an experience in research and implementation of environmental management systems, cleaner production, integrated waste management, environmental performance evaluation, chemical risk assessment and management as well as energy efficiency and renewable energy sources.

 

The main role of the Kaunas University of technology, Institute of Environmental Engineering in RENERGY will be to provide key knowledge to the partners in order to define and implement methods that can assess a status of countries regarding energy efficiency and utilization of RES. 

 

The institution has been involved in projects related to energy efficiency in public buildings and in industries. Based on its experience in interregional projects and cooperation with authorities in order to reach a wider public awareness on EE and RES issues, KTU wishes to contribute to the project by coordinating the thematic pillar Community Involvement of RENERGY. This will involve setting up and coordinating the TG composed by experts of the PPs, defining a working protocol and other instruments and continuously monitoring and supporting the TG’s work through sharing and transferring KTU’s experience coming from research in the relevant areas. KTU also wishes to benefit from the intensified knowledge transfer developed by the project as well as the opportunity to elaborate concrete plans for the region and the city of Kaunas in particular, based on relevant European experience.