Lyon and Bergen focus on Local Energy Transition through a Twinning activity

Within the framework of the Arqus Twinning “Quality of Learning” programme, the University of Lyon 3 hosted a group of students and teachers from the University of Bergen from 13 June to 17 June 2022.

The “Arqus Twinning“ short mobility programme aims to strengthen the collaboration of students and academic staff around teaching and learning activities and through short mobility programmes (a teacher moves with a group of students to a consortium partner). Through this initiative, the Alliance aims to contribute to solutions to societal challenges and to move towards deeper European integration.

This partnership with the Law Faculty of the Universities of Bergen and Lyon 3, focused on local energy transitions. The exchange programme was planned by Etienne DURAND, Senior Lecturer in Public Law at the University of Lyon 3, and Ignacio Herrera Anchustegui, Associate Professor and Eirik Finseraas, PhD Candidate, at the University of Bergen. During two weeks in Bergen and then in Lyon, the participating students were invited to attend lectures, workshops and visits to institutions and sites related to the energy transition.

In Bergen, the students discovered the work of Equinor in Kokstad and the research on hydrogen as an energy resource at the Western Norwegian University of Applied Sciences. The students were also invited on an excursion to Osterøy, where Småkraft presented the operation of small hydroelectric power plants. In addition to these informative visits, the students participated in lectures and presented their own research projects at Dragefjellet Law School.

In Lyon, a similar programme allowed students to discover how urban planning can be adapted to climate change, how environmental data is collected at weather stations and how suburban communities come together to design local energy communities. In addition to in-depth visits to energy-related communities in and outside Lyon, the students participated in interdisciplinary conferences at the Palais de l’Université, where they also presented the progress of their own research projects.

Various seminars were organised as well as several visits, notably to the Col de Porte weather station and to the Melchior Coworking space in Charly.

Discover the work of the students through a video they realised here!