#17 Adrian Hiel

WHO AM I?

My name is Adrian Hiel and I want to help Wezembeek-Oppem increase its renewable energy production and reduce its consumption to save money and reduce emissions, increase home comfort, meet the climate commitments we have already made and be resilient to a rapidly changing climate to avoid costly disasters like floods. I am originally from Canada but have lived in Belgium for 20 years and in Wezembeek Oppem for the last eight. I have two little boys who are thriving at La Fermette school.

In my professional life, I represent 1000 mayors from all over Europe at the European institutions on everything related to the energy transition. Every week, I learn about the incredible things that the most amazing cities in Europe are doing to help their citizens. Did you know that the city of Eeklo produces 130% of the electricity it consumes each year and its citizens pay 40% less than the Belgian average? That Valencia, Spain uses solar energy on the city's roofs to combat energy poverty? That Leuven has a renowned depaving programme to combat flooding, high temperatures and increase biodiversity?

We can not only learn from other cities in Europe, but also collaborate on European projects. I work on many EU-funded projects (on building renovations, district heating, energy communities and more) and I know that there are several that could bring investments and improvements to Wezembeek-Oppem. For example, the EU City Facility will be relaunched in a few weeks with grants of €60,000 to develop studies of sustainability projects such as building renovations, heat networks and improved mobility.

My Motivations

My goal is simply to share the best experiences carried out in European cities, and thus make our municipality benefit from lessons learned elsewhere. There are already great lessons to be learned: HOW we do things is as important as WHAT we want to do:

  • engage honestly with citizens in co-creation and transparency

  • create a strong and dynamic administrative team at the town hall

  • work closely with other levels of government - at provincial, regional, national and European levels on common priorities to access transformative resources for the benefit of Wezembeekois.

The potential of Wezembeek Oppem is so great - I know that together we can make our commune a wonderful home for everyone from 2 to 92 years old.


My priorities

  • Increase solar energy and share it like in Porec, Croatia, and Valencia, Spain.

  • Reduce emissions by helping households transition away from gas, like in Munich, Germany.

  • Enhance climate resilience and reduce flooding by following Leuven's approach.

Our energy for our commune and our future