François Lejeune, supra-municipal coordinator of POLLEC within the intermunicipal in BW, successfully brought together 20 municipalities in the Walloon Brabant region through the Futureproofed platform. The objective: to help them reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030 and support their commitment to the Covenant of Mayors. Discover this success story!
After issuing a call for proposals in late 2019, the intermunicipal In BW entrusted Futureproofed with the mission of providing the municipalities in Walloon Brabant with a digital carbon management platform to support local Energy-Climate (POLLEC) policies. A few months later, François Lejeune joined the team. His role: to coordinate their actions and assist them in the concrete implementation of projects in energy efficiency and renewable energy production.
Achieving Goals with Futureproofed
That's when he discovered Futureproofed. "The platform could help municipalities collaborate and learn from each other, while tracking their progress online. Moreover, it provided me with an overview of the measures and actions implemented across the entire territory," says François Lejeune with enthusiasm.
Quickly, he met Julie Colback, City Climate Coach at Futureproofed, who provided advice and introduced him to experts. "A perfect start: as I was the first to occupy this position, she helped me organize my meetings. This way, I could train myself and move towards my goals."
The Futureproofed platform allows us to collaborate, learn from each other, and track our progress online.
- François Lejeune, supra-municipal coordinator at In BW
How to Improve Tool Utilization?
While François was quickly convinced by the digital tool developed by Futureproofed, he noticed that municipalities rarely used it. "I conducted a satisfaction survey to better understand their opinions. I wanted to implement an action plan to improve the platform's usage. Of the 18 responding municipalities, only 6 reported using it once a week.
Others suffered from a lack of time and qualified personnel. Some preferred working with the POLLEC Excel and Excel reporting function. Finally, a minority showed no interest in the climate plan. Futureproofed then did an excellent job ensuring that the platform fully complied with the guidelines of the Walloon Region. Simultaneously, thanks to new subsidies, each municipality was able to hire its own climate manager."
Enriching Partnership
Determined to make progress, François launched a new public tender for the next 2 years and decided to rely on the platform to develop a strong community of exchanges.
François justifies his choice: "So far, our partnership has been very enriching. Futureproofed's employees were flexible and attentive, actively leveraging their network. And most importantly, their expertise in their tool was remarkable."
Excellent Planning Tool
In the end, Futureproofed was selected again. François: "Futureproofed is an excellent planning tool that provides a diagnosis of energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. The Walloon Region already provides raw data for a sectoral analysis of emissions in each territory, allowing us to immediately start developing a plan and easily track projects. Additionally, it also offers budgetary indicators.
Another advantage is the library of pre-existing measures and actions that provide data, a brief description, and possibly a photo. For municipalities planning their entire climate plan on this tool, adding an action takes only 3 clicks. They can also communicate through a public page for their brand image and facilitate social media usage. A win for the municipality that can tell its citizens, 'Look, we are progressing towards our goal.'"
By offering advice and expert support, Futureproofed develops a unique and human approach to climate.
- François Lejeune, supra-municipal coordinator at In BW
A Carbon Management Platform, But Not Only...
To support municipalities, the supra-municipal coordinator initiates monthly thematic meetings with experts, workshops to regularly review ongoing projects and implemented initiatives, and regular Teams calls to exchange experiences.
"Futureproofed thus offers a unique and human approach by providing advice and expert support, helping coordinators understand each measure, whether carbon-related or financial, their evolution, and CO2 gains.
When a new collaborator arrives in a municipality, training is organized to show them how to use the tool. Additionally, they are invited to an online meeting every month to discuss various aspects of the tool, such as reporting, working with citizens, and communicating their energy-climate plan.
Finally, every year, Futureproofed organizes an in-person seminar where everyone can discuss tool improvements. And if a collaborator encounters a problem, they receive immediate support through live chat."
Healthy Competition Among Municipalities
"healthy competition" has emerged within our community. Now, coordinators observe what is happening elsewhere to get inspired and say:
"Hey, that's a good idea, it could work for us." For example, visits to exemplary energy consumption houses organized in Lasne inspired the municipality of Ramillies to implement a similar project.
"So our collaborative work is a step in the right direction, and I hope that when the next call for proposals comes, all our municipalities in Walloon Brabant will commit together," concludes François. "It's true, it's not easy to act for the climate. That's why I want to show that it's possible to have fun while being responsible. So, have fun!"
