Energy has become one of Europe's defining challenges. As geopolitical tensions reshape global energy markets, how can Europe strengthen its energy security while accelerating the transition to clean, locally-produced energy? In this new episode of Letter from Brussels, the Renew Europe CoR team explores inspiring local initiatives from across Europe that are making energy sovereignty a reality.
Starting with community-led wind energy projects in Taurage, Lithuania, and an innovative thermal energy storage in Tallinn, Estonia, discover how local leaders around Europe are driving the green transition on the ground.
The episode also looks at the role of new technologies, Europe's path towards greater energy independence, and finishes with a fun quiz testing the team's knowledge of renewable energy in the Brussels-Capital Region. Listen, like and share this episode, wherever you get your podcasts. 

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Drones have been featuring a lot as killing machines in the news recently, but as with every technology, it's how humans choose to use it that makes the difference. In this episode of Letter from Brussels, the Renew Europe CoR team brings you stories from around the European Union which show how drones are being used in amazing ways to save lives. And the fact that drones can be so useful is changing not just how we think of our cities and local communities, but even how we map them. Welcome to the future! Listen, like and share this episode, wherever you get your podcasts.

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Join us on a journey to Oulu in the Finnish Arctic, and to Molenbeek in Brussels to discover the transformative power of European Capital of Culture. Discover how culture in its broadest sense gives new life to abandoned physical spaces, creates new paths for people and local communities, and reveals the European dimension of citizens' identity.

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New format, new voices! We're relaunching the Letter from Brussels podcast, brought to you by the Renew Europe group in the European Committee of the Regions. The series returns with a new format and a broader range of voices, while continuing its original mission: to share stories from the European Union's capital and to highlight the local leaders transforming communities across the Union.The first new episode, The Art of Deterrence, takes listeners to the Latvian city of Liepāja, where Mayor Gunārs Ansiņš is leading efforts that will help strengthen Europe’s defence capabilities. With a major NATO port development project underway, Liepāja is becoming a strategic hub in the Baltic Sea - a reminder that resilience and security are shared European goals that begin in our towns and regions. By combining projects led by liberal and democrat subnational leaders with developments at the EU level, the Letter from Brussels podcast aims to bring you closer to the issues shaping Europe’s future. By bringing in policy experts and the leaders themselves, each month we’ll explore a different local story and connect it to the bigger European picture.

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Why the increasing cost of housing is becoming a European problem; why the people of Saint-Omer in France were grateful to see the flags of the Netherlands, Slovakia and Czechia arriving in their town; how bureaucratic barriers along our Union’s internal borders still make life difficult for 130 million Europeans; the Mayor of Mariupol gives a timely reminder of what might happen elsewhere, if Europe doesn’t continue supporting Ukraine, and what had I done to make an elderly man of Brussels so angry? This Letter also features a special message from European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, and the voices of the Vice-President of the Hauts-de-France region François Decoster, the former mayor of the Estonian town of Rakvere Andres Jaadla, and the Deputy Mayor of the French city of Nice Magali Altounian. 

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In this Letter:

• what the climb up to a medieval tower in the Flemish city of Mechelen reveals;
• what Jacques Delors said when the HQ of the European Committee of the Regions was named after him 17 years before he died;
• the liberal city taking over the European Capital of Culture title in 2024;
• the renovation of the vast site in Brussels that used to house the imperial postal service and Europe's largest railway station for goods;
• the inspiring interpreter at the RenewPAC summit in Dakar, Senegal, and the urgent geopolitical need to develop a partnership between Europe and Africa at all levels of government and society;
• how the Mayor of Mechelen is connecting his citizens with the European dimension of their identity, and how local leaders can help to boost voter turnout at the European elections of June 2024.

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• The Theatre of the indigenous Sami people in the Arctic city of Kiruna, and what it stands for in this area of vital economic interests for the EU;
• The innovative School of Politics for Young People of the Finnish Arctic city of Oulu;
• Why reconstruction of Ukrainian cities cannot wait till the war is over;
• The 15th anniversary of the opening of a key street in the divided Cypriot city of Nicosia;
• The plans to revamp the Cinquantenaire Park in Brussels ahead of Belgium's 200 years of independence; and
• The scandal in a Brussels puppet theatre that had the audience shouting for the curtain to drop.

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The extraordinary scenes of President Zelenskyy's visit to the European Parliament.
How the city of Timisoara is going digital.
How EU regions and cities are helping the victims of the earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria.
Why wolves are causing a fierce debate about subsidiarity.
The message for Europe from a Ukrainian refugee.
The 80th anniversary of the attack by three young men from Brussels on a convoy taking Jewish deportees to Auschwitz.

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A special edition of Letter from Brussels, episode 10 brings you a few predictions for 2023 in key policy areas, including an analysis of the recent scandal which has rocked the EU, and a journey back to the Brussels of 1908 discovering how events in that year still echo in the present day.

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The 9th Letter from Brussels takes you west to the middle of the Atlantic with the new President of the European Committee of the Regions; south to one of the EU’s land borders with Africa; and north to the Arctic, which has become of great interest to China. Plus, why the new female vice-presidents of Renew Europe in the CoR are political leaders you need to follow. And the story of the antique car in Brussels which could have helped change the course of climate history.
Pictures of the antique car and Sean's recent visit to the Brussels Autoworld Museum can be found at www.reneweurope-cor.eu/podcast

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