Mirela Petrar: A Green Energy Activist
Mirela Petrar, Lead Partner in the new URBACT project URBENENERGY, tells us what motivates her in making her city—Avrig, Romania—a testing ground for renewable energies. She is a team leader with a taste for challenge and a strong environmental awareness, and she is convinced that local initiatives can serve as the basis for a model of development on a national, and why not a European, level.
What could possibly have led this graduate in construction techniques and industrial design to spend the last two years devoted to renewable energy? Mirela Petrar, who is more familiar with action than with analysing her own motivations, takes a moment to think, then ends up admitting: "certainly my penchant for ecology, a love of Beauty and a determination to improve life in the community in some tangible way."
Mirela Petrar is responsible for urban planning in the Municipality of Avrig, a city with 16,000 inhabitants located in the centre of Romania. She loves everything that is constructive and concrete: "you can build great projects even with the smallest things. What is important is that everyone acts at their own level." She applies this principle on a daily basis. "During the entire Communist period, Romania had no environmental policy. Today, our industrial tissue is partially abandoned and we have to make sure these sites get cleaned up, recycle what can be reused and, above all, turn them into 'sustainable' areas that are once again productive for the community," she explains.
Mirela Petrar is convinced that "cities that do not jump on the green energy bandwagon will be pushed to the sidelines in the future." So when Avrig's new mayor, elected in 2007, presented his project to make the city a cutting-edge centre for renewable energy in 2020 and self-sufficient by 2030 for electricity and heating, it immediately attracted her.
"I like challenges, but I above all, I love working with challengers, which is the case with the municipal team." In the past two years, Mirela has been part of the team that is exploring the broad field of renewable energy, including biomass, biogas, photovoltaic solar energy, and hydroelectric power. "It is a very innovative model, the first of its kind in Romania."
The project, approved by the municipal council, also aims to revitalize two former industrial zones, part of which will focus on renewable energy and waste recycling. This energy program contributes to integrated urban development because it will create a new employment basin, reduce local taxes, and make the city more attractive to investors.
This same municipal team decided to get involved in URBACT by proposing the URBENENERGY project, with Avrig as Lead Partner. URBANENERGY, which was selected as part of URBACT's new projects launched last November, also includes the cities of Pyrgos (Greece), Dve Mogili (Bulgaria), and Tulin (Austria), along with the county of Durham (United Kingdom). URBENENERGY has a motto—promoting efficient sustainable urban energy environments—and a concrete goal—creating integrated frameworks for improving energy efficiency and optimal use of renewable energy resources. "My first reaction when I heard Avrig’s name at the URBACT annual conference in Stockholm was one of great pride. I had the feeling that at our level, we can play a European role," Mirela Petrar recounts. Today, this is the ambition that guides her in her mission as URBENERGY's Lead Partner.
She feels, somewhat amused, that this role fits her "like a glove." "You know, I love leading teams and, above all, I know how to make others feel confident, which is a prerequisite for exploring new models of urban development."