Vila Nova de Gaia (PT)

Vila Nova de Gaia is situated on the left bank of the Douro River and is linked to Porto via the Arrábida, D. Luis, Freixo and S. João bridges. Gaia is the largest municipality of the Porto district (171 km²), with a population of 280,000 inhabitants. It is strategically located between the two largest congress centers in the country: "Exponor" (Matosinhos) to the North and "Europarque" (Santa Maria da Feira) to the South. Gaia is the Port Wine capital of Portugal and is renowned for its commercial and industrial importance. In 1999 Gaia’s municipality founded ENERGAIA - Energy Management Agency of Gaia - who promote the rational use of energy and renewable energy leading to a better quality of life for the citizens.

Website:_ www.energaia.pt/belief

  Our LIEF

In the Forum all local actors work together and develop a Sustainable Energy Action Plan. Its idea is the cooperation of as many partners as possible in order to have various inputs which have an influence on the work of the Forum.

  Our Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP)

It marks the main work of the Forum. Its aim is to bring sustainability into the city by formulating an action plan which was developed by all local actors which took part in the Forum.

Items	Documents
Action Plan(s)	SEAP Matriz Energetica
Sectors covered	Transport; Households; Industry and Services
Main actions / projects foreseen	Shining example Portuguese version
Targets in % or absolute figures	Reduce the specific consumption per inhabitant to 50% of the national average- Plus 1% RES per year  Minus 30% consumption of public lighting  Minus 20% CO2 until 2020

  Communication and dissemination material

This part describes the way how the communities promote the actions concerning BELIEF. It aims at informing a wider public in order to raise awareness on sustainable development among them.
Furthermore it is the most visible part of the project for the citizens and should not be underestimated.

  Implementation

Implementation means further results of the BELIEF project, which are fixed by the adoption of local regulations and the signature of local voluntary commitments / agreements.