TRI-GV – The Train for change
ON 3 DECEMBER, THE NORD-PAS DE CALAIS INVITES COP21 TO CHECK OUT THE Third Industrial Revolution SOLUTION
What is the TRI-GV: the Train for change?
On 3 December, a specially chartered train will take official delegations, associations, networks of local authorities, journalists, businesses and NGOs from Le Bourget to Loos-en-Gohelle. Here, they will explore how this region is once again looking to the future and taking action with experimental reconversion policies and strategic sustainable development projects, after being so terribly affected and stigmatized by the economic, social and environmental consequences of each successive industrial crisis and the destructive effects of the carbon-based economy which has now run its course.
Drawing on its well-reputed experience in these domains, a reinforced geo-strategic situation, competitive clusters, projects for new facilities and some now very sturdy lines of business, the territory is ripe for the Third Industrial Revolution.
For the onlooker, this initiative is an opportunity to experience the plan making it possible to reach the aims of the new international agreements to combat climate change via projects, initiatives, investment and tangible results, a mere hour away from Le Bourget.
This event showcases how regions can achieve environmental and social transformation, looking ahead to a future it is shaping now for future generations.
In brief summary:
The event will take place at the “11/19” site in Loos-en-Gohelle, a former mining site now converted into an environmental cluster (www.cd2e.com, www.cerdd.org)
There will be:
– tours of structures and meetings with the local stakeholders to gain insight into the TIR in action,
– International exchange between territories wishing to embark on the TIR,
– A model TIR village: offering perspectives on new economic development models and leading change (www.rev3.fr).
To boost TIR implementation, the Nord-Pas de Calais Region has also filed an application with the Transformative Actions Program (TAP) for its vast housing refurbishment plan with an environmental, energy efficiency slant: the “Plan 100,000 logements” (100,000 Homes Plan). This is a model TIR project, aiming to refurbish 1,400,000 old homes in the Nord-Pas de Calais by 2050.
What is the “Third Industrial Revolution – TIR”?
With its history and industrial past, the Nord-Pas de Calais has one of the highest regional energy consumption rates: greenhouse gas emissions are 30% higher than the French average. 48% of these emissions are industry-related – double that of the national average. Given this backdrop, the Nord-Pas de Calais Region has adopted a Regional Climate Strategy in line with international aim of reaching Factor 4 by 2050.
In 2012, the Region launched the Third Industrial Revolution (TIR), in partnership with the Regional Chamber of Commerce and Industry. This program sets forth the contours of a new economic model for Nord-Pas de Calais by 2050: the aim is to convert a historic model geared around cheap, plentiful carbon energy (coal and oil) to a new development model geared around energy efficiency, renewable energy, storage of power and setting up a network for it, carbon-free mobility, and the circular and functional economies.
The Nord-Pas de Calais Regional Council, the Pas-de-Calais and Nord Departmental Councils, the European Metropolis in Lille, the Urban Communities of Arras and Dunkirk, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry for the North of France, the Lens-Liévin Urban Community, the Loos-en-Gohelle City Council and the Resource Centre for sustainable development are joining forces to organize an event embodied by the TRI-GV – the Train for change, on 3 December 2015, to present the TIR to delegations and decision-makers.
