Who wouldn't want to live more comfortably, more beautifully and... more sustainably? On August 30, during the informative event "Let's renew the city together", the residents of Vilnius heard and learned about the advantages of quarter renovation. He also spoke about the program of neighborhood territories, reducing energy consumption and the vision of the European Union – a more climate-neutral city. With this event, a series of meetings dedicated to efficient renovation began.
Although the very concept of "quarter renovation" is not easy for residents to get used to, appropriate information, workshops, and regular meetings help to dispel the fog of doubts. Together with the Vilnius City Municipality, the Public Enterprise "Atnaujinkime miestos", which has set the goal of speeding up the renewal of old city quarters, invited active community members and renovation specialists to a meeting. Before it, guests of the event took part in an online survey and noted which topics related to the renovation are currently the most relevant for them. The "Let's renew the city" program was compiled by the team based on the results of the survey.
The head of the company, Eglė Randytė, who gave a welcome speech to the gathered participants, was happy that more and more residents want to create a more beautiful and cozy city, and are interested in how to contribute to increasing the energy efficiency of apartment buildings. "The quarterly renovation program is renewed this year," she said. - Residents are encouraged to get more actively involved not only in the modernization of a specific apartment building, but also the infrastructure surrounding it. When modernizing apartment blocks that have lost their commercial appearance and are inconvenient for life, great attention is paid to yards and gray, unused areas - recreation areas, children's leisure areas, lack of parking spaces, outdated sports grounds, and waste collection points. Vilnius city municipality committed to managing the environment free of charge during the complex renovation of buildings."
Having become the ambassador of the "Shared Green Deal" project in Lithuania, the Public Enterprise "Renew the City" also drew attention to the fact that it is particularly important to constantly educate the public on the topics of effective renovation. During this event, residents learned the importance of renewable energy resources and other means of increasing energy efficiency.
"Taking into account the sustainability policy of the European Union - reduction of daily energy costs, a model of climate-neutral, more sustainable life - the renovation of blocks is a necessity," said E. Randytė - More than 1993 thousand residents live in apartment buildings built before 300. All forty-year-old buildings should be renovated. The technical condition of the buildings is deteriorating, and most of the unrenovated buildings are classified as DF energy efficiency class. This means that such houses use more energy for heating and require frequent ongoing repairs. When implementing the renovation program, we aim for apartment building managers to participate more actively, and residents to have sufficient knowledge about the entire renovation process. From A to Z,” she added.
A participant of the event, one from Subačiaus st. Rasa Saldžiūnienė, administrator of the 13-apartment building, said that she noticed a changing image of the city. "I see a lot resurrected for a second life, nice-looking apartment buildings. This shows that people strive to live more comfortably. They are not only interested in, but also implementing renovation projects. Such events are important in connecting different urban communities, keeping them properly informed about news and opportunities for effective renovation.”
Specialists and active community members who visited the event "Let's renew the city together" shared their experiences, discussed the current situation in the city and future prospects.
