Renewat 2nd Interregional meeting in Vilnius, Lithuania
On the 12th and 13th of March, the second RENEWAT Interregional Meeting took place in Vilnius, Lithuania, hosted by VMU (Vytautas Magnus University) at the picturesque Belmontas Mill. For the second time, project representatives from France, Lithuania, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Poland, and Ukraine gathered in person, while others joined remotely to contribute to the discussions.
The first day of the meeting began with an insightful workshop focusing on the science behind small hydropower, led by Egidijus Kasiulis from VMU. The session began with a presentation of the Belmontas Mill, which was built 150 years ago and has recently been reconstructed. Located on the Vilnia River in the Pavilniai Regional Park, the site was listed as an ecologically and culturally valuable river stretch. The mill also includes a fish pass, and its dam was listed as national cultural heritage in 2017.
The workshop continued with discussions on hydropower production issues around the world and in Europe, as well as the different types of instream barriers existing in Europe, such as dams, weirs, sluices, and culverts. It was highlighted that in the 27 EU Member States, around 25,000 small hydropower plants provide renewable electricity to approximately 13 million households each year. Hydropower was finally compared to other renewables, emphasizing its strengths in terms of environmental impacts, operational life, capacity, load hours, and energy payback ratio.
This first session set the stage for the day and was followed by each project partner presenting updates on their country’s completed baseline studies. They shared valuable insights and set the groundwork for the benchmarking discussions that followed. The afternoon was finally dedicated to a pilot action workshop, where participants explored good practice examples.
The second day started with an administrative workshop, where partners reviewed the reporting process from the first semester and discussed financial matters. This was followed by a brief communication session focusing on enhancing the project’s outreach and engagement strategies.
During the afternoon, all the partners visited a local watermill (Liubavas Manor Watermill-Museum) gaining hands-on insight into the challenges and opportunities associated with small hydropower restoration. In 2012, the Liubavas Manor Watermill-Museum was recognised as one of the best examples of the preservation of European cultural heritage. It has been awarded the European Union Cultural Heritage Prize and the Europa Nostra Award for quality restoration. The Liubavas Manor is home to the only watermill in Lithuania that contains completely restored equipment as well as modern-day water turbine.
After two days of productive discussions, workshops, and field visits, the RENEWAT partners left Vilnius with renewed enthusiasm and a commitment to the project’s goals. The meeting strengthened interregional collaboration and provided fresh inspiration for the next steps as the project’s 3 semester will soon begin!