When: 20 October 2026 – 10:00-16:00 EEST
Where: Sofia, Bulgaria
This is the final conference of the project “Beyond the smoke: Building support for clean heating measures in Europe”. The event included presentations of key findings from work conducted across several European cities and will facilitated knowledge-sharing and dialogue among EU stakeholders, city representatives, and civil society actor on remaining gaps, scalable solutions and best practices to improve air quality and decarbonisation.
During the last 12 months, IEEP, in partnership with Clean Air Fund, has investigated the social aspects around the design and implementation of Low Emission Zones (LEZ) and associated measures for the heating sector in Europe.
The work conducted by IEEP includes:
- A compendium of policy approaches addressing solid fuel use in EU Member States;
- Four case studies about Sofia—the first EU city to introduce a residential heating LEZ- Utrecht, Krakow and Madrid;
- A synthesis report analysing current status, progress, upcoming challenges and potential solutions in the sector.
- The final event, held in Sofia, Bulgaria, seeks to promote the uptake of socially fair residential heating interventions to improve air quality and climate neutrality at city level.
By showcasing evidence and best practices from the project (including the final report, the four city case studies and the compendium), the event will enable participants to exchange experiences, identify policy gaps, reflect on lessons learned and discuss challenges in implementing EU frameworks.
A panel of experts from European institutions, research, business, and clean heating networks will share insights from their own work, followed by an interactive discussion with the audience. CSOs, local authorities, foundations and citizens’ organisations will get a clearer understanding, increase their awareness and improve engagement on how to foster acceptance and uptake of fair and better climate, energy, and air quality policies.
Conference material
- Pictures
- Presentation
- Recording of the conference
- PART 1 – Welcome by Chiara Antonelli (IEEP), Vassil Terziev (Mayor of Sofia), Cecilia Vaca Jones (Breathe Cities) and Session 1: Presentation of main findings by Chiara Antonelli (IEEP)
- PART 2 – Session 2: Deep dive into city case studies by Irene Chiocchetti (IEEP) and Dialogue with Marin Marinov – Director of Sofia Air Quality Department
- PART 3 – Panel session moderated by Raya Lecheva with Assoc. Prof. Angel Burov (University of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy), Antoniya Novakova (EnEffect) and Joel Boehme (Clean Heat Europe, European Heat Pump Association)
- PART 4 – Interactive session with practitioners Marin Marinov (Sofia Municipality), Fernando Del Valle (Madrid Municipality), Maria Wiśnicka (Warsaw Municipality) and Manuela Ojan (Milan Municipality) facilitated by Florinda Boschetti (Breathe Cities); and Keynote concluding remarks (in Bulgarian) by Eng. Nikolay Nedelkov (Deputy Mayor for Environment, Green System, and Ecology of Sofia Municipality)
