As a researcher working on the governance of energy transitions in 2016, I was fascinated by the relatively slow growth of solar energy in Portugal despite the amazing potential. I crafted a research project to explore this with a focus on accountability relations, and successfully competed for a position at the Centre for Climate and Energy Transformation in Norway, where I feel fortunate to explore this and similar issues with some fantastic colleagues. Between 2017 and 2019, I have spent about five months in Portugal, studying the multi-sited and multi-scalar geographies of solar energy uptake, from the capital Lisbon to …

Lisbon/Berlin. Cities are crucial for climate change to be brought to a halt or even avoided. Long-distance transport of food products causes many CO2 emissions. Using local resources can reduce these emissions. Millions of tons of food are transported to our cities each year. This transport brings food from all over the world, which leaves farm gates by road, rail or sea and causes huge amounts of CO2 emissions. A team of scientists from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Studies (Germany) has for the first time made a study of the potential of local food production to feed cities both …

Things are taking more time. Those who didn’t have any fire insurance last year, when the fire reduced the forest and 71 dwellings to ashes, now have to have the patience of a saint. There are those in Monchique who are really seeing themselves tested. There have been only three houses in the meantime that have had approval from the insurance to be rebuilt. The rest depend on the IHRU Government program. Will it be carried out? Most of the victims feel doubly beaten down and discriminated against by the bureaucracy of the whole process. Victims have to fill out …

The landscaping project plans for the planting of 1,000 different species of native trees and shrubs in the Barranco do Esgravatadouro valley. The first 50 young trees have been planted since 30 December: various species of oak (quercus canariensis and quercus ilex, among others), cork oak, ash (fraxinus excelsior), chestnut, walnut, beech, willow, lime, maple, birch, elm, magnolia, camellia, as well as carob, laurel and pepper-trees. The terrain has been mapped out carefully and the themes are well-defined: paths will link several islands of trees placed at different levels. The first trees have been planted along the stream that rises …

Energy communities want to start up in Portugal “How can I produce energy collectively?” You can’t because the law doesn’t allow it. The legal obstacles in Portugal against autonomy and energy decentralisation came to the fore during the BEACON workshop in Setúbal. Examples of projects and energy communities brought from Greek and German cities would be illegal in Portugal. As people clamour for changes in the law, there are already initiatives that point to a more ecological and community-based future. “Citizens must put a halt to their local network,” Ana Rita Antunes advised. She is one of the three women …

Lavrar o Mar, the ambitious cultural project developed by the theatre directors Madalena Victorino and Giacomo Scalisi, is due to begin its third season. It is Bread and Circus for the people of the Costa Vicentina, in Aljezur, and the hills of Monchique, scourged by fires. The programme was presented to the press – not by Manuel Marreiros and José Amarelinho, who were removed from office by the Courts for crimes of corruption and embezzlement – but by the new Mayor of Aljezur, José Gonçalves, and by the Mayor of Monchique, Rui André. This season’s project, subsidised by the “Algarve365” …

Between Thursday 27 and Saturday 29 December, the International Hiking Week 2018 offers guided walks with different themes. Between Christmas and the New Year, nature lovers will have the opportunity to get to know the landscape of the Algarve mountains on seven trails of varying lengths. On foot, we get to know Monchique through all our senses: the mountains with their streams, mills and waterfalls, the forests of cork oaks and ancient chestnut trees; wild and aromatic edible plants, local delicacies and specialties such as bread, ham and chorizo and of course the local fruits, pastries and cakes. We will …

Sadly, nothing is new as far as trains are concerned. The year is almost over, and anyone who buys their train ticket from Covilhã to Guarda (60 km) online at www.cp.pt has to go through Entroncamento and Coimbra B, making a detour of more than 500 km, only because, since 2009, there is a bridge in Belmonte that is at risk of collapse. Better to ride a bike. Are there no workers at the CP (Portuguese National Railway) who can repair a bridge so that the train can be brought back into service? Although it was announced ten years ago, …

Gradually, new options for mobility are gaining speed. The PAN (People-Animals-Nature Political Party) recognised that the state should promote the purchase of electric bicycles with a 20% incentive up to a maximum of 200 euros in 2019. The only deputy of this small but efficient party in the Lisbon Parliament, André Silva, told us that he wants to take Sweden as an example where, in 2017, € 34 million was invested in the purchase of bicycles, and they will now extend this project for three more years. France, Austria, Italy and Switzerland also offer incentives for the purchase of electric …