New EU energy commissioner Günther Oettinger has made promoting energy efficiency and renewable energy his top priorities. He will lay down his strategy in a speech to open this year’s EU sustainable energy week.

Each year, the event is the culmination of the “Sustainable energy for Europe” campaign, which promotes the production and consumption of sustainable energy by individuals, businesses and public authorities.

Sustainable energy week is the foremost European forum on the future of sustainable energy. It is where all major stakeholders can find out about new initiatives and helps stimulate investment in clean technologies.

The Commission’s sustainable energy proposals will feed into the debates and seminars held in Brussels from 22 to 26 March. And the event will be supported across Europe by 267 special “Energy Days”, offering many different activities on the same theme. In Nicosia, young people will be invited to take part in a competition to make pictures and posters on the issue. In Barcelona, a theatre company will be putting on a play to make children aware of the importance of using less energy.

This year, the week’s main themes are urban transport and “smart grids”, intelligent electricity distribution networks that use modern technology to reduce environmental impact.

And the week’s other high point? The award of European sustainable energy prizes to the most ambitious and innovative projects in the field.

Sustainable energy is at the heart of the EU’s long-term economic and climate change strategy. The EU has set itself 3 goals for 2020: reduce greenhouse gases by 20%, improve energy efficiency by 20% and increase the share of renewables in our consumption to 20%.