Supporting cities' efforts towards a highly efficient and sustainable resource efficient future: the RE-SEEties integrated toolkit

Supporting cities' efforts towards a highly efficient and sustainable resourceefficient future requires a detailed description of the present energy and waste management systems and a comprehensive evaluation of alternative pathways. The development of a reliable baseline is also a prerequisite for the application of efficient forecasting methodologies. Starting from a careful examination of data, methods and tools currently used by municipalities in their planning activities, an extensive research was carried out on internationally recognized methods and tools to support decision-making on local energy planning and waste management. This research was carried out in the framework of the on-going RE-SEEties project "Towards resource-efficient urban communities in SEE" funded by the South East Europe programme. First, this paper focuses on the integrated toolkit, which is a key component of the overall RE-SEEties methodology. Second, some exemplifying results obtained in two partner cities are discussed in terms of energy forecasting and quantification of the ecological footprint of the waste management system.