THE IMPORTANCE OF THE CAPACITY BUILDING FOR IMPLEMENTING ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND RENEWABLE ENERGY SOLUTIONS.

Within the Climate and Energy Directive, the European Commission has set three main targets: reduction of GHG emissions, increase a share of renewable resources, and improvements in energy efficiency. This paper introduces needs and solutions for capacity building in cross-border regions of Slovenia-Croatia-Hungary in order to better implement energy efficiency and renewable resources potentials. It was identified that a lack of knowledge by the stakeholders represents a main obstacle for implementing more environmental and economic acceptable energy solutions on a local and regional levels. To address the competences gaps by the stakeholders, online training modules were designed and implemented. The results of trainings revealed the best evaluation scores, and consequently improved knowledge and competencies in Hungary, followed by Croatia and Slovenia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]