Resources consumption forecasting and efficiency in South East Europe: the RE-SEEties experience.

Resource efficiency, which aims at producing more value while using less material and adopting different consumption patterns, has a primary role in shifting the economy towards sustainable growth and is one of the key issues of the European Commission's Europe 2020 strategy ([1]). The Roadmap to a Resource Efficient Europe ([2]) aims to direct the European economy towards sustainability by 2050, setting priorities and key resources, removing the barriers and providing milestones to be achieved by 2020. Cities and local governments can play a key role in complying with such ambitious targets on resources as decision makers, planning authorities, managers of municipal infrastructure, and role models for citizens and businesses. This research was carried out in the framework of the on-going RE-SEEties project "Towards resource efficient urban communities in SEE" ([3]) funded by the SEE programme, which aims to turn SEE cities into resource efficient urban communities, focusing on urban energy systems and waste management. The aim of this paper is twofold. Firstly, to select the most suited set of methods for analysing and forecasting energy consumption and waste production at urban scale (e.g. [4]). As a result, it will provide local administrators and citizens an opportunity to learn on successful experiences and identify simple and innovative solutions to improve the current and future management of energy and waste management, taking a step forward towards resource efficiency at urban level.