What it is
The EU Sustainable Energy Week (EUSEW) is the European Commission’s yearly event on renewables and energy efficiency, run by the Directorate-General for Energy and the executive agency CINEA. The 20th edition took place in a hybrid format, in Brussels and online, on 9-11 June 2026, under the theme “A clean, secure and competitive Energy Union”.
The week has four parts: a three-day Policy Conference, the European Sustainable Energy Awards, an Energy Fair with stands, and a programme for the Young Energy Ambassadors, 30 people aged 18 to 35 chosen each year for a one-year mandate.
How the programme works
The Policy Conference is built from sessions run by the Commission and by organisations working on clean energy. The 2026 edition had more than 50 policy sessions and 28 Energy Fair stands. Organisations apply through a call: a session lasts 90 minutes, has at most seven speakers including the moderator, and the format (debate, workshop, panel) is up to the organiser. In 2026 every policy session was held on site, across two venues in Brussels. The call for 2026 has closed, and the guidelines for 2027 will be published when the next edition is launched.
Alongside the Brussels week, the Sustainable Energy Days are local events held by public and private organisations in Europe and beyond, from March to June.
How the awards work
The awards have three categories: SMEs Driving Energy Efficiency, Local Energy Action and Women in Energy. A high-level jury selects the finalists and a public vote decides the winners.
What came out of the 2026 edition
All three 2026 winners, announced on 9 June, came from local or regional energy work. In Local Energy Action, the City of Vienna’s 100 Projects Phasing Out Gas, led by Urban Innovation Vienna and the city’s Energy Planning Department, won for replacing over a thousand gas boilers with renewable systems in two years and turning the experience into a learning programme. Donna Gartland, head of Dublin’s energy agency Codema, won Women in Energy, partly for a district heating project that uses waste heat from a nearby data centre. RE-LEAF, in the Belgian province of Limburg, won the SME category for linking mortgages with renovation advice, according to the winners’ announcement.
Why it matters for cities
District heating, renewables and building renovation make up much of the climate work in the city profiles on futurehubs, including Brussels, the host city. EUSEW is where the Commission discusses the policy behind that work, and the Local Energy Action award gives city projects a European stage.
Going, or following from home
The 2026 sessions can be rewatched on the EUSEW website. The dates of the 2027 edition have not been announced; cities that want to run a session, apply for an award or host a Sustainable Energy Day should watch for the launch of the next call.