• Start year:
• Type: Technical/Infrastructure investment
• Status: In operation

Toulouse’s objective is to reduce the annual electrical consumption of street lighting by 3 gigawatt hours by 2020.
A number of studies have been initiated across the Metropolis to protect biodiversity by attenuating nocturnal pollution and ensuring dark night extinctions.
Nowadays, public lighting is the object of everyone’s attention. Between making people feel safer, offering friendlier living areas and highlighting the historic heritage, public lighting represents in France 50% of the electricity budget of cities, towns and villages. In Toulouse, the City assigns 40% of its energy budget to this item, that is 4 million euros, representing a major issue. Today, faced with light pollution and the objective of reducing our energy consumption, Toulouse has opted for innovation.
A technology based on Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) that are more sober in energy consumption and with a longer lifetime than conventional elements is being adopted, accompanied by movement detection street lights. The tests conducted show that this technology can reduce energy consumption by 70% compared with a conventional lamp post. During off-peak hours, light pollution can be reduced.
Pedestrian and cycle paths will benefit from special attention, especially for the tracks that run along the Canal du Midi and that are in the dark at night. The goal is to favour the use of soft modes of transport, even at night, by improving the conditions for travel.
On the renewable energy side, the two municipally run hydroelectric power stations generate the equivalent of two thirds of the consumption of Toulouse’s street lighting.
In addition, Toulouse Métropole has renegotiated its contracts with the energy suppliers by including a clause for the boosting of the share of renewable energies in the mix, thus allowing the energy bill to be reduced by 400,000 euros in two years.

• Start year:
• Type: Organizational / Governance
• Status: Completed

In line with the orientations of the Grenelle environment summit and the Territorial Climate and Energy Plan, Toulouse Métropole has chosen to launch out into a programme to reduce waste with the objective of reducing the quantity of waste and developing eco-responsibility of Toulouse Métropole services and exchange good practices between the subscribing towns. Thanks to this plan, 7,700 tonnes of plastic have been avoided and 44,000 plastic bottles not consumed.
To reduce the impact of transports on Toulouse Metropole agents, the employees can use the city bikes, training sessions in eco-driving are run and Toulouse Metropole encourages car-sharing with provision of car parks for carpoolers and develops electric vehicle fleets.
Toulouse Métropole is developing a charter on eco-responsible events. Thus, festivity organisers in the agglomeration commit to reducing their environmental impact and cut down on waste, as for example with the use of consigned beakers and dishes.
The second approach concerns responsible purchasing policy. Half the greenhouse effect emissions in the region derive from economic activities. The quest for sobriety in our modes of production and consumption is essential to adapt to climate disruption and the increasing scarcity of resources. Thus, Toulouse Métropole has committed to a responsible purchasing policy with a low environmental impact and high value added for professional integration. Their accumulated budgets for the purchase of supplies, works and services come to 566 million euros a year. Toulouse Métropole's purchasing policy could be summarised by the slogan “Let's team up to buy better”. The local authority represents one of the first local clusters of purchasers in the region. Public ordering is an economic lever and also a lever for local jobs. A broad range of actions thus aims to help SMEs gain access to public contracts as with the simplification of applications.
Buying better also means buying responsibly. Public contracts take on board responsible product clauses and give pride of place to contracts reserved for adapted enterprises, privileging short circuits.

• Start year:
• Type: Policy/Strategies/Action Plans
• Status: Completed

The goal here is to anticipate seasonal heavy rainfall phenomena, snow thaws and flood risks and also attenuate extreme phenomena of intense rain and high winds that are likely to become more serious in the future with climate change.
The Garonne drains a watershed covering about 10,000 km² which has the notable feature of being a steeply sloped corolla shaped basin. It thus tends to cause the concentration of already substantial flows of water coming from the direct or indirect tributaries of the Garonne, which takes its source in the Pyrenees.
The speeds at which the waters rise in the event of episodes of major flooding are of around 20 to 50 cm per hour. The time slot for prediction is short.
The Garonne's history has been well chronicled so we can trace back to the biggest floods and better understand its behaviour.
The Garonne flood zone represents 15% of Toulouse's territory.
As it flows through the Metropolis, the river banks show many works conducted over the centuries. Quaysides and dykes now border the river.
In the present day, the dykes are real urban protection works against flooding, sized for the highest waters known, with this being a regular feature about every ten years. Other works like the channelling and deepening of the flood stage of the Garonne downstream of Bazacle, urbanisation and embankments in the flood plain and recalibration and control over the meanders on the contained River Hers and its tributaries.
The Toulouse agglomeration is identified as an area with high risk of flooding (Territoire à Risque Important d'Inondation or TRI). The aim of the flood prevention plan and the safeguard plan is to foresee and reduce negative consequences for human health, the environment, the natural heritage and economic activity associated with flooding in the Community.
In the event of a major natural or technological disaster, the population is warned by a siren as well as information provided by the municipal police. In order to ensure the dissemination of information and instructions in the event of an alert, agreements have been signed with various radio and TV media. In addition, the Metropolis has got equipped with a mass auto dialler to send out telephone messages, SMS, faxes and e-mails intended to inform citizens as quickly as possible of a major event to come or in process and the instructions to follow to stay safe. Inhabitants registered in the telephone directory are automatically brought into this provision.
An intervention plan has also been set up at the administrative level to ensure the creation of a team to protect people and property.
According to the levels of alert, this will generate the closure of watertight gates and installation of barriers, close sluice gates on the storm water drains and start up pumps. Closing off storm water allows the Garonne to be prevented from overflowing.

• Start year:
• Type: Technical/Infrastructure investment
• Status: In operation

The SO Grid objective is to develop a communication network that is flexible and remote controlled right through to the customer’s meter, which will represent an unprecedented technological revolution. It will allow the energy transition and new modes of consumption to be heralded in.
The SO Grid project will allow for real time control of electrical consumption by the consumer and boost quality of services. This represents a first stage in anticipation and accompaniment of new ways of using electricity, especially with the arrival of decentralised renewable energies, and anticipating peaks in consumption due to the use of electric vehicles.
In terms of the quality of service provided, this major improvement will allow for real time control and the possibility of acting remotely and more rapidly in the event of a failure and ensure at all times the match between production and consumption, especially when the latter peaks.
A smart neighbourhood is a modern neighbourhood, with easier living, greater co-operation and less expense. The city wagers on the highest performance technologies and large scale open data to make citizens' lives easier and make public intervention more effective.
This project includes a strong territorial dimension, the “SO” of “SO Grid” clearly denoting the South West (Sud-Ouest) of France.
Toulouse is a land of innovations (with a large number of researchers and students and three competitiveness clusters) right at the heart of the first French region in research and development expenditure.
The SO Grid project came in response to the call for expression of interest launched by ADEME (the French Agency for the Environment and Energy Management) on intelligent electrical networks.
The development of smart grids, which is in the test phase in the Empalot neighbourhood, has also been necessitated by the arrival of decentralised renewable energy sources over the network (wind power, photovoltaic, positive energy buildings, etc.) and new needs with 2 million electric vehicles by 2020.
This experience fits in with a global approach aiming to develop smart grids, and especially a complete communication chain over all the electricity distribution networks based on PLC (Power Line Communication).
The SOGRID project involves building the global communication chain that will enable all items of equipment placed on the low and medium voltage networks to communicate directly via the electrical network. In concrete terms, the consortium bringing together ten partners around ERDF (the French electricity grid) and STMicroelectronics will develop a new generation electronic chip, equipment that will take that chip on board and the software to run the show. This global system will be developed according to the new PLC communication protocol where digital data can be transmitted over the electrical network.

• Start year:
• Type: Assessment/Research
• Status: In operation

The products Toulouse uses to prepare the meals distributed to the schoolchildren in its canteens are 20% organic or locally produced. Its central kitchen provides 33,000 meals a day for the 202 city schools. A dietician checks the food value and nutritional balance of the meals served.
Toulouse Métropole supports the market gardening activity and local agricultural produce sales channels.
The projects at the farms of Salsas at Quint-Fonsegrives and Bordebio at the Izards in Toulouse, and the agricultural and natural park at Pin-Balma are so many directions where the local authority is acting alongside professionals and associations.
The Toulouse agricultural venture produces lentils and organic grape juice for the Central Kitchens. The orchard development project will also allow organic apples and pears to be grown for the city’s canteens.

• Start year:
• Type: Public Participation/Stakeholder engagement
• Status: In operation

The project developed by Terr’eau ciel, "Incredible Edibles" proposes to rely on the principles of urban agriculture, developing the aesthetic aspect of landscaping and the practical side of producing food.
To attain this objective, Terr’eau ciel arranges spaces for landscaping and offers events, conferences and training for all sections of the public targeting those who wish to get started or develop their knowledge of cultivation in an urban environment.
By re-investing urban spaces to develop vegetable garden landscaping, there is a real opportunity to renew the link between people and our common mother Earth.
The association was identified by the MACIF Foundation during the "Talents Midi-Pyrénées" competition for its initiatives in favour of good food and health.
It acts to reduce the costs of maintaining green areas and reducing waste via the creation of composting points, conducts training and opens the way to green professional skills. Beside the beauty of the garden replacing previously unoccupied space, the inhabitants can also make savings on their food bills and also cut out travel to the local supermarket. This initiative brings inhabitants together within a virtuous synergy of good practices both for eating habits and respect for the environment and education.
The goal with these gardens is to use gardening themes to give a clearer idea of how the plant world works and raise awareness as to issues around biodiversity, responsible food, valorisation of the circular economy and short supply circuits, water and waste management.
Good waste management also means council taxes can be reduced.
The structure creates the urban food landscape then accompanies the inhabitants over the 2 years the project lasts.
Terr'eau ciel works in collaboration with social insertion structures specialised in biodiversity refuges, the recuperation and re-use of building materials and the promotion of re-used timber or wood.
In 2015, the association benefited from support from the MACIF Foundation and the Fondation de France.
Perspectives for 2016 include the management and animation of green productive areas on developed pilot sites, the creation of a cooperative, first assessment of the incredible edibles and the actions pursued.
In 2017, the action will be further pursued through setting up a local provision to accompany setting up a "green productive areas development" activity in the Midi-Pyrénées Region with players from the social and solidarity economy.

• Start year:
• Type: Technical/Infrastructure investment
• Status: In operation

In Toulouse, the banks of the Garonne shelter an area of natural habitat right in the middle of the city that the Grand Parc Garonne project seeks to promote. Having noted that the Garonne and its banks, cornerstones to the local natural heritage, constitute a powerful lever to improve the quality of life and renew human contact with nature, Toulouse Métropole has devised a programme to make the most of this great asset aiming to create a Grand Parc Garonne to give a breath of fresh air to the entire Toulouse Metropolis.
The Grand Parc Garonne constitutes one of the major spaces for CO2 capture for the agglomeration and marks a moment of reconnection between the inhabitants and nature.
The Grand Parc will re-invest the banks of the Garonne and by 2020 it will connect up the whole 25 mile length stretching from the north to the south of the Metropolis. The Grand Parc concerns seven Toulouse Métropole towns over 3,000 hectares, thus giving the metropolis its “green lung”. This project seeks to develop soft modes of transport thanks to pedestrian and cycle paths and promote the natural heritage, fostering use of the waters, boating and nautical sports while also developing new spaces for cultural activities and conviviality.
To do this, itineraries, between 1 ½ and 6 miles long, allow hikers, cyclists and persons with reduced mobility, to discover the flora, the aquatic fauna, the Garonne area and the violet thanks to the many information boards at key points on the route. They also afford an opportunity to discover the neighbourhood, its history, its natural heritage and agriculture. Picnic areas and benches lie alongside the path so people can take a rest and make the most of the landscape, the fauna and the flora.
Five other routes for pedestrians and cyclists will be created by 2017 on the Quinze Sols market gardening area.
100 years after the creation of the “Parc Toulousain”, the île du Ramier is again to become a place of greenery open to all, a huge area for relaxation and leisure activities, with games equipment, new sports activities, walks and educational gardens. The river shoreline and banks will form the thresholds for this future park. A link will emerge between the isle and the surrounding neighbourhoods, first signs of the inhabitants re-opening old and forgotten paths down to the river.

• Start year:
• Type: Policy/Strategies/Action Plans
• Status: In operation

Toulouse Métropole wishes to restore biodiversity over its region. To do so, there is a need to create in the urban environment a state of equilibrium, combining meadows and hedgerows to mark out the landscape with masses of greenery, combining trees, bushes and shrubs and reforestation.
The Toulouse Métropole area is endowed with many natural habitats and the presence of nature in the City itself as along the banks of the Garonne and other waterways, canals, the southern Toulouse hillsides, meadowland, green areas, parks and gardens. Aware of these advantages, the Metropolis has initiated actions and framework documents to help preserve that natural wealth. Indeed, the City of Toulouse was awarded the Silver Dragonfly distinction in 2011 at the French Biodiversity Capital competition, in the major cities category.
* Acquisition of knowledge: inventory of fauna and flora on 19 sites in 2014 and creation of a naturalists’ database shared by the main naturalist players in the region
* A fauna and flora warning tool, connected up with the naturalists database, to warn the urban services as soon as a project is located in a sensitive area, with the aim of integrating biodiversity upstream
* Consideration for biodiversity in city planning, in specific projects and within a general reference framework for sustainable development in process of finalisation.
* Nature strand in the city in Toulouse Local City Planning
* Green and blue infrastructure appended to the Concerted Territorial Planning Scheme (SCOT)
* Adhesion to the Midi-Pyrénées Region Regional Biodiversity Observatory
* Drawing up of a strategy in favour of biodiversity over the area of the Metropolis with, in particular, a project on participatory sciences: Garden Butterfly Observatory, installation of bee hives and insect reserves in public space and a nature discovery park
* Development of a community garden policy in the City of Toulouse
* Consideration for biodiversity in framework documents for the Metropolis: Climate Energy Plan, statement of works for sustainable agriculture in the suburban area, statement of works for the landscape and the environment
* Acquisition of wet zones for them to be managed as conservation areas
* Publication of a work on the wealth of fauna and flora in Toulouse
* “Differentiated” management involving analysing the functions of each site in order to adopt the practices adapted to users’ needs with the aim of reconciling human uses and respect for the environment. The issue is one of reconstituting functional ecosystems. The most striking example is with the installation of urban meadowland alongside roads, in the middle of parks or in green areas.
* Mindful consumption of natural resources, starting with water. In addition to avoiding untimely irrigation, this means limiting evaporation (night-time irrigation, mulching around trees, etc.) and favouring the plantation of rustic plants requiring little water.
* Limiting the risk of pollution with the zero pesticide plan.

• Start year:
• Type: Technical/Infrastructure investment
• Status: In operation

Whether you walk, cycle, take the metro, the tram or the bus, there are so many ways to discover the “Ville Rose”.
For a number of years now, Toulouse Métropole has put an emphasis on soft mobility and more especially cycling. There is no better way to take advantage of the banks of the Garonne, wander round the city, go to work or take enjoy the many parks and gardens the metropolis offers than to cycle round.
By bike, you can get there faster than by car over some 400 bike paths, including 63 in peaceful areas (with a 19 mile stretch, a meet-up area and a pedestrian area) and 227 miles of green itineraries not to forget the 1,373 dedicated bike parking spots.
Two Smartphone applications and websites now make life easier for cyclists and encourage people to take to the bike.
The first application, “Géovelo”, helps you easily and quickly work out your bike path. Géovelo calculates your trip and offers you an itinerary suited to your cycling habits and what you want, from the safest route to the quickest.
The second application, initiated by the Vélo Toulouse association won the Innovation prize in the “Talent of the bike 2013” competition. This mapping application for signposting serves as an interface with Toulouse Métropole allowing users to report problems encountered during their travels, take in photos and suggest solutions. Users' comments are validated by the association's moderator before being sent to Toulouse Métropole. To date, all remarks have received a response from the agglomeration followed by the necessary improvements.
To take advantage of this quality network, there is no need to buy a bike (especially with the storage problems that means for city-dwellers). Vélo Toulouse has made a whole network of bikes that are quick and easy to use available to the inhabitants pretty much everywhere around the city. Thus, for a modest sum of about 0.50 euros after the first free half hour you can borrow a bike and cycle where you want. In 2014, 4.3 million bike hires were recorded, proof of the project's success.
Associations like the Maison du Vélo or Vélo école help users with maintenance issues and in discovering the cycle network.
Other events such as cycle or roller-skate outings are organised by Toulouse Métropole to discover the agglomeration. These are supervised by professionals, all in a cheerful spirit.

• Start year:
• Type: Technical/Infrastructure investment
• Status: In operation

Toulouse Métropole is expanding its range of services for mobility for the whole region by combining all modes of transport and favouring public transport to make traffic more fluid.
With new high quality and frequency Linéo bus routes, extension of the tramway linking the airport to a multimodal platform (all for the price of a metro ticket and valid over the entire network) and a project for new metro lines, the whole package is being extended. In 2014, the public transport network counted 174 million trips. The Metropolis wants now to make soft mode transport a boon for users.
The Metropolis supports the development of a carpooling platform, Coovia, over the agglomeration. This application offers direct links from the subscriber's position to their destination, combining public transport, the Vélib bike hire service and carpooling. The passenger benefits from timesaving and the driver receives remuneration for their carpooling. A win-win approach that has convinced 4,000 registered participants and 800 active carpoolers. To date, 1,200 trips are being made daily, representing time saving for the user, remuneration for the driver and a reduction in greenhouse effect gases and congestion for the Metropolis.
For users who have occasional needs for vehicles, the Metropolis has a carsharing network. Known as Citiz, the network makes 39 vehicles available at 22 stations. The icing on the cake is that the network now includes 4 electric vehicles and gradually the whole fleet will be replaced by this type of car. In 2014, 1,200 drivers were signed up for carsharing.
The future multimodal transport infrastructure will ensure continuity of transport between the Borderouge metro station and the town of Bruguières. This project, named BUN (for Boulevard Urbain Nord), fits into the urban development of the Metropolis undergoing major expansion. Thus, with a constant increase in the population and travelling and 15,000 new inhabitants every year, BUN represents a decisive potential for urbanisation and economic development for the North Toulouse area.
The objectives are to co-ordinate a city project, with landscaping and sustainable infrastructure via the development of a lane for the circulation of vehicles with 2 people in them over 8 miles, arranging for bus lanes offering a high level of service connecting the metro station through to the north of the Metropolis, and via pedestrian and cycle paths.
Finally, to limit short distance vehicle travel, the Metropolis is supporting walking buses offering safety vests for children and improving route signposting. This walking bus system for primary and nursery school children is being developed over the area. There are a number of objectives including reducing greenhouse effect gases and traffic congestion near schools and letting the children start the day by getting their legs working, all in a friendly atmosphere.

• Start year:
• Type: Education/Awareness Raising
• Status: Completed

In connection with the Climate Plan, Toulouse Métropole is launching out into a programme to reduce waste with the objective of cutting down the quantity household refuse by 7% in 4 years (2012-2016) that is about 25 kg per inhabitant.
“The best waste is the waste you don't produce”
Prevention covers the quantitative aspect and the qualitative aspect (reducing the harmfulness of waste) around a number of emblematic actions:
* Implementatin of a biogas plant from sewage sludge in order to recover and develop the local gas and heat
* pursuing and developing fermentable waste by promoting composting at the foot of blocks of flats and subsidising the acquisition of individual composters. More than 1,000 composters are distributed each year over the urban district and more than 500 households take part in a composting operation either down at the bottom of the building or in public gardens. This means 1,700 tonnes of waste diverted or the equivalent of 40 kilos of kitchen waste per person a year avoided thanks to composting. The figures speak for themselves and make you want to just dig in!
* The “stop pub” campaign against advertising leaflets in the letterbox has avoided 824 tonnes of paper wasted;
* The development of used textile collection with 320 collection points has allowed 2,350 tonnes of textiles, linen and shoes to see a second life and help the long-term unemployed get back to work;
* Promoting recycling, re-use, and repair. Toulouse Métropole has created a “Ressourcerie” with the association Glanerie to encourage the recycling of waste based on rubbish dump collections. Thus, 30 reintegrated employees repair and bring up to date objects before selling them in the Ressourcerie store;
* Acting against food waste. The “Gourmet bag” operation (the French doggy bag) is being developed in Toulouse allowing restaurant goers to take away their unfinished meals. Toulouse Métropole is also setting up diagnostics on losses in canteens and devising actions to reduce and recycle waste food.
* Raising awareness and mobilising economic players around the reduction in waste: action to raise the awareness of building industry professionals by creating an ecoconstruction centre. The objective is to create a showcase and technical platform for training in ecoconstruction. The issues are to reduce the carbon footprint of construction, make visible the emergence of innovative economic activities around ecomaterials and give a boost to the acquisition of skills in building construction related trades and professions.
* The Metropolis relies on a team of 19 sorting ambassadors to ensure communication out in the field, meeting the inhabitants, explaining sorting instructions (16,000 people a year counselled), taking part in events organised by Toulouse Métropole as with Sustainable Development Week, soup kitchen discos, designing leaflets to raise awareness on food waste and intervening in classrooms to get the message across to children. In 2014, 66 interventions were made in schools.

• Start year:
• Type: Technical/Infrastructure investment
• Status: In operation

Half of the social housing stock has low energy performances. To improve them, Toulouse Metropole has launched a renovation program and the creation of 2100 social housings a year integrating the requirements of sustainable development.
The residence « Lizop » is the first positive energy social residence in France with different kinds of dwellings : small houses and collective flat. The goal of the projet is to reduce the footprint per household reaching 5,8 tons of CO2 per year,which represent more than a third of total emissions of a French household.
These energy-efficient homes benefit to residents since the energy bill is divided by four and increase thermal comfort. This building is powered by the urban heating network supplied by the domestic waste incinerator. Rainwater is collected to water plants and clean common areas. Collective composters and selective sorting bins are also available to residents. The choice for sustainable mobility is rich and diverse since metro services, regular bus lines and a shared bicycle system led by the city are available close by.

• Start year:
• Type: Public Participation/Stakeholder engagement
• Status: Completed

The Solidarity Workshop is an unprecedented energy control concept devised both for and with the inhabitants of a neighbourhood ranked as being of national interest and in a situation of considerable energy precariousness. The Solidarity Workshop aims to develop advice on energy matters for the inhabitants to counter energy precariousness in the area.
This particularly innovative project converges with the three pillars of sustainable development: reducing greenhouse gas emissions and protecting the environment, and social and economic development.
Unique in France, it sustains a social project that is financially autonomous and there for the duration around well-being at home, living better together and helping people really adopt eco-friendly practices. It was designed to be welcoming and attractive, this being essential for it to work in a “city policy” neighbourhood.
Right from the start, the Solidarity Workshop project wagered on co-construction bringing around Habitat Toulouse (the social landlord), EDF (electricity grid), CAF (family allowances), Toulouse Métropole and other participants like DIY chain store Leroy Merlin, neighbourhood associations, metropolitan Espace Info Énergie and the inhabitants.
The Compagnons Bâtisseurs association has been keeping the Solidarity Workshop going since the summer of 2015, through professional advice, teaching people and raising awareness about eco-friendly practices, training in DIY, swopping and lending equipment and access to materials at low cost.
The place is there to stay, being located right in the centre of the Empalot neighbourhood where it receives the inhabitants free of charge to address their concerns relating to housing conditions. This innovative initiative helps strengthen the social fabric in the neighbourhood, providing a friendly place for neighbours to meet up and contributes to a new impetus there based on collective workshops.
The Solidarity Workshop is developing awareness raising initiatives thanks to community events, training initiatives on renovation works, accompaniment at home of families and lending the tools needed for works. The workshop should allow people to get on with it, from raising awareness through to actually conducting works.
This programme derives from an agreement between EDF and Toulouse Métropole. It rounds off a series of provisions to mobilise the inhabitants around energy and water savings in their homes and includes the Families Positive Energy Challenge, the Bellefontaine show flat, regional events put on by Espace Info Energie, accompaniment of social landlords, etc.
The project is constructed in a participative manner: the inhabitants are highly mobilised and involved in the initiative. The workshop’s dynamics are very much part of an “eco-citizen” mobilisation.
This is an innovative action, a prototype, to be developed over other regions nationally.

• Start year:
• Type: Education/Awareness Raising
• Status: Completed

Each year, the Metropolis invests in the Sustainable Development Week around fifty events to raise awareness, explain, open out to and involve the inhabitants in possible alternatives. This also provides the inhabitants with an opportunity to discover the more unusual places in the Metropolis that relate to sustainable development. Thus, each year the visit to the storm water network, waste water treatment stations, incineration sites and cycling excursions meets with considerable success. Fun workshops, demonstrations of good practices and conferences are also on the programme. The festive and friendly side is ensured by artists committed to the fight against climate change and turns the event into a festival for the climate and energy drawing in inhabitants from multiple horizons.
This year, the event was sponsored and concluded by a conference on the climate bringing together experts like Jean Jouzel, Vice President of the IPCC (expert on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) and Nobel Peace Prize winner, Joël Collado, French weather forecaster and columnist with France Radio. A major event for the agglomeration, but also a showcase for the neighbourhoods working all year round on these issues (as especially the sensitive neighbourhoods of the Izards and Empalot) that transform the event into a neighbourhood party, created and run by the inhabitants alongside associations and the local authority.

• Start year:
• Type: Technical/Infrastructure investment
• Status: Completed

The Garonne-Ariège Regional Nature Reserve is situated to the south of Toulouse and is recognised as being of European interest, also being Natura 2000 certified. The area is made up of flood plains and wet zones and represents a major ecological interest. Its great plant and animal diversity make it an essential element in water resource management.
The wet zone is an area of transition between land and water, being among the richest and most complex natural environments in the world. The constant shift between running and stagnant water adds onto this a further variable. The regional reserve brings together conditions for life favourable to a wealth of plant and animal life.
243 plant species have been listed. Among others there is the white willow, alder, ash, several species of oak, yellow flag, bladderwort (a carnivorous plant!), etc.
As for the fauna, compiling an exhaustive inventory would be a difficult matter - some animals are very secretive, some nocturnal and others migratory. There are the common genet, kingfisher, dragonfly, water flea, little egret, Mediterranean tree frog, grey heron and many others. The common kestrel and the eagle owl are happy there with the protection afforded by the cliffs. The eagle owl is listed as a “rare species” in the Red Book of birds that are under threat and to be monitored in France.
The wetlands acts as buffer zones absorbing water during floods and giving it back during droughts, which has a positive effect in helping to manage the risks of flooding and helping to keep the river flowing over the summer months. They also play a role in supplying groundwater.
Wet zones also work as a filter thanks to the sediments and the vegetation that physically trap toxic elements. They are involved in chemical processes relating to the interaction between the water, plants and solar radiation that transform pollutant matter and offer improved water quality.
The tree-lined banks of the great river provide a welcome stopover for migratory birds like the heron purple heron, the night heron or the black kite. Emblematic migrating fish like the Atlantic salmon or the allis shad (near extinction early in the 1980s) are gradually coming back to the Garonne thanks to the programmes to restore migrating fish. Their presence is an indicator as to the good quality of the aquatic environment.
In addition, this river corridor, covering about 600 hectares, offers a nature park in the immediate vicinity of the metropolis that is perfect for environmental education. The plant and animal life it brings together affords much of interest for visitors to learn about on the region, that nevertheless also remains an area of active agricultural production. Through its complexity and wealth of resources, the area of confluence between the Garonne and the Ariège, between water and land, makes for a tremendous terrain for experimentation to work on environmental education and an ideal vehicle to raise awareness on themes like the quality of water, biodiversity and sustainable development.

• Start year:
• Type: Education/Awareness Raising
• Status: Completed

As the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP21) looms up in France, Toulouse Métropole has been committed to working on climate issues for a number of years through various initiatives and a good number of events. Toulouse is mobilised over its metropolitan region but also at COP21.
1- In Paris, Toulouse Métropole will be presenting a film on Toulouse's innovative climatic solutions.
2- Toulouse Métropole's commitment also entails 110,000 euros of subsidies granted to associations to develop and support local initiatives on education about the environment and sustainable development. Thus, food, water, reducing waste, biodiversity and promoting green professions are considered of primary importance in the agglomeration. All of this also means material support to the associations, as for example to the Alternatiba group. This group, born from a spontaneous initiative from citizens, managed to bring together over a week-end more than a hundred associations concerned by sustainable development and the environment. More than 35,000 people crowded in to discover local initiatives, participatory workshops, demonstrations and conferences to seek a response to climate change. Meals shared together, fun animations, shows, concerts and artistic processions have made this event a popular festival with benevolent support from Toulouse Métropole.
3- Toulouse hosts the French Meteorology Centre. The “climate train”, initiated in Toulouse, has enabled researchers appointed for the occasion of “Climate Messengers” to go out and meet the population, run conferences and debates, present the issues and answer questions from the public. Toulouse Métropole has actively contributed to the train coming through the city and organised the train's stopover day with an exhibition put on by the “Climate Plan” team and a “Climate” stand around themes relating to sustainable mobility. This event met with great success, attracting many visitors and those curious to know who thus had the opportunity to discover the exhibition “The climate changes! So what do we change?” The eco-driving event allowed passers-by to be made more aware of responsible driving. Finally, a mobile street show put on by the “Clowns pour Rire” troupe challenged passers-by at the station with humour on the theme of global warming.
4- The encounter with private enterprises at “1,2,3 Climat” also provides an opportunity for the local authority to award the prize for the Agil'T provision rewarding businesses committed to promoting Corporate Social Responsibility. This provision, set up in collaboration with the Toulouse Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Haute-Garonne Chamber of Trades and Crafts, accompanies small and medium enterprises in organising, evaluating and promoting their CSR approach.
5- The “Citizens' Forum for the Climate” will allow Toulouse inhabitants to express their views and present their initiatives, ideas and wishes this coming 20th of November. This event will kick off the revision process for the Climate Plan 2016.

• Start year:
• Type: Education/Awareness Raising
• Status: Completed

Energy expenditure comes on average to 1,117 euros a year per household in collective dwellings and 1,481 euros in individual homes. Housing is the main energy consumer in the region (28% of final consumption) and the second sector for greenhouse gas emissions (22%) after that of transport.
Heating of living quarters counts for almost 2/3 of final energy consumption and ¾ of emission of greenhouse effect gases in the “housing” sector.
Reducing energy consumption in housing and the fight against energy precariousness are major objectives of Toulouse Métropole’s Territorial Climate Energy Plan (PCET).
These are pursued through an un ambitious programme for rehabilitation of the social and private housing stock set at 2,500 dwellings rehabilitated a year and accompaniment and training of the inhabitants on energy and water saving behaviour alongside assistance measures to finance energy renovation works.
To mobilise and accompany the region’s inhabitants, creating the Espace Info Énergie or EIE (Energy Information Centre) constitutes an essential action. The EIE advises and is there to raise the awareness of private individuals free of charge on the simple steps to be adopted and works to have done to optimise their energy consumption. They receive the general public through centres across the entire region or give out information by telephone or by correspondence. In total almost 4,000 people are informed each year by the EIE, 60% of whom actually act on the matter.
The “CoachCopro” operation was set up and launched in 2015. This is an Internet platform to accompany energy renovation by joint owners.
This provision is completed by other actions like the Bellefontaine show flat, creation of the Empalot solidarity workshop, the Médiaterre programme, the Mieux vivre chez soi (Better Living at Home) scheme and the climate innovation and solidarity fund.
The Mieux vivre chez soi scheme is a mission of support for the vulnerable to provide help improving the habitat of elderly and/or disabled people. This system helps conduct improvement works specific to disabilities, but also works generally related to living conditions, as with improved insulation and heating systems.
The MédiaTerre programme seeks to make consumers more responsible in terms of their consumption patterns and their impact on the environment. Volunteers in civic service go out to meet tenants in social housing, often affected by energy precariousness, to raise awareness, disseminate good practices and change sustainably the daily gestures of these people in difficulty via personalised accompaniment. This project also helps initiate and boost greater social cohesion in the neighbourhoods, especially via neighbourhood events and awareness booths.
To reduce energy precariousness is present in all territorial actions, especially in the Families Positive Energy Challenge. In 2015, a third of the 250 families taking part in the challenge came from priority social neighbourhoods.

• Start year:
• Type: Technical/Infrastructure investment
• Status: Completed

Toulouse Métropole now has 2 out of the 19 French eco-neighbourhoods recognised in 2014, with Vidailhan and Andromède. Other eco-neighbourhoods are now being built as with the Cartoucherie right in the centre of Toulouse.
Andromède constitutes the first eco-neighbourhood introduced by Toulouse Métropole. It is situated over the towns of Blagnac and Beauzelle, at the heart of the Aéroconstellation structuring project. The neighbourhood was thought out in an innovative manner while also preserving the characteristics of the suburb and the garden city that are rooted in the landscape and the memory of the site.
The neighbourhood answers to the requirements adhered to by Toulouse Métropole in terms of social and intergenerational diversity. 4,000 housing units are now planned for over a surface area of 209 hectares. There will be a lycée, sports complex, crèche, leisure centre, home for young workers, gendarmerie and local traders so the inhabitants and employees on the site can get a first taste of life in a neighbourhood.
Quality of life is one of the objectives of the pilot project in the fields of water management, soft mode travel and ecoconstruction. Andromède really favours the natural spaces present over more than a third of its surface area. Five green spaces crossed though by a green belt already have 5,000 trees. Andromède can be reached by line 1 of the tramway linking to line A of the Toulouse metro. There are now almost 10 miles of cycle tracks available to residents.
Balma Vidailhan:
Combining the urban and the human - that's the stated ambition of the Vidailhan eco-neighbourhood in Balma.
Located half way between the metro station and Balma town centre, the Vidailhan eco-neighbourhood creates a link between the future tertiary campus to the north, the residential quarters to the east and the commercial area. The fact that it is close to the Toulouse ring road, is provided with a cycle path and is also in easy distance of the metro and bus terminus makes the neighbourhood readily accessible. On completion, some 1,750 dwellings at affordable prices and 200,000 m2 of office space will make up this neighbourhood covering 106 hectares.
Life takes on a village air over this urban area that combines extremely varied forms of habitat: duplexes with large patios on the roof, terraced houses with small gardens or more conventional blocks of flats. In the middle of the common gardens onto which these dwellings look out, the inhabitants will enjoy the calm and the originality of the site.
In 2011, the Vidailhan eco-neighbourhood received the “Quality of project for neighbourhood life” prize. What won the award were the anticipation of a neighbourhood life style based on diversity, social cohesion and eco-commitment, but also a project set-up and implementation based on participation, partnership and sustained political support.
With 25% of social housing, a school, services and a heat plant unique to France using 80% renewable energy, combining wood burning, solar energy and gas, Vidailhan has all it takes to please.

• Start year:
• Type: Policy/Strategies/Action Plans
• Status: Completed

The goal here is to anticipate seasonal heavy rainfall phenomena, snow thaws and flood risks and also attenuate extreme phenomena of intense rain and high winds that are likely to become more serious in the future with climate change.
The Garonne drains a watershed covering about 10,000 km² which has the notable feature of being a steeply sloped corolla shaped basin. It thus tends to cause the concentration of already substantial flows of water coming from the direct or indirect tributaries of the Garonne, which takes its source in the Pyrenees.
The speeds at which the waters rise in the event of episodes of major flooding are of around 20 to 50 cm per hour. The time slot for prediction is short.
The Garonne's history has been well chronicled so we can trace back to the biggest floods and better understand its behaviour.
The Garonne flood zone represents 15% of Toulouse's territory.
As it flows through the Metropolis, the river banks show many works conducted over the centuries. Quaysides and dykes now border the river.
In the present day, the dykes are real urban protection works against flooding, sized for the highest waters known, with this being a regular feature about every ten years. Other works like the channelling and deepening of the flood stage of the Garonne downstream of Bazacle, urbanisation and embankments in the flood plain and recalibration and control over the meanders on the contained River Hers and its tributaries.
The Toulouse agglomeration is identified as an area with high risk of flooding (Territoire à Risque Important d'Inondation or TRI). The aim of the flood prevention plan and the safeguard plan is to foresee and reduce negative consequences for human health, the environment, the natural heritage and economic activity associated with flooding in the Community.
In the event of a major natural or technological disaster, the population is warned by a siren as well as information provided by the municipal police. In order to ensure the dissemination of information and instructions in the event of an alert, agreements have been signed with various radio and TV media. In addition, the Metropolis has got equipped with a mass auto dialler to send out telephone messages, SMS, faxes and e-mails intended to inform citizens as quickly as possible of a major event to come or in process and the instructions to follow to stay safe. Inhabitants registered in the telephone directory are automatically brought into this provision.
An intervention plan has also been set up at the administrative level to ensure the creation of a team to protect people and property.
According to the levels of alert, this will generate the closure of watertight gates and installation of barriers, close sluice gates on the storm water drains and start up pumps. Closing off storm water allows the Garonne to be prevented from overflowing.

• Start year:
• Type: Technical/Infrastructure investment
• Status: In operation

The SO Grid objective is to develop a communication network that is flexible and remote controlled right through to the customer’s meter, which will represent an unprecedented technological revolution. It will allow the energy transition and new modes of consumption to be heralded in.
The SO Grid project will allow for real time control of electrical consumption by the consumer and boost quality of services. This represents a first stage in anticipation and accompaniment of new ways of using electricity, especially with the arrival of decentralised renewable energies, and anticipating peaks in consumption due to the use of electric vehicles.
In terms of the quality of service provided, this major improvement will allow for real time control and the possibility of acting remotely and more rapidly in the event of a failure and ensure at all times the match between production and consumption, especially when the latter peaks.
A smart neighbourhood is a modern neighbourhood, with easier living, greater co-operation and less expense. The city wagers on the highest performance technologies and large scale open data to make citizens' lives easier and make public intervention more effective.
This project includes a strong territorial dimension, the “SO” of “SO Grid” clearly denoting the South West (Sud-Ouest) of France.
Toulouse is a land of innovations (with a large number of researchers and students and three competitiveness clusters) right at the heart of the first French region in research and development expenditure.
The SO Grid project came in response to the call for expression of interest launched by ADEME (the French Agency for the Environment and Energy Management) on intelligent electrical networks.
The development of smart grids, which is in the test phase in the Empalot neighbourhood, has also been necessitated by the arrival of decentralised renewable energy sources over the network (wind power, photovoltaic, positive energy buildings, etc.) and new needs with 2 million electric vehicles by 2020.
This experience fits in with a global approach aiming to develop smart grids, and especially a complete communication chain over all the electricity distribution networks based on PLC (Power Line Communication).
The SOGRID project involves building the global communication chain that will enable all items of equipment placed on the low and medium voltage networks to communicate directly via the electrical network. In concrete terms, the consortium bringing together ten partners around ERDF (the French electricity grid) and STMicroelectronics will develop a new generation electronic chip, equipment that will take that chip on board and the software to run the show. This global system will be developed according to the new PLC communication protocol where digital data can be transmitted over the electrical network.

• Start year:
• Type: Assessment/Research
• Status: In operation

The products Toulouse uses to prepare the meals distributed to the schoolchildren in its canteens are 20% organic or locally produced. Its central kitchen provides 33,000 meals a day for the 202 city schools. A dietician checks the food value and nutritional balance of the meals served.
Toulouse Métropole supports the market gardening activity and local agricultural produce sales channels.
The projects at the farms of Salsas at Quint-Fonsegrives and Bordebio at the Izards in Toulouse, and the agricultural and natural park at Pin-Balma are so many directions where the local authority is acting alongside professionals and associations.
The Toulouse agricultural venture produces lentils and organic grape juice for the Central Kitchens. The orchard development project will also allow organic apples and pears to be grown for the city’s canteens.

• Start year:
• Type: Public Participation/Stakeholder engagement
• Status: In operation

The project developed by Terr’eau ciel, "Incredible Edibles" proposes to rely on the principles of urban agriculture, developing the aesthetic aspect of landscaping and the practical side of producing food.
To attain this objective, Terr’eau ciel arranges spaces for landscaping and offers events, conferences and training for all sections of the public targeting those who wish to get started or develop their knowledge of cultivation in an urban environment.
By re-investing urban spaces to develop vegetable garden landscaping, there is a real opportunity to renew the link between people and our common mother Earth.
The association was identified by the MACIF Foundation during the "Talents Midi-Pyrénées" competition for its initiatives in favour of good food and health.
It acts to reduce the costs of maintaining green areas and reducing waste via the creation of composting points, conducts training and opens the way to green professional skills. Beside the beauty of the garden replacing previously unoccupied space, the inhabitants can also make savings on their food bills and also cut out travel to the local supermarket. This initiative brings inhabitants together within a virtuous synergy of good practices both for eating habits and respect for the environment and education.
The goal with these gardens is to use gardening themes to give a clearer idea of how the plant world works and raise awareness as to issues around biodiversity, responsible food, valorisation of the circular economy and short supply circuits, water and waste management.
Good waste management also means council taxes can be reduced.
The structure creates the urban food landscape then accompanies the inhabitants over the 2 years the project lasts.
Terr'eau ciel works in collaboration with social insertion structures specialised in biodiversity refuges, the recuperation and re-use of building materials and the promotion of re-used timber or wood.
In 2015, the association benefited from support from the MACIF Foundation and the Fondation de France.
Perspectives for 2016 include the management and animation of green productive areas on developed pilot sites, the creation of a cooperative, first assessment of the incredible edibles and the actions pursued.
In 2017, the action will be further pursued through setting up a local provision to accompany setting up a "green productive areas development" activity in the Midi-Pyrénées Region with players from the social and solidarity economy.

• Start year:
• Type: Technical/Infrastructure investment
• Status: In operation

In Toulouse, the banks of the Garonne shelter an area of natural habitat right in the middle of the city that the Grand Parc Garonne project seeks to promote. Having noted that the Garonne and its banks, cornerstones to the local natural heritage, constitute a powerful lever to improve the quality of life and renew human contact with nature, Toulouse Métropole has devised a programme to make the most of this great asset aiming to create a Grand Parc Garonne to give a breath of fresh air to the entire Toulouse Metropolis.
The Grand Parc Garonne constitutes one of the major spaces for CO2 capture for the agglomeration and marks a moment of reconnection between the inhabitants and nature.
The Grand Parc will re-invest the banks of the Garonne and by 2020 it will connect up the whole 25 mile length stretching from the north to the south of the Metropolis. The Grand Parc concerns seven Toulouse Métropole towns over 3,000 hectares, thus giving the metropolis its “green lung”. This project seeks to develop soft modes of transport thanks to pedestrian and cycle paths and promote the natural heritage, fostering use of the waters, boating and nautical sports while also developing new spaces for cultural activities and conviviality.
To do this, itineraries, between 1 ½ and 6 miles long, allow hikers, cyclists and persons with reduced mobility, to discover the flora, the aquatic fauna, the Garonne area and the violet thanks to the many information boards at key points on the route. They also afford an opportunity to discover the neighbourhood, its history, its natural heritage and agriculture. Picnic areas and benches lie alongside the path so people can take a rest and make the most of the landscape, the fauna and the flora.
Five other routes for pedestrians and cyclists will be created by 2017 on the Quinze Sols market gardening area.
100 years after the creation of the “Parc Toulousain”, the île du Ramier is again to become a place of greenery open to all, a huge area for relaxation and leisure activities, with games equipment, new sports activities, walks and educational gardens. The river shoreline and banks will form the thresholds for this future park. A link will emerge between the isle and the surrounding neighbourhoods, first signs of the inhabitants re-opening old and forgotten paths down to the river.

• Start year:
• Type: Assessment/Research
• Status: In operation

The MAPUCE (Applied Modelling and Urban Planning Law) project: Climate and Energy (MapUCE) has developed an automated method to generate data from national databases, urban (geometric and architectural) and socio-economic parameters and indicators for energy simulation on the scale of Toulouse Métropole neighbourhoods. Thus, in addition to modelling of the energy consumption of buildings, there will be the behaviour patterns of the inhabitants for modelling of the present and future climate (2050).
This project brings together several laboratories nationally, including the Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire Solidarité, Sociétés et Territoires (LISST) at the Université Jean Jaurès. It aims to construct public policies for urban planning taking in quantitative data on the urban microclimate, the climate and energy, with an approach applicable to all French cities.
This involves working on all urban planning and legal documents suitable to identify potential levers for action and the applicable scales, whatever the area and the engineering in place.
This project is financed for a period of four years (2014-2018) by the National Research Agency following on from the call for projects “Sustainable Cities and Buildings 2013”.

• Start year:
• Type: Organizational / Governance
• Status: Completed

The goal of this action is to ensure greater coherence between actions at a metropolitan level and implement governance that fosters a cross-cutting approach to work out and implement communal actions.
1- The first action of the Climate Plan was to create the Energy Organising Authority (AOEn) to set up and co-ordinate a territorial energy strategy. It also has a mission to develop engineering and assistance with the member towns. Through its technical expertise and its global vision of the territory, AOEn should allow the European objective of 3 times 20 to be attained by 2020. The objective here is to reduce energy consumption of public buildings and in the region, and there develop urban heating networks and energy production from renewable energies.
2- Since 2014, Toulouse Métropole governance has created a theme-based commission dedicated to sustainable development entitled “Environment, Sustainable Development and Energy”. This body is entrusted with giving its views on projects for decisions submitted to the Metropolitan Council relating to the themes under its responsibility.
3- Notably, this organisation allowed a body called “Club 21” to be set up. Adopting the “bottom-up” principle, this body affords a broad means of expression to the 37 towns of Toulouse Métropole that can exchange and debate on all topics relating to sustainable development. It functions around a working group on dedicated themes. The approach is based on volunteering, without intrusion or judgement as to the matter of town management.
This original, innovative and cross-cutting approach has seen the 4 first working groups bringing together 20 towns around the topics of “energy and public lighting”, “energy, public buildings and energy precariousness”, “metropolitan agriculture” and “biodiversity”. A collaborative forum, “Club 21” has been created to pool the works from the groups, major documents, etc. A forum for reporting back and exchanges is scheduled in 2016.