C4E Champions 2025

The C4E Champion Award recognises the extraordinary contribution of public officials and elected local officials in Central and Eastern Europe to progressing energy efficiency policies in their country or region.

 

C4E REGIONAL CHAMPION and ROMANIAN NATIONAL CHAMPION

Anca Ginavar

General Director of the Urban Planning and Construction Directorate, Ministry of Development, public works and administration

During her long, dedicated service within the technical departments of the Ministry of Development, Public Works and Administration, our National Champion stands out as an inspiration to other public officials both within Romania and beyond.  She was directly responsible for the transposition of the EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive into Romanian legislation and has frequently taken steps to improve the legislation over the years.  Faced with very limited human resources, she has succeeded in leading extensive exchanges with affected stakeholders in the development of Romanian Regulations and its Long-Term Renovation Strategy.

She has also positively influenced generations of urban planners and architects through her lecturing work at the Ion Mincu University and has been recognised by her peers for her work as a national expert within European Commission and Council of Europe expert working groups on urban development and planning issues.

 

 

 

BULGARIAN NATIONAL CHAMPION

Todor Nikolov Popov

Head of Directorate “Administrative, Legal and Information Services”, Gabrovo Municipality

For his pioneering spirit and tenacity in pursuing the creation of energy communities against strong bureaucratic headwinds and for his openness to share his experience with others and inspire them to establish energy communities in their cities.  Also, for his commitment to bring substantial support to many families in upgrading their multi-family buildings, and in establishing Gabrovo’s first one stop shop for renovation and renewables as well as for demonstrating leadership skills in his work with the EU Mission for 100 Climate-Neutral Cities.

 

 

 

 

 

CROATIAN NATIONAL CHAMPION

Irena Križ Šelendić

Director of Directorate for Energy Efficiency in the Buildings Sector, European Union Projects and Programmes Ministry of Physical Planning, Construction and State Assets

For her outstanding dedication to the cause of energy efficiency within the Ministry of Construction and for her steady leadership in her role as Director of the Directorate for Energy Efficiency in the Buildings Sector.  Our laureate deserves recognition for her work in the aftermath of the 2020 earthquakes as she was highly influential in preparing the Croatian National Recovery and Resilience Plan which has seen about €2 billion in EU Funds being channelled into the seismic reinforcing and energy efficiency improvement of countless buildings in Croatia.  She has also shown strong willingness to engage and listen to stakeholders in the preparatory phases of regulations and legislation in Croatia.

 

 

 

 

CZECH NATIONAL CHAMPION

Nathalie Marková

Director of the Energy Efficiency and Savings Department, Ministry of Industry and Trade

An influencer that inspires through her outstanding leadership and innovative approach to advancing energy efficiency policies in Czechia.  Our National Champion has consistently demonstrated integrity, a spirit of openness, and an unwavering dedication to the public interest.  Furthermore, she was the Czech negotiator for the recast of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive and is now engaging with a broad range of stakeholders in the implementation phase where the EU rules must be transposed into national and local regulations.  She has spearheaded several strategic initiatives that align the industrial and commercial sectors with Czechia’s broader energy transition goals.

 

 

 

 

HUNGARIAN NATIONAL CHAMPION

Dr. Tamás Csoknyai

Head of Department, Associate Professor at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics

A long-standing expert in the provisions of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, having developed, with colleagues, the Hungarian energy performance of buildings regulations for all iterations of the Directive since 2002.  He is renowned for his precise work in developing a reliable methodology for creating an overview of the Hungarian residential building stock.  His engagement as lecturer at the Hungarian Chamber of Engineers, training energy engineers and certifiers means that he has assisted generations of engineers to understand the complexity of good energy certification procedures and processes.

 

 

 

 

POLISH NATIONAL CHAMPION

Dorota Zawadzka-Stępniak

President of the Management Board, National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management

Recently appointed (2024) as President of the Management Board, our Champion is bringing a new dynamic to the Polish National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management through her clear, courageous, and forward-looking leadership.  She has led the reform of the flagship Clean Air Programme – a reform that started with a challenging five-month suspension of the programme – to improve the quality of works, cut down on fraud, and secure the energy efficiency foundations of the Programme.  The new NFEP strategy now sees 80% of the institutions budget being dedicated to energy efficiency and low-emissions technologies.  Just as impressive was her work at the Warsaw City Hall where she was responsible for developing an effective air quality monitoring system.  She also brought Warsaw into the EU Mission for 100 Climate-Neutral Cities.

 

 

 

SLOVAKIAN NATIONAL CHAMPION

Team of the ‘Renovate Your House’ program under the recent leadership of Juraj Moravčík
General Director, Slovak Environment Agency

A truly impressive success story, the Slovak Environment Agency support scheme “Renovate Your House”, was non-existent when the COVID-19 epidemic struck.  Today, under the leadership of its General Director it is managing the “Renovate Your House” subsidy scheme which will deeply energy renovate 25,000 family homes in the period from 2022 to 2026.  The funding for the scheme comes from the EU Recovery and Resilience Fund and amounts to an impressive €500 million.  The team at the Slovak Environment Agency have managed this amidst changing ministers, a persistent energy crisis, geopolitical and security turmoil and it has succeeded in achieving national outreach of the scheme, an emphasis on deep renovations, and improved awareness and public perception.