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Heidelberg in Germany. The city is taking part in the Belief European project, which is supported by the Intelligent Energy Europe program.

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20 towns and cities are taking part in the Belief project. They've all chosen to invest in the promotion of sustainable energy use.

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And they've done this through effective communication strategies. Heidelberg has got the active support of its mayor.

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Here we are in our beautiful historic city hall. We are a historic city, but we also want to be a modern city, an internationally oriented city.

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And we also want to show that with our commitment to the city, we are playing a leading role in climate protection, in the fight against greenhouse gas emissions.

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The city wanted to set a good example through the construction of this fire station. It was built using what's known as passive architecture,

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which means very little energy is needed to heat the building. It's a way for the people of Heidelberg to see the new building techniques for themselves.

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We're off now to Dunkirk, another town in the Belief European project. Here too, the town authorities decided to take the lead.

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Frederic Mabille is the energy director for the Dunkirk urban community. With his team, he launched a somewhat innovative communication plan.

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This is the air temperature of all the buildings in the Dunkirk agglomeration. It's used to measure all the thermal losses in the roof of the buildings.

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Marc Ducroch is the owner of a hotel in central Dunkirk. Today, he has an appointment with the energy councillor in the urban community to see the thermal imaging of the roof of his building.

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Following this demonstration, Marc Ducroch decides to visit one of his fellow hoteliers, Vincent Tricquet. He manages a hotel on the beachfront.

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It's six months now since he installed solar panels.

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Vincent Tricquet acts as the central relay point for the whole hotel community in Dunkirk. So, by convincing one person of the value of solar panels, the city is able to reach other potential targets in the hotel world.

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This is the essence of the Belief European project, to believe in someone you know.

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In Heidelberg, this concept has been taken to its limits. Posters have been plastered all over the city with portraits of different people from all walks of life.

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They explain what they're doing for sustainable energy use.

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This public awareness campaign starts very young. Around 20 schools in the city are taking part in this environmental campaign.

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We think that our students, apart from reading and writing and mathematics, should also have knowledge of the environment and the whole ecological context.

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In order to convince as many people as possible to play their part in sustainable energy use, initiatives such as the Belief project help to educate different communities by using very concrete examples.

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Today, there are more than 100 communities like the ones we've seen in the EU. And what if you were to join and become part of one of them?