MedSkyTour – Interreg Euro-MED – Co-funded by the European Union

Module B · Transnational Starlight Guidelines

Set the right standards

A common Mediterranean reference for outdoor lighting: what to require for public lighting, homes and businesses – and where, through five lighting zones from naturally dark to bright city centres.

Download the Guidelines (PDF) Limit values by zone (Annex 2, PDF)

A reference, not a legal instrument: where a binding rule is stricter, that rule applies; where the Guidelines are stricter, your authority can adopt their values in its own by-law, lighting plan or tender.

Three questions for every light

Standards say how to light a place once the decision to light is taken. The Guidelines start earlier: every public lighting decision comes down to whether, how and when to light – and then how to make it happen through contracts and renovation.

R1–R6

Whether to light

New lighting needs a recorded assessment of need. If no need is shown, the space stays unlit – an unlit, safe space is an asset, not a deficiency.

  1. What task is the light for?
  2. Who uses the space at night, and when?
  3. What conflicts could it create – residents, sky, nature?
  4. Would markings or sensor lighting do instead?
  5. What would happen if it stayed unlit?
How to do it: Light only what is needed →
R7–R12

How to light

  • No light above the horizontal – fully shielded, mounted flat, no tilt
  • Warmest colour – max 3000 K, 2200 K in protected areas, amber in the darkest zones
  • Lowest level that meets the need, within the zone ceiling
  • Only the surface that needs it – no spill onto windows or nature
  • Never light water; on the coast, face away from the sea
How to do it: Fully shielded luminaires →
R13–R15

When to light

  • A reduced deep-night regime every night
  • Regimes that follow the tourist season, not the August peak all year
  • Festive lighting for a defined period only
  • Dimmable controls, astronomical time switches, presence detection
How to do it: Dimming and part-night lighting →
R16–R24

How it reaches the ground

  • Write the requirements into every tender
  • Keep a lighting inventory; renovate the worst first
  • Treat every lamp change as a new design
  • Verify at commissioning and after maintenance
  • Incentives and certification – e.g. Karlovac’s energy performance contract
See the Karlovac practice →