This project is completed. The aim of this project was to create and share the necessary knowledge to increase the number of energy communities in Southeast Europe, paying special attention to gender justice and business model innovation.
Awareness Energy Communities Energy Transition Energy Transition and Climate-Neutral Buildings Gender Renewable Energy
Albania, Germany, Greece
10/20 - 09/22
General public, Public sector, Local governments, Regional governments
702,354.72 €
Antonia Proka
Citizen energy is a means for citizens to take climate action into their own hands. With the Clean Energy Package and the Electricity Directive, the EU has emphasised the significance of citizen energy for participation, innovation and inclusion. For the first time, EU legislation thus acknowledges the role of community energy ownership meeting its climate and energy objectives – while at the same time driving local innovation. In the long term, the Directive embraced the vision of an Energy Union, where citizens are enabled to become the driving force behind energy transition.
The European Citizen Energy Academy supported the citizen energy movement throughout Europe. It did so by fostering knowledge creation and transfer between Southeast and Central Europe. More specifically, it provided knowledge and tools on community building, development and cooperation between communities. Best practice examples illustrate how to overcome the barriers for citizen energy.
The Academy organised workshops and coaching sessions primarily in Albania, Greece, and Germany. Furthermore, workshop and study tours take place in Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Two summer schools foster cooperation between citizens in Southeast Europe, where citizen energy is just developing, and well-established energy communities in Central Europe.
The project employed an inclusive approach, which involved citizens of different ages and genders as well as socio-economic and ethnic groups. It thus also contributes to overcoming energy and mobility poverty as well as gender inequality.
Last update: April 2025