Day 1: Tuesday, 5 May

The European Energy Communities Facility aims to support and empower energy communities across Europe. This EU project coordinated by REScoop.eu will distribute a total of €7 million to at least 140 energy communities to help them develop and implement solid business plans for their renewable energy projects. This session will introduce the scope of the second call for proposals in detail.

Building on Latvia’s strong tradition of mobilised communities, this session explores energy communities as democratic, member-owned structures that strengthen local resilience and energy security. The keynote by Elgars Felcis will set the scene, drawing on experience with off-grid systems, rural innovation, and sustainability research to highlight why trust, social organisation, and shared responsibility are as critical as technology or finance. The discussion will then examine how democratic governance supports mobilisation, long-term commitment, and community-owned resilience across rural Europe.

European legislation increasingly emphasises the social value of energy communities, such as their potential to mitigate energy poverty and contribute to a more inclusive energy transition. In practice initiatives face numerous challenges in their efforts to generate social benefits for their members and wider communities, let alone measuring them. The workshop showcases examples of initiatives striving for increased inclusion and fair representation and examines the success factors and barriers they encounter. In addition, it discusses tools and processes that help energy communities assess their social impact. The session is organised by the Heinrich Böll Foundation in Schleswig-Holstein (Germany) and the foundation's Office in Thessaloniki (Greece) with the support of the German Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU).

Speakers:

Olie Pendered and Ben White, Community Energy Pathways

Cécile Gueguen, Énergie Partagée

Vasilis Filippou, Energy Community of Karditsa

Urszula Papajak, German Citizens' Energy Alliance, Bente Knoll, B-NK GmbH

Do you feel a bit overwhelmed by all the different tools out there to help you? Well, we’ve looked at all the tools and guidebooks for energy communities, and we can help you find your way around them!

In this session, we will “visit” some new and well-established virtual and physical One-Stop-Shops and show you how they are making it easier than ever for citizens, local authorities, and SMEs to develop and work together in energy communities.

Why do some energy communities gain traction while others struggle to be taken seriously? In this interactive session, participants will uncover the hidden “legitimacy gap” holding communities back – and, more importantly, how to close it by influencing the process through which they are being “legitimized”. Combining research insight and practical experiences from the Netherlands, we will explore how legitimacy is built in practice. Through dialogue and hands-on co-design, participants will map their own obstacles, exchange strategies, and identify concrete pathways to strengthen recognition, trust and long-term success in their own context. Particular attention will be paid to the formalization of governance norms for energy communities, as is currently happening in the Netherlands.

Disinformation is a growing concern across Europe, with 51% of Europeans reporting exposure to misleading content online and 63% of young people encountering it more than once a week. It can be particularly dangerous in times of crisis, such as blackouts. This interactive workshop will explore how energy- and climate-related disinformation spreads, what forms it can take, how to spot it, and how to address it. The session will focus on blackout situations, when stress, uncertainty, and a lack of reliable information fuel the spread of misleading stories and false narratives. We will discuss the role that energy communities and civil society organizations – with a special focus on youth - can play before, during, and after blackouts. We will analyze concrete examples and draw on the lived experiences of the audience. Participants will be invited to co-create practical ideas for building trust, ensuring clear communication, and strengthening community resilience during power outages. The session will be facilitated by Kacper Lubiewski (Stocznia Foundation) and Kasia Smętek (Forum Energii) and is supported by HBS Warsaw.

Bring your challenge — and leave with solutions.

In this hands-on session, participants tackle real project challenges through a structured, peer-driven “clinic” format. Small groups exchange experiences, test ideas, and co-develop practical next steps.

Experts will be on hand to support discussions and share targeted insights. Each group will walk away with concrete actions to try in the coming months. Challenges will be selected before the Forum.

This workshop explores how rural energy communities carry shared responsibility in real-life conditions marked by limited capacity, strong social ties, and long-term risk. Focusing on people and governance, it examines what happens to democratic decision-making, leadership, and accountability when pressure, fatigue, and conflict emerge—and why some rural initiatives endure while others stall. Drawing on practitioner experience and policy perspectives, the discussion links lived community practice to regional, national, and EU-level frameworks, challenging simplified narratives of scaling and success.

This workshop offers a hands-on introduction to the SOCIALNRG Train-the-Trainers programme, inviting participants to step into the role of future multipliers of inclusive energy community practices. Together with leading practitioners, the session will actively explore how SOCIALNRG’s capacity-building tools and practical blueprints can be used, adapted, and transferred to different local contexts to increase accessibility of community energy to all. Participants will work with selected elements of the programme, reflect on how they could apply them in their own settings, and discuss what it takes to train others to do the same. The session aims to spark ideas, build confidence, and support participants in taking the first steps toward developing their own inclusive energy community initiative.

This session, co-organised by LIFE-DHC and Interreg Aquacom will explore how energy communities are installing thermal energy systems across Europe; We will explore different technologies and their benefits such as aquathermal energy, as well as financing schemes, and how national and EU frameworks can become supportive of Community-led Heating and Cooling. We will showcase 2 practical examples (BE an NL) of a successful community-led thermal projects, detailing the journey from initial planning to operational success.