Organised by
REScoop.eu
Cost
7500
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Animated by
Ecopower/Ecolife
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Languages
EN, NL
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Goal of the MC
The aim of the LICHT approach is to help municipalities achieve their climate and energy goals set when signing the Covenant of Mayors and writing their sustainable energy action plan (SEAP). By collaborating with its Belgian members and other local and European partners working on the energy transition, REScoop.eu has been setting up and supporting nine ECCO’s (rural renewable energy communities of citizens, farmers and other SMEs) in the Province of Flemish Brabant. The LICHT trajectory prepares citizens in ECCO’s to select investment opportunities in their municipality to ensure citizen participation in local energy projects. LICHT, an example of energy democracy Europe’s energy system, currently dominated by a small number of large utilities, will shift from one based on fossil and nuclear fuels to renewable energy, from centralised to decentralised production, and from a system that wastes energy to a system that uses energy in an efficient way. If we really want the transition to succeed, we need to mobilise local authorities and aggregate the renewable energy and energy efficiency projects that they identified in their sustainable energy and local energy action plans. On the other hand the potential for people - individually and through their community, public entities and small enterprises – to actively engage in the energy transition is significant. By 2050, at least half of EU citizens could be producing their own renewable electricity. Through the LICHT approach, municipalities collaborate with local civil society organizations and actively involve their citizens through direct participation in renewable energy projects. By bridging the municipalities ambitions on one hand and the huge potential citizens have in contributing to these ambitions on the other, the LICHT approach is an example for energy democracy.
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Targetted Group
LICHT brings citizens interested in becoming active in the energy transition together in local LICHT groups/ECCO’s/Renewable Energy Communities.
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Previous Requirements
Interest in renewable energy, local economy, ...
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Dynamic Animation
N/A
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Feedback & Testimonies
None
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Numerical Support
N/A
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Case Study
None
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Duration
1 day
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Localisation
local
Program
The journey starts with an inspirational session where Dirk Vansintjan, the president of REScoop.eu, presents the possibilities and opportunities for citizens and farmers to engage in the energy transition.
The aim of the LICHT approach is to create a LICHT-group and teach them how to select, evaluate, execute and communicate about good renewable energy projects. The support trajectory helps building local capacity for the energy transition following the principle of ‘train the trainer’ of citizens and their municipality. It consists of 5 working sessions aiming at participation and building support for renewable energy and technical and financial screening of feasible energy projects and a final event where similar groups are brought together to exchange experiences and discuss collaboration.
The LICHT working sessions
- Session 1: Intake + action plan:
1. Needs analysis + ambition level
2. Clarification of expectations and coordination
3. (Retro) planning
4. Timing & agreements (Ecolife)
- Session 2: How to create public support:
* How to facilitate the functioning of new or existing citizen groups?
* How to reach and mobilize other citizens? (Ecolife)
- Session 3: Screening of energy projects:
* Discussion of methodology / parameters to assess project proposals for technical / financial feasibility
* Explanation assignment in preparation for session 4 (REScoop.eu and Ecopower)
- Session 4: Development of energy projects:
* Suggestions for adjustment and optimisation of project proposal
* Screening location, writing and personalizing proposal, discussing proposal
* Giving reference text for the tender (REScoop.eu and Ecopower)
- Session 5: Valorisation/consolidation:
* How to further embed citizen participation in the municipalities activities around the local energy transition? (Ecolife).
Contact:
Daan Creupelandt
