ECHO – Energy Community Excellence Hubs: Catalysing Energy Innovation Ecosystems

Building on the need to ensure both speed and justice in Europe’s green transition, ECHO places strong emphasis on equipping local ecosystems with the tools and networks they need to shape their own energy futures.

Energy Communities

Energy communities are local and participatory structures in which citizens, local authorities, cooperatives and small businesses come together to engage in renewable energy generation, energy sharing and energy services.
Rather than being driven by profit, these initiatives are built on the principles of social benefit, democratic governance and local ownership, and aim to strengthen citizen participation while contributing to the fight against energy poverty.

ECHO Objectives

The ECHO Project aims to:

• Establish regional Excellence Hubs that support the development of energy communities,
• Strengthen cooperation between academia, public authorities, the private sector and civil society,
• Enhance knowledge and skills across the energy community value chain through targeted training activities,
• Implement pilot initiatives that address energy poverty and strengthen citizen participation,
• Strengthen alignment with policy processes and develop replicable models for different local contexts.

The Excellence Hubs Approach

The Excellence Hubs to be established within the scope of the project are designed as regional focal points that bring together public institutions, academia, the private sector and civil society, strengthen local capacities and ensure long-term, structured cooperation among stakeholders.
The hubs will function as centres for training, co-creation, pilot implementation and policy interaction.

Within the ECHO framework, the hubs aim to:

• Systematically bring together local authorities, energy communities, academic institutions, private sector actors and civil society organisations in order to build cooperation networks,
• Generate and share knowledge, expertise and good practices for the development of energy communities,
• Strengthen institutional, technical and governance capacities at the local level,
• Develop concrete and actionable strategies to overcome barriers and constraints related to legislation, financing, governance and implementation processes.

Expected Outputs of the ECHO Project

The project is expected to deliver:

• Training programmes and capacity-building activities,
• Innovation toolkits and methodological guidelines,
• Case studies and good practices based on pilot projects,
• Policy briefs and strategic recommendations.

Follow ECHO

To stay informed about ECHO project activities, training programmes, pilot actions and event announcements, you can follow the project’s official website and social media channels.

ECHO Website
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