Nearly 35 million people in the European Union (representing around 8% of its population) say they were unable to keep their homes at a healthy temperature in 2020. This, together with rising energy prices and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, means that this figure is likely to increase and many more households will be affected by this problem. For this reason, the European Commission is committed to tackling energy poverty and protecting the most vulnerable consumers through its policies ( such as the Clean Energy for all Europeans Package , the National Energy Climate Plans or the Fit for 55 package ) and initiatives (such as the Energy Poverty Advisory Hub EPAH ).
RENOVERTY Project
RENOVERTY , a project funded by the LIFE programme , will follow these steps by promoting the improvement of the energy efficiency of buildings in households that may be vulnerable and that are located in the areas of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), South-Eastern Europe (SEE) and Southern European countries (SE).
It is observed that residents of rural areas are at greater risk of poverty and social exclusion, as far fewer renovation and transition initiatives are carried out in these rural areas1. In fact, rural residents face multiple challenges in terms of energy poverty, starting with the lack of access to adequate technical and social infrastructures, and going through socio-economic inequalities. There is also a need for greater participation and public representation so that these rural areas can be effective and efficient and participate democratically in the energy transition processes that are underway to reduce carbon emissions.
To effectively support vulnerable consumers, the EU has focused on renovation through the Renovation Wave programme, which aims to improve the renovation rate of buildings to enable households to reduce their final energy consumption and improve their quality of life. In this sense, the RENOVERTY project will build on the Renovation Wave and address these gaps by facilitating energy renovations in the worst performing buildings in these rural areas. It will do so by developing and replicating roadmaps.
All renovations and rehabilitations of buildings will be carried out by providing tools and resources to support local actors in the construction and implementation of these roadmaps, which must be financially viable.
“Energy poverty and vulnerability have been a priority concern for Member States and the Commission since the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the resulting rise in energy prices last year. Despite the growing attention and need to reduce this phenomenon, little research has been conducted on the incidence or degree of energy poverty in households located in rural and peri-urban areas”, says Mara Oprea, Energy and Climate Expert at IEECP and Coordinator of the RENOVERTY Project. “The RENOVERTY project seeks to put rural energy poverty on the map by identifying key indicators that analyse the populations at greatest risk, which will allow for more targeted support, while also seeking to alleviate rural vulnerability by promoting improvements in the energy efficiency of energy-vulnerable households, through replicable and scalable renovation roadmaps. As the first EU-funded project dedicated solely to mitigating rural and peri-urban energy poverty, the results of the next three years will set the tone for progress in relation to these groups. A responsibility that we do not take lightly,” concludes Oprea.
Project pilots
Thus, in the next three years, the project will have an impact in 7 pilot countries: Croatia, Estonia, Hungary, Slovenia (CEE, SEE region), Italy, Portugal and Spain (ES region). In all of them, the aim is to guarantee the replicability of the model and scale it up to the level of the entire European Union.
For the project to have a long-term trajectory, RENOVERTY wants to guarantee the replicability of the model in order to guide other public actors to renovate other rural areas that may be in a situation of vulnerability. Due to the participatory approach implemented throughout the project, it is expected that its results will also be applicable beyond the geographical and temporal limits of the project.
RENOVERTY is expected to help around 115 households obtain adequate rehabilitations that can improve their quality of life and, at the same time, reduce their energy bills. In addition, the project’s replication activities will have an indirect impact on around 1,150 vulnerable households nationwide. It is hoped that, once the project is completed, and with other regions in mind, effective policies for rural areas can be implemented.
To obtain more information about the project you can visit the project website .
About the RENOVERTY project
RENOVERTY promotes improvements in the energy efficiency of buildings in all those households in a situation of energy vulnerability in the countries of the CEE, SEE and ES, as it establishes the methodological and practical framework to build renovation roadmaps that serve rural districts considered vulnerable. And that do so in a financially viable and socially fair way.
Specifically, the project aims to provide tools and resources to help local and regional actors build and implement operational roadmaps, whether for a single household or for multiple households, and always for rural areas. It is also planned to create a scalable model that ensures a wide geographical replicability and the European-wide implementation of these roadmaps. Strategically, the project will contribute to minimizing the logistical, financial, administrative and legal burdens caused by a complex and multi-stakeholder housing renovation process.
In addition, RENOVERTY aims to ensure that building renovations take the social dimension into account and incorporate aspects such as safety, comfort and improved accessibility into their roadmaps. All this to further improve the quality of life of vulnerable populations. During the three years of the project, seven pilots located in Sveta Nedelja (Croatia), Tartu (Estonia), Bükk-*Mak & Somló-*Marcalmente-*Bakonyalja Leader (Hungary), Zasavje (Slovenia), Parma (Italy), Coimbra (Portugal), and Osona (Spain) will implement these roadmaps, while in the long term it is expected that there will be a greater integration of rural and peri-urban development.
* Co-funded by the European Union under project ID 101077033. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or CINEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
