Save the Date: Community Energy Spring Gathering

Back to the roots of (energy) democracy!

The current and unprecedented fossil fuel crisis is calling us to radically rethink Europe’s energy system. Energy communities have an important role to play in this context, and opportunities for citizens to take action in the energy sector have increased in recent years, leading to innovative collaborations based on community values and democratic principles. Still, many citizens in different parts of Europe are struggling to get their projects off the ground.

What’s more, the ongoing crisis is highlighting the need to strengthen and live our democratic values if we are to create a healthy and resilient society in our region and beyond. An important part of this is the development of concrete pathways to realise the cooperative movement's vision for energy democracy and for the economy. And what better place to co-develop such pathways than the birthplace of democracy?

It’s time to get ready to unlock the next level of community energy!

For this purpose, we’re excited to invite you to three days of workshops and exchanges with citizens and other local stakeholders to boost the community energy movement! Building on the success of last year’s first Community Energy Summer School, the Community Energy Spring Gathering will continue to help foster community energy networks in Eastern Europe and the Balkans, and offer training and workshops for starting and advanced energy communities.

What to expect?

The Community Energy Spring Gathering will contain two streams of activities and workshops. The first stream of workshops will focus on gathering community leaders from Eastern Europe and the Balkans to consolidate and support the community energy movement in the region, where citizen energy is less established compared to Central and Western Europe.

The second stream of activities and workshops will be oriented towards more established energy communities and members of REScoop.eu.

By letting these two streams flow together at different points within the programme, we hope to create a space to learn from each other and foster strong collaborations within a growing movement. This gathering is hence a unique opportunity to take stock of lessons learned from the community energy movement’s rich and inspiring history and share ideas, tools and knowledge about how to re-empower communities, ultimately going back to the roots of energy democracy.

REScoop.eu’s General Assembly

Alongside the Spring Gathering, REScoop.eu will organise its 10th Annual General Assembly on Wednesday 10 May, where we hope to meet our members in person for the first time since the pandemic to celebrate the federation’s 10th anniversary. We warmly invite our members to participate in the second stream of activities and workshops, which will replace our yearly Annual Conference.

This event will be organised with the support of the European Climate Foundation. We’ll build on expertise from Electra Energy, Athens-based social cooperative that supports the energy democracy movement in Greece and South-East Europe and member of REScoop.eu, to manage on-site preparations.

More information and website coming soon, stay tuned!