A fundamental aspect of the CEES Project was that each Partner would pilot at least one new energy solidarity mechanism over the course of one full year.
Within the Project, each Partner that either was an EC or worked closely with people in situations of energy vulnerability committed to trying new approaches. Most had already been implemented and proven effective by another Partner. Over the three-year roll-out, Partners collaborated closely in the following ways:
- Year 1: Partners chose the mechanisms they would pilot, set up action plans and sought mentorship from experienced peers. Partners also received guidance from the University of Birmingham on how to plan for eventual evaluation of their pilots.
- Year 2: A full year was chosen to pilot new mechanisms in order to give time to identify and engage with households and collaborators and to implement measures across all four seasons.
- Year 3: The final year of CEES has focused primarily on evaluating outcomes of the pilots. During this time, CEES also offered capacity building workshops to help other ECs start planning and/or implementing energy solidarity measures.
Post-pilot assessment informative for all ECs
In the post-pilot phase, CEES Partners assessed how easy or difficult it was to implement each measure in terms of material costs, human resource and overall replicability.
ECs planning to incorporate energy solidarity into their vision and mission may find the following table useful for getting an initial overview of what mechanisms may align with their existing capacities. Each mechanism is described in more detail in the relevant chapters of the Toolkit and in the blogs in this area of the CEES website. Most have specific tips from the CEES Partners that chose to pilot it.
Click through to read more blogs related to ‘Getting Started’.
- ECs need to onboard new skills
- Energy solidarity to tackle energy poverty
- Aligning community needs and EC capacity
- Putting energy solidarity into practice
- The Energy Solidarity Toolkit
- An evolving role for energy communities
- Assigning roles: staff or volunteers
- Understanding energy poverty, broadly and in local contexts