transformation
Ollersdorf, Austria 
The first LocalRES citizens’ workshop took place in Berchidda!
Every Renewable Energy Community has its own goals and ideas on how to create a more sustainable future. Berchidda community will be no exception!
On April 14th 2022, during a three-day event, LocalRES and other European projects met the local community of Berchidda.
Berchidda is a 3000 inhabitants village located in the north of Sardinia Island. The village adhered the Covenant of Mayors with the aim of achieving energy independence.
For the LocalRES project, it was an opportunity to present the project and its concept, to get feedback from users on its planning tool and to create a dialogue with the local community, during a workshop that focused on defining the most urgent goals and needs.
This workshop is the first of a series of four co-design sessions that aim to gather information and inputs for the design of a planning tool to support local communities, involving citizens from the demonstration sites.
Workshop Introduction
During this event, the LocalRES team introduced the overall concept of a Renewable Energy Community (REC).
Then, some guidelines and examples about how a REC could create a more sustainable future were shared in order to generate knowledge and inspire the audience. The session was also the occasion to listen to the community and to get to know the main needs and goals.
Presentation of LocalRES’ assistance and solutions
In line with the expressed objectives, the project team presented the solution that the planning tool could provide to the local community under four main scenarios – each focusing on a specific energy service (PV production, heat pumps, rural micro wind turbines, electric vehicles).
A mock-up of the planning tool was also shown to the citizens.
Collecting the citizen’s feedbacks
After the introduction, a plenary session allowed the team to gather feedback on citizens’ interests in the future energy community and the planning tool.
Fortunately, 69% of participants were either very interested or interested in participating in decisions about common energy issues. 77% of participants said they would also be personally interested or very interested in using the planning tool.
However, when asked who they would prefer as the primary user of the tool, 62% of them thought of group use at collaborative community events rather than individual citizen use. Finally, they expressed a preference for the tool to be a phone app.
All these results will be incorporated into the development of the planning tool.
Coming soon…
At the end of the session, the plan for the installation of the 20 domestic heat pumps was presented. The selection criteria were re-explained, and the personal contacts of the participants were collected to contact them again in the coming weeks.
