COMMUNITY

ENERGY COMMUNICATION
GUIDE
COMMUNITY ENERGY COMMUNICATIONS
AT THE LOCAL LEVEL
COMMUNITY ENERGY - COMMUNICATION GUIDE

DE
COM MU NIC ATI ON GUI

COMMUNITY
ENERGY
COMMUNITY ENERGY COMMUNICATIONS
COMMUNICATION
GUIDE

AT THE LOCAL LEVEL

APRIL 2022

If you have questions or feedback about the information

contained in this book, please contact us, the Authors:

Sara Tachelet Sara Giovannini Reviewers: Oscar Güell,

REScoop.eu Energy Cities Stanislas d’Herbemont
sara.tachelet@rescoop.eu sara.giovannini@energy-cities.eu (REScoop.eu) and Miriam
www.rescoop.eu www.energy-cities.eu Eisermann (Energy Cities).

All contents © REScoop.eu, Energy Cities (unless indicated). We gratefully acknowledge financial assistance from the European Climate Foundation. The contents
of this publication are the sole responsibility of the authors and cannot be regarded as reflecting the position of any of the funders mentioned above.

Cover image: Human windmill. © REScoop.eu

COMMUNITY ENERGY - COMMUNICATION GUIDE

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FOREWORD REVOLVE 4 CHAPTER 3 ENGAGEMENT AT THE HEART

OF ENERGY COMMUNITIES 39
CONTEXT 6
The organisations behind this guide 7 How to understand the community
How to read and use this guide? 8 around you? 43
From ambition to action 45
Ladder of engagement 45
CHAPTER 1 BUILDING YOUR
Enabling interaction 50
COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGY 9
The general assembly - formalising
Setting your communication objectives 10 members’ empowerment 51
Defining your audience 12 How to assure long-term engagement? 52
Developing compelling messages 13 Members as ambassadors 53
Choosing the right actions to spread the word 16 Skills 55
Channels & activities 18
Online communication 18
CHAPTER 4 DIFFERENT ACTORS,
Print 20
DIFFERENT OPPORTUNITIES 57
In-person communication 21
Your project’s visual identity 22 Local authorities 58
Finding synergies 24 Cooperatives 60

CHAPTER 2 HOPEFUL STORYTELLING CHAPTER 5 COMMUNITY ENERGY

FOR A BETTER FUTURE 27 CAMPAIGNS 63

What is storytelling? 28 Awareness raising 64

Why storytelling? 30 Political pressure 67
Mere facts and figures won’t change Growing membership 70
people’s minds 31 Demographics 70
How to give your story impact 33 Customise your communications 70
Tips for writing a good story 35 Make it personal 71
Crowdfunding 72
Creating spaces to educate 74

REFERENCES 76
 COMMUNITY ENERGY - COMMUNICATION GUIDE

FOREWORD
REVOLVE
HEAT T R A N S P O RT & M O B I L I T Y

4|

We know now that some 100 Indeed, I would say that citizen and
corporations are responsible for resident engagement is the more
approximately 70% of global greenhouse important parallel track to the Big Players
gases. We also know that the Big Players – perhaps even the long-term ‘holy grail’ –
alone won’t be able to bring about the for pursuing a more embedded, engaged
changes we need. If we want to slow and ultimately a more encompassing
climate change, we need everyone energy transformation for our societies.
involved because we can all make a People – as consumers and prosumers
difference. This Guide gives clear – have the power to change their
indications of how and what it means consumption habits and their sources
to come together in taking action of energy. Everyone has a choice of what
collectively to address the biggest mode of transport they take, what food
challenge of our times. they eat, what electricity they use…

Moreover, we can organise ourselves

in Energy Communities that bring clean
energy to our territories. What makes
these Energy Communities different from
most Big Players: citizens and residents
are no longer just consumers, they actually
own the power installations. They have
invested their own money and time to
deliver clean energy, energy efficiency,
and clean mobility projects.
COMMUNITY ENERGY - COMMUNICATION GUIDE

Energy Communities work together with If islands and remote areas can be energy
their local authorities to make the best independent, then continental Europe can
use of local resources, and to ensure they become energy independent and rely more |5
benefit the entire community. The returns robustly and securely on local renewable
on investment from these projects are very sources of energy. Read this Guide
often used to improve the well-being carefully, it is full of little gems and big tips
of the whole community while creating that will inspire you to make a move in
local employment. that direction and ultimately to change
the world in your way.
Local authorities, municipalities and
communities are clearly at the vanguard of
the energy transition – waiting for neither
Stuart Reigeluth
the corporates nor international politics to
Founder of REVOLVE
move – they are the closest to the people. www.revolve.media
As an example, at REVOLVE we carried out
campaigns with our Cities4Forests network
by planting a tree for every image posted Energy Democracy
Convergence
of people around trees and in nature. in Spain.
© REScoop.eu
Around the Mediterranean, REVOLVE is
also part of the Ecosystemic Transition
Unit initiative (as the campaign of the
INTERREG MED Renewable Energy
Communities) that aims to engage local
authorities and communities in
participating more pro-actively in the
energy transition. Islands and remote rural
areas are hugely symbolic of how energy
independence is possible for Europe.
 COMMUNITY ENERGY - COMMUNICATION GUIDE

CONTEXT PEOPLE
POWER
NOW!

6|

This Communication Guide complements In this short Communication Guide,

the publication “Community Energy - we attempt answer the most common
A practical guide to reclaiming power”. questions we receive from citizen groups
The Community Energy guide, published and local governments that wish to:
in 2019 by Friends of the Earth Europe,
• gain support for the launch of their
REScoop.eu and Energy Cities, explains the
community energy project;
European context in which the Community
Power movement operates, and highlights • motivate their residents, neighbours and
the benefits of community energy. stakeholders to take part in their project
It also presents the different steps to set
This Guide will help non-experts in
up your community energy project, which
communications to gain an initial
is why you won’t find this information
understanding of the topic, enough to
in this document. If you are not familiar
kick off communication and engagement
with the topic of community energy, we
activities for the development of local
recommend you read “Community Energy -
community energy projects. It will inspire
A practical guide to reclaiming power”
them with numerous examples of cities
before reading this Communication Guide.
and cooperatives that went before them
Today, many people still don’t know what and succeeded!
community energy is and the benefits it
DE
can offer in collectively addressing climate DOW NLO AD THE GUI

and social challenges. Spreading the word

about community energy is thus an Find out more: https://energy-
important aspect of leading the cities.eu/publication/community-energy/ or
ITY
MUN
COMRGY https://www.rescoop.eu/toolbox/comm
|1

transition to energy democracy. ER |1

ENE
POW
ING
LAIM
TO REC |1
GUIDE
CTICAL
A PRA |1

|1
unity-energy-a-practical-guide-to-
|1

|1

|1
reclaiming-power
COMMUNITY ENERGY - COMMUNICATION GUIDE

THE ORGANISATIONS
BEHIND THIS BOOK

The book was put together by two organisations who work together to speed up
the development of community energy across Europe.
|7

REScoop.eu is the Energy Cities is the

European federation European learning
of citizen energy community for future proof
cooperatives. We are a cities. We empower cities
growing network of 1,900 and citizens to shape their
European energy sustainable transition.
cooperatives and their We showcase concrete
1,250,000 citizens who alternatives deployed by
are active in the energy cities, we advocate for
transition. Through change in the political and
REScoop.eu, energy economic governance at all Kids with their paper
windmills.
cooperatives wish to make levels, and we foster wide- © Community energy
Ireland
their voices heard in the ranging cultural change
European energy debate. that leads to a future-proof
REScoop.eu empowers society. The Energy Cities’
citizens and cooperatives, community comprises
and aims to achieve local leaders of thousands
energy democracy. of cities in 30 European
countries.

Acknowledgments: We gratefully acknowledge the funding we received from the

European Climate Foundation. We are also thankful for the support and inspiration we
received from the members of REScoop.eu, Energy Cities and the Community Power
Coalition, who are important partners in our fight for putting citizens and communities
at the heart of the energy transition.
 COMMUNITY ENERGY - COMMUNICATION GUIDE

HOW TO READ
AND USE
THIS GUIDE? COMMUNITY

COMMUNITY ENERGY COMMUNICATION GUIDE

COMMUNICATION GUIDE

COMMUNITY
ENERGY COMMUNICATION
GUIDE
ENERGY COMMUNICATION
GUIDE
COMMUNITY ENERGY COMMUNICATIONS
COMMUNITY ENERGY COMMUNICATIONS
AT THE LOCAL LEVEL AT THE LOCAL LEVEL

energy is and the benefits it can offer in collectively

addressing climate and social challenges. Spreading

COMMUNITY ENERGY COMMUNICATIONS AT THE LOCAL LEVEL

renewable energy revolution!

Spread the word about our story of hope, belief, connectedness, empowerment
and possibility. This book can help you.

www.rescoop.eu

8|

We decided to focus on the aspects community (Chapter 3), ensuring your

of communication that, based on our communication can inspire the necessary
experience, could be useful to someone action to make your collective renewable
wanting to start a community energy project a reality. Chapter 4 focuses
energy project. on how local authorities and cooperatives
can use their respective strengths to
Nevertheless, Chapter 1 will present a
successfully plan and implement
general overview of the main steps in
communication actions. Finally, we bring
developing a communication strategy;
everything together in Chapter 5 in order
these tend to be similar for most projects
to guide you through what is probably
and sectors. In the following chapters, we
the most important tool for
will go into the details of communicating
#communitypower communication:
about community energy. You will read
a community energy campaign.
about hopeful storytelling, an important
tool for activists to reinforce their narrative
(Chapter 2), and how to engage your
COMMUNITY ENERGY - COMMUNICATION GUIDE

1
CHAPTER

BUILDING YOUR
COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGY
SETTING YOUR COMMUNICATION OBJECTIVES 10
DEFINING YOUR AUDIENCE 12
DEVELOPING COMPELLING MESSAGES 13
|9
CHOOSING THE RIGHT ACTIONS TO SPREAD THE WORD 16
CHANNELS & ACTIVITIES 18
YOUR PROJECT’S VISUAL IDENTITY 22
FINDING SYNERGIES 24

Energy Democracy
convergence.
© REScoop.eu
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When dealing with communications for the first time and tasked with promoting a great
project or initiative, you might think everyone will be as interested in the topic as you
are, and will immediately understand its importance and potential…And you might then
immediately start contemplating the actions you can take. But before deciding what you
are going to do, there are some very important preliminary steps to take: it’s time to
build your communication strategy!
10 |

SETTING YOUR
COMMUNICATION MIS? SIO
N

OBJECTIVES

Clarifying your communication objectives • What is your mission? What is the best
is the first step of your communication communications result you could hope
strategy. You and your team should start to achieve in the short to medium term?
by asking yourselves questions like:
• What is the vision behind your project?
In a best-case scenario, where do you
want to be in the medium to long term?
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SETTING YOUR
COMMUNICATION OBJECTIVES

For example, would you like to ensure that Once you have identified the main goals
the community energy actions your local of your communications, you should find
government is taking are known in your a way to transform these into concrete
city or municipality? Do you want to gain objectives with measurable indicators.
the local community’s support for your
We continue our considerations based
renewable energy project or are you
on the examples above: | 11
looking to recruit more members to
your cooperative?

GOALS MONITORING INSTRUMENT INDICATORS

We want more people to A citizen survey Percentage of positive

know about our community conducted before & after answers
energy project the communication actions

Greater support for the Interviews with a pool of Number of people

community energy project residents before & after the expressing support/voicing
communication campaign disagreement

X people joined the project Expressions of Number of people joining

interest/Attendance list

S
CTIVE
OBJEVISION, MISSION
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DEFINING
YOUR AUDIENCE

12 |

The second step would be to identify your and the power they have to negatively
target audience: who are you talking to? or positively influence your project. This
Think about the people or organisations type of classification will be useful not
that you would like to motivate to action, only for your communication activities
or the ones that you would be happy but also for the implementation of your
to simply inform or consult about your community energy project itself!
project. This step is very important,
• You can do as marketing companies
since your messages, but also the
do… and build generic personas. Think
communication or engagement actions
about a real person you would like to
you will plan, need to be audience specific.
speak to: What’s their name? What’s
Knowing your audience is fundamental, so their age or job? What interests them
make sure you allocate time to this activity. or would motivate them to participate?
Some might already have this knowledge Where would you find them? If someone
within their team; others might have to else knows the local community better
investigate a bit more. Nevertheless, there than you, ask him/her to help with
are a number of tools that you can use this task. You can find examples
to gather information. of personas in chapter 2.

• You can create a stakeholder map: think Of course there are plenty of ways
about all the stakeholders that might to gather information on your target
have an interest in your project and audience, and you can choose based on
write them down. Then try to classify the time and budget you have available:
them according to their level of think about organising interviews,
involvement (do you want them to play discussion groups or surveys in your area.
an active role in the project, to consult Chapter 3 contains more details and
with them, or to simply inform them), examples of audience definition.
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DEVELOPING
? !
COMPELLING ... !

MESSAGES

| 13

Once you are clear on the objectives and There are many different opinions on
the audience of your communications, the tone of voice to be used in our field
you can start thinking about your of work, but we believe it’s possible to
messages. Compelling messages should highlight the urgency of the issues you
not only inform the local community would like to address while avoiding
about your project, but also lead them “disaster language”. If you want people
to support it – if not to participate in it! to be motivated to act or support your
They should speak to the audience project, show the positive impact their
in a language they can understand contribution can have and the benefits
and are comfortable with. they can obtain. You will find more on
this topic in Chapter 2.
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DEVELOPING
COMPELLING MESSAGES

OUR ES
VALU

WHY
14 |

HOW
WHAT

The Golden Circle

concept by Simon Sinek.
© Creative Commons
Attribution-Share Alike 3.0
Unported license

START WITH THE WHY HOW DO YOU GET THERE?

First of all, your message should clarify You should then explain how you want
why you launched or want to launch this to achieve your vision, going into greater
(community energy) project. Make your detail concerning your idea: this is the
vision and motivations explicit from the moment to introduce your community
start in order to foster trust between you energy project!
and your community and to allow you to
share what you believe in, your values.
Values will help your audience relate to
WHAT IS YOUR PROJECT ABOUT?
your message, identify common ground, Finally, you can focus on your community
but also give meaning to your action and in energy project’s actions. This would be
general contribute to better remembering also the moment to clarify what your
your message. audience can do to help, the different
opportunities for them to contribute or
to have their say.
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B E S T P R A C T IC E S

STRASBOURG’S ENERGY BREWERS

EUROMETROPOLE | FRANCE
Strasbourg Eurometropole launched its first energy community “The Energy Brewers”
in 2020. The cooperative is the result of joint efforts and collaboration between the
| 15
renewables department of the City of Strasburg and the surrounding metropolitan
area as well as a number of its residents. If you don’t know the story of the
cooperative and how it came into being, be sure to listen to this episode of the CITY
STORIES podcast.

Its website is quite simple, but visitors will find that the main messages such as the
WHY-HOW and WHAT are presented well on the homepage. Since it aims to involve
each citizen in the project, the language used is purged of technical elements: you
don’t need to be an energy expert to understand the message.

The underlying beliefs and motivation are visible from the moment you arrive on
the homepage: as a cooperative, it believes in the one person/one vote principle,
it desires a local energy transition, and it wishes to give meaning to the local
community’s energy saving efforts. Scrolling down, you will see a description
of the project, its objectives and the timeline of the different actions.
FIND
OUT
MORE
Visit
https://www.brasseursdenergie.
eu/ to learn more about this
energy community

Listen to the Energy Cities

podcast: https://energy-
cities.eu/inspiring-
mind/strasburgs-first-energy-co
mmunity-a-long-exciting-ride/
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CHOOSING THE
RIGHT ACTIONS TO yes !

SPREAD THE WORD

LOCAL

16 |

When it comes to communication ACCESSIBILITY &

actions, there are many options to INCLUSIVITY/REACHING
choose from! The following section
contains a number of ideas, but in the end,
“UNUSUAL SUSPECTS”
the activities you choose should be the When organising an activity, have you
ones that are right for you based on the noticed that there are often the same people
following considerations: in the room, or that participation is poor?
Energy might not be the easiest subject,
1. The budget you have available
and it is obvious that some might be more
for communication
interested in your project than others
2. The number of people you can count because of their field of work, their studies
on in your team, their skills or personal interest. It might also be that the
and time available information you shared is not accessible to
certain categories of people because you
3. What you think your audience will
didn’t take their situation into account.
respond better to, where and how you
can reach them more effectively

Work with what you have and make

the most of it!
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CHOOSING THE RIGHT ACTIONS

TO SPREAD THE WORD

We recommend: • Think about age/gender/race/

minorities/geography, their concerns
• Taking time and choosing the right
and needs (e.g. language issues).
moment: time is a precious resource.
Try to schedule the activity for a time of • Make sure meeting rooms are
day/week that is most suitable for the accessible by wheelchair.
people you would like to involve. | 17
• Consider incentives: what would
• Offer different formats: for example, motivate your target audience to join
if you would like to involve local youth, your community or contribute to your
social media posts might be an option. project more than once?
If you wish to involve the residents of
a neighbourhood and they are mostly
elderly, a house visit or a phone call
might be best. Make sure information
is provided in audio format for the
visually impaired.
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CHANNELS
& ACTIVITIES
HOW CAN WE
GET INVOLVED?

gy
ener er!
unity
comm ’s do this tog
eth
let

18 |

Once you have defined your audience • How much time do you have available
and main messages, it’s time to think to post? Don’t underestimate the
about which channels you can use to amount of time it takes to create a
communicate and which activities you profile, build an audience and feed them
can develop. Many options are available: with content every day. In some cases,
some are briefly presented below and and especially if your project or
described more in depth in Chapters 3 campaign has a limited duration, it
& 5 of this guide. But don’t be afraid to might be more effective to use social
innovate: there’s a lot of room for media profiles that are already
creativity in communication! established such as one belonging to a
partner who has more followers or one
that belongs to the municipality that will
ONLINE COMMUNICATION be more easily trusted as a reliable
source of information.
SOCIAL MEDIA
• On social media, videos and images
Social media are familiar to most people
speak louder than words. Try to offer
nowadays, for both work and personal
good quality content that your audience
reasons. Therefore you might also want to
can engage with! You, for example,
use them for your project. Before creating
can include pictures of places or people
an account on any social media platform,
your audience may know. Proximity
you should consider the following:
can increase their interest.
• Which social media platform is most
used by your target audience in your
country? Try to select one or two
platforms that both you and your
audience are comfortable with.
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CHANNELS
& ACTIVITIES

WEBSITES ONLINE MEETINGS

A website will allow you to have a stable Online meetings can be a very simple way
online presence. Nowadays you can build to talk with people if you have no budget
a website on a very low budget, using for meeting accommodations or travel,
available templates. Your website should and especially if you want to bring people
be the place where you display the most from different cities together to share their | 19
important information about your project. experiences. They can be planned much
Make sure the address is not too long or quicker than a regular meeting, and there
complex so that it will be easily are plenty of platforms that you can use,
remembered. You don’t need to create too allowing you to also choose different
many sections: keep it simple and make formats (training, conference, working
sure visitors are able to contact you for sessions, etc). Just keep in mind that
more information. Finally, the content personal interaction will be reduced, not
should be up to date, in order to establish it everyone has the same IT skills, and
as a reliable source of information. What if people might suffer from online fatigue.
it’s not possible to create a comprehensive Which is why such meetings should not
website for your project? We advise you last too long or you should plan regular
to have some kind of online presence breaks throughout.
regardless. This could be via a simple web
page on one of your partners’ websites.

N WE
HOW CA
LVED?
GET INVO
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CHANNELS
& ACTIVITIES

PRINT BROCHURES, LEAFLETS & POSTERS

LOCAL PRESS A good graphic designer could help you

prepare a set of printed materials to give
Using local press might allow you to to residents and potential partners. Having
considerably expand your outreach. a visual identity might come in handy if
Placing news in the local newspaper might you wish to develop such communication
20 |
come with a price, but it’s worth doing if tools (see more branding tips on page 22).
your aim is to reach a general audience. Make sure there is a good balance of text
Having a stable presence in local media and quality images, and consider the best
will reinforce your position and narrative in time and place to use them, especially if
the community. You for example can invite you have a small budget. Make sure you
journalists to the opening of your windmill don’t print too many leaflets or brochures:
or solar farm. Or if your community has this might be counterproductive if your
won a tender, it is useful to send out a project concerns the greening of your city.
press release to announce the news.
Also consider profiling your project in the
context of a current ‘public debate’. Your LETTERS
community energy project, for example, Individual letters delivered to the resident’s
could help reduce people’s energy home might be helpful if they are sent
consumption or energy bills. by a partner who is already trusted
and well established in the community
(the municipality for example). This type
of communication, more formal and
personal, can allow you to better reach
specific segments of the community,
for example older people.

gy
ener er!
unity
comm t’s do this to
geth
le
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CHANNELS
& ACTIVITIES

IN-PERSON COMMUNICATION HOME VISITS & PHONE CALLS

WORKSHOPS & TRAINING Going door by door (canvassing) is a good

way to get a better understanding of the
Energy and especially energy production realities of a district and learn what
and sharing are not an easy topic for most matters to your stakeholders. It’s an ideal
people. Therefore organising training and tool if you have sufficient committed | 21
workshops might help them become familiar volunteers since it requires a lot of time
with the problem you are trying to solve, and patience. To be more effective,
and also discover what they can do to help. consider creating a short script to be
shared with the volunteers, and prepare
NETWORKING EVENTS in advance the answers to questions that
people are likely to ask. The same script
Events allow you to establish personal could be used for phone calls if you have
relationships with your community, know less time and people available but have
your audience and their concerns, and find access to a phone list.
potential partners to involve in your
project. Think small at first: a coffee or
kitchen table meeting is not difficult to set STANDS
up and the intimate environment is ideal A stand at a fair or a truck/cargo bike
for starting real conversations. Events are moving across the main squares, but also
also a great way to celebrate your in front of museums or shops that share
successes and give your project greater your values, is an informal and friendly way
visibility in your city. If possible, try to link to approach residents. This will allow you
with existing local events that are already to go where the people are and make your
well attended, or take part in project more visible in key locations, while
neighbourhood gatherings. potentially organising activities on site
such as small talks, do-it-yourself
workshops, or games for children.
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YOUR PROJECT’S
VISUAL IDENTITY Your
LOGO

Your
LOGO
Your
LOGO

22 |

Creating a visual identity is often seen as Having a visual identity will help you improve:
a fundamental step for an organisation or
• Positioning: a unique visual style
a project. In reality, it’s only a small piece
should help communicate the spirit
of your communication strategy puzzle,
and values of your activity.
but if done well, it can definitely reinforce
it. If you have the budget to work with a • Awareness: people need to remember
professional designer or sufficient design your project, and a striking visual
skills within your team, go for it! identity could allow you to stand out.

• Belonging: the right visual identity will

allow your target audience to relate to
your message and feel like they can be
part of your project.
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BE ST PR AC TI CE S

ELECTRA ENERGY COOPERATIVE

HYPERION | GREECE
The social cooperative Electra Energy develops community energy projects in
Greece, together with municipalities, citizens, NGOs and academia. With Hyperion,
| 23
one of their community energy projects in the Athens area, its team is promoting
collective investments in solar installations. For this, they developed an engagement
strategy that includes group chats and meetings with residents, a visual identity
that they describe as “reassuring and accessible”, in-person coaching activities but
also 1:1 conversations over the phone and a video. They count on word-of-mouth
to spread the information, but also on a stable media presence via news
FIND OUT
and interviews to advertise their project and foster their narrative around MORE
“a democratic, inclusive, efficient and sustainable energy system with
citizens and local communities at its core”.

Founders of the Hyperion

Energy Community. Visit their home page:
© Hyperion Energy https://electraenergy.coop/here-
Community
comes-the-sun-first-community-
solar-farm-in-greece/

or go to:
http://electraenergy.coop/
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FINDING
SYNERGIES

24 |

When communicating your message, They might have more money, be trusted
don’t hesitate to contact other by the community or know the area and
organisations, companies or people in the people better, so they could provide
your city, especially if you see common you with knowledge, suggestions or direct
interests or share the same values. support. Chapter 4 will go into more detail
regarding the opportunities for
cooperatives and local governments
to join forces to promote a community
energy project.
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B E S T P R A C T IC E S

LICHT LEUVEN
LICHT | BELGIUM
LICHT – Local Initiative for a Cooperative Renewable Transition – is an initiative
of the City of Leuven to accelerate the local energy transition. The aim is to launch
| 25
projects to deploy renewable energy installations and reduce energy consumption
on its territory, with active participation on the part of residents. The city partnered
with energy cooperative Ecopower and local association Leuven 2030. Together
they cooperate in the development of project ideas and their financing.

In the context of the SCCALE 20 30 50 project, they plan to install 10 non-residential

PV installations generating 350 kWp in total, 50 residential PV installations generating
an average of 3 kWp, and to connect 40 households to a district heating network.

In addition to these technological ambitions, they are using their communication

and engagement strategy to actively involve 500 people in the energy community
in the coming years. A series of free, in-person info sessions open to all Leuven
residents were organised in the autumn of 2021 on different topics: energy sobriety,
renewable energy production, and sustainable (re)construction. The LICHT partners
are also planning additional actions to incentivise participation by residents.
These include an energy sobriety ambassador programme, free energy
scans, and access to a collaborative energy monitoring platform.
FIND
OUT
LICHT Leuven group. MORE
© Ecopower cv Visit
https://www.lichtleuven.be/
https://www.sccale203050.eu/
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NOTES
NOTES

26 |
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2
CHAPTER

HOPEFUL STORYTELLING
FOR A BETTER FUTURE
WHAT IS STORYTELLING? 28
WHY STORYTELLING? 30
MERE FACTS AND FIGURES WON’T CHANGE PEOPLE’S MINDS 31
HOW TO GIVE YOUR STORY IMPACT 33
TIPS FOR WRITING A GOOD STORY 35

| 27

Painting a mural in Sant

Celoni by members of a
local Som Energia group.
© Som Energia
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Storytelling is a very old craft. Stories have been used throughout history to instruct and
lead. In order to create meaningful and long-lasting climate action, we must tell
comprehensive climate stories. Not just about disasters and mass marches, but also
about resilience and everyday acts of courage. And this is where the community energy
story has a role to play. In the community energy network, there are many inspiring
stories of people on the ground who are taking back control of the system by jointly
developing and democratically managing a renewable energy project. All over Europe,
people are bringing the benefits of renewables back home. At a time in which we need
to use all available means to address the climate crisis, the community energy revolution
28 | can play a significant role. Citizens can, want to and will be part of the solution.
Storytelling can be a great and important tool for showcasing the real people behind
this energy democracy revolution. In our present information-driven society, whoever
controls the narrative, has the power. And the community energy narrative is one of
hope, belief, connectedness, empowerment and possibility.

WHAT IS
STORYTELLING?

L ET ’ S R E CLAI M O U R
POWER TOGET H E R!

Storytelling is everywhere. It is present in context for what’s happening in our lives.

each of our daily interactions with friends, In their many different forms, stories are
family and our communities, and in many an essential part of how we think, feel,
different forms. Storytelling is us trying to remember, imagine, relate, but also of how
make meaning of events, and creating a we create change.
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BE ST PR AC TI CE S

WE THE POWER - THE FUTURE OF ENERGY IS COMMUNITY-OWNED

PATAGONIA | EUROPE
In April 2022, the ‘We the Power’ video was launched by Patagonia to spotlight the
growing community energy movement across Europe. It aims to demonstrate the
advantages to people and the planet that the clean energy transformation could
bring. The 30-minute video features the stories of community energy pioneers
such as Dirk Vansintjan, the founder and president of REScoop.eu, the European
federation of citizen energy cooperatives. Other leaders of the movement include | 29
Sebastian Sladek, whose parents started EWS Schönau in the 1980s as a direct
response to the potential nuclear dangers exposed by the Chernobyl disaster.
Agamemnon Otero OBE, founding director of Repowering London, bringing
community resilience to the movement, and Nuri Palmada, board member
of Spanish energy cooperative Som Energia, are also featured in the video.

It is a great example of powerful and hopeful storytelling. By sharing the personal

stories of community energy pioneers, the We the Power video and the
accompanying campaign invite European citizens to imagine a new energy system
as an alternative to large, polluting energy monopolies that control the systems
of power and money. In place of this outdated and damaging model FIND OUT
is one of community-owned, renewable energy production, that is socially MORE
innovative and economically beneficial to our local communities.

You can watch the video

in 7 different languages:
https://youtu.be/75A9WGxoUn8

We the Power movie

featuring community
energy pioneers.
© Patagonia
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WHY
STORYTELLING?

B E S T P R A C T IC E S

30 | Storytelling is a very valuable asset for

the community energy movement. Telling • People are creating the new
stories is one of the most powerful ways system that we urgently need.
to get people thinking. The power of • They are cooperating and working
storytelling lies in the way stories can together for the common good, not
connect people with each other. for their own profit. Communities
are making the world better.
• This represents a true
transformation, not a small
THE COMMUNITY ENERGY change. The entire energy system
NARRATIVE | EUROPE will be different.
• The community energy story is
The Community Power Coalition
one of local ideas that reinforce
– a diverse network of like-minded
a sense of place and pride in
organisations that share a common goal
the neighbourhood.
of promoting the development of citizen
• This transformation creates local
and community ownership in the urgent
investment and reinvigorates local
transformation to a 100% renewable
economies. The profits and
energy system – has developed a
benefits are shared.
common narrative for community energy.
• Citizens are demanding an energy
Organisations that want to join the Coalition
system controlled by the people
embark on the same narrative.
instead of by a few utility companies
• The community energy story • The community energy transition
is a positive one of hope. is based on fairness and solidarity.
• A quiet revolution is taking FIND
place throughout Europe. OUT More information about the Community Power
MORE Coalition: https://communitypowercoalition.eu/
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MERE FACTS
AND FIGURES
WON’T CHANGE %
PEOPLE’S MINDS

A very important argument for using How many kWHs do I save or produce? | 31

storytelling for social change is that What is my return on investment if I install

“facts alone don’t change minds”. Stories solar panels? How many people are
hold a power that science does not: the already part of the community? All these
power to move hearts and minds, and facts can convince someone, but you need
connect people to a problem. Having to complement these with anecdotes and
good and trustworthy facts and figures human, emotional narratives. A fact can be
about the community energy sector is amazing or devastating, but when placed
important since it gives credibility to the in the context of a story that people can
organisations working in that sector. relate to, that fact becomes part of a
reality we can better understand, react
to and address.
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BE ST PR AC TI CE S

EUROPEAN CITIZENS WANT OWNERSHIP OF ENERGY PROJECTS

IN THEIR NEIGHBOURHOOD & FRONTLINES OF HOPE
ECF / FRIENDS OF THE EARTH EUROPE | EUROPE
In 2021, the European Climate Foundation (ECF) commissioned a study that
surveyed public attitudes to wind and solar power in ten European countries.
The study revealed strong support for more renewable energy projects, as well
as for the direct involvement of citizens in solar and wind energy generation.
32 | These numbers show the great potential of the community energy movement.

In 2020, Friends of the Earth Europe launched their ‘Frontlines of Hope’ campaign,
featuring projects on the ground to address climate breakdown and create a fair,
fossil free future. The campaign created blog posts and short videos with stories
of communities, cities and people who are at the forefront of building community-
owned renewable energy, creating green jobs, and tackling energy poverty. FIND OUT
MORE
The two campaigns can be seen as complementary. The ECF study
increases credibility, while the Frontlines of Hope campaign puts these
numbers in the context of a story that people can relate to.

ECF polling:
https://europeanclimate.org/res
ources/europeans-support-new-
wind-and-solar-projects-in-their-
local-area/

Watch the ‘Frontlines of Hope’

video on community energy:
https://youtu.be/ZxMtGyOmPVY

Frontlines of Hope campaign:

https://friendsoftheearth.eu/fro
ntlines-of-hope/

Frontlines of Hope
campaign.
© Solar Town Project
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HOW TO GIVE YOUR

STORY IMPACT

People have very different ideas about | 33

“Being involved in a
what might improve their communities,
lives or society. We have the tendency
community project means
to embrace information that supports becoming a very good
beliefs we already hold. This so-called listener. You should be
‘confirmation bias’ is deeply ingrained present in your community
and hard to change. Storytelling can be a
major stepping stone towards changing
often, observing and learning.
these belief systems. When crafting a To understand the issues
story, you create empathy with the that affect members of the
character and situation, thereby inspiring community, get to know
and slowly changing belief systems
which might bring about social change.
people and listen to them.
Take the time to listen to their
Good storytellers stay true to their audience
and mission. Being involved in a
stories, about themselves
community project means becoming a very and their communities”
good listener. It is useful to take time to (Community Energy Guide, p. 70)
understand what your audience knows and
cares about. To get the story to resonate,
To conclude, the best stories are those
it’s not enough to get the facts right: you’ve
based on your inner motivation and
got to get the emotional arc right as well,
personal drivers, creating empathy and
and therefore you have to listen.
tapping into the desire of humans to make
the world a better place.
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HOW TO GIVE YOUR

STORY IMPACT

STORYTELLING ROADMAP
OUTLINE THE STORY
Make a script or a storyboard
of your story.

OUR STORY!

CHOOSE YOUR STORY MEDIUM

Stories can take many shapes and forms: OUTLINE
written, spoken, a recorded audio, a video...

34 |

DESIGN

STRUCTURE
It is the order in which elements
KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE MEDIUM are presented to the reader or audience.
Who is your audience? How does one Stories have a beginning, a middle, and an end.
of their day to day lives look like?
MAIN CHARACTER
Who is the main person or character in the story?

PLOT
The main character is goin through tension
STORY TYPE and event. What are these events?

DECIDE WHAT TYPE

OF STORY YOU’RE TELLING
OUR ES What kind of story shall be used?
VALU AUDIENCE A fictional story? A longer story?
How do you want your audience
to feel or react?

MESSAGE

The Storytelling
DEFINE YOUR CORE MESSAGE roadmap.
Focus on just one main concept. © REScoop.eu
Your message needs to be authentic
and stay true to your organisation.
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TIPS FOR WRITING

A GOOD STORY
TOP TIPS!

OUR ES
VALU

• KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TRYING • OPEN WITH A HOOK | 35

TO CONVEY
Open your story with a hook to catch
This is linked to the first point of the your audience’s attention. A hook is an
storytelling roadmap: the core message interesting incident, question, or problem
of your story (see also the WHY, HOW, that encourages the audience to keep
WHAT model explained in Chapter 1). watching/reading: it “hooks” their
You should ask yourself what the purpose attention. This is especially important for
of your story is. To entertain? To relay a stories spread on social media: otherwise
message? To teach a lesson? Whatever people will scroll past your message and
your purpose, keep it in the forefront of not engage with it.
your mind as you proceed.
You can build a hook by creating urgency,
The main message you are trying to starting your story in the middle of an
convey will impact every aspect of your action, implying future or past conflicts,
story, from the type of story, to the plot or making a surprising statement, creating
the main obstacle your main character is an emotional connection…
facing, so you need to have it clear from
the beginning.
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A GOOD STORY

• SHOW, DON’T TELL • LENGTH MATTERS

Good stories don’t “tell”, they “show”. Allow Stories can be really short – a joke – or
the reader to experience the story through very long – a series of novels. The only
actions, words, thoughts, senses, and constraint is the time your audience has
feelings rather than through the author’s available, which is usually very limited.
exposition, summarisation and People’s attention span is short, so keep
description. It will make the narration more your stories as short as possible while still
immersive, allowing readers to be “closer” conveying all of the information. To
to the characters. Dialogues, for example, determine the length of your story, you
36 | are an excellent way of showing because should also consider the medium through
they reveal how your character interacts which you want to disseminate it. A 10-
with people: is she shy, is she fun, is she page story is too long to be published as
determined? All are capable of inferring an op-ed in a newspaper, but too short to
this from dialogues, as we do in real life. be published as a book. For example,
videos and animations for social media
should be under 7 minutes, and preferably
• LIKEABLE CHARACTER under 4. If you have too much information,
split it into several stories.
Your main character and their goals and
motivations need to be relatable to your
audience: it needs to care about the
• DON’T GET STUCK IN THE DETAILS
character and pull for them to succeed.
Otherwise, the audience will lose interest In line with keeping your stories as short
in their fate and will leave your story. As as possible, you should focus only on what
stated above, don’t say who your character the audience needs to know. Excessive
is, show it. It’s also good to introduce them details can muddle the story and the core
in the early stages of the story, so readers message, so your communication effort
can find an element to identify with from will be less effective. People may even lose
the beginning. interest before finishing the story. When
you compose your storyline, make sure
that each character, point, or principle
somehow relates to the main point you are
trying to drive home.
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TIPS FOR WRITING

A GOOD STORY
B E S T P R A C T IC E S
DATA CHECK

• CHECK YOUR FACTS

Even if you know your content intimately,

REPOWERING LONDON | UK
double check dates, locations and facts “By creating these
in general. A single data mistake could
harm the reputation of the entire story.
projects, we can change
You should also check if your data is up the narrative around
to date. If you use data, be mindful that it energy, community and
should not be too time sensitive if you what life can look like.
want your story to have a reasonable
lifespan. You can also indicate the time
We try to support as | 37

your data refers to, so you will be without many people as possible
blame if you share the wrong information. by sharing this narrative,
However, your story will age much quicker. and the more people we
work with, the more they
• BRING THE MESSAGE HOME tell our stories. The thing
WITH AN “AHA” MOMENT is about stories, the more
An “aha” moment is a moment of sudden often they’re told, the truer
inspiration or discovery, a moment when they become. Hopefully
you would exclaim “Aha! That’s it!”. Make one day we don’t have
the climax of your story the aha moment
that brings home your core message.
to tell the story as the
At that point, your audience will have narrative becomes the
maximum engagement with and world we’re all living in.”
understanding of your message. (Community Energy Guide, p.22)
“A-HA!
”
DAVE FULLER, ROOFTOP PROJECTS MANAGER
OF REPOWERING LONDON.
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NOTES

38 |
COMMUNITY ENERGY - COMMUNICATION GUIDE

3
CHAPTER

ENGAGEMENT AT THE HEART

OF ENERGY COMMUNITIES
HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE COMMUNITY AROUND YOU? 43
FROM AMBITION TO ACTION 45
MEMBERS AS AMBASSADORS 53
SKILLS 55

| 39

The Ecopower team visiting their

neighbour cooperative in Wallonia
‘Vents du Sud’.
© Ecopower cv
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In this chapter you will learn about the In this context, it’s important to understand
fundamental importance of including the difference between push and pull
engagement strategies in your communications.
communication activities. Engagement
• Push communications: you send your
with members is absolutely necessary
messages directly to the public, for
for creating and retaining an energy
example by disseminating flyers or
community. It is the key element that
sharing information on your website.
distinguishes the energy community from
These activities are usually a great way to
traditional top-down energy companies.
reach out to new groups of stakeholders.
Through a close relationship with
• Pull communications: you want to bring
members, energy communities build
the members to you. For these
renewable energy projects, and contribute
communication activities, you have to
to a clean, fair and democratic energy
40 | listen and understand the issues and
transition. The more deeply engaged the
concerns of a local neighbourhood in
members are, the more loyal they become,
order to echo those needs while building
the better they support your core values,
your project. It’s in this last category
the greater their willingness to volunteer or
that community building takes place.
contribute, the more likely they are to keep
their membership, and the better they To secure involvement from members,
understand when rates go up or services an energy community needs to explore
are reduced. Therefore, an engagement different approaches to engagement,
strategy should always be part of your based on the members’ interest and level
overall communications strategy. of involvement. These approaches may
range from sharing information and
consultation during the conceptualisation
stage of the project, to encouraging active
participation such as collaboration and
empowerment during the project’s
implementation and operation. Because of
the great diversity of energy communities
and the context in which they operate,
there is no one-size-fits-all approach.
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ENGAGEMENT AT THE HEART

OF ENERGY COMMUNITIES

DIFFERENT ENGAGEMENT LEVELS

INFORM

CONSULT
NT
ME
GE
GA OP
EN RKSH
WO
| 41

INVOLVE

EMPOWER
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BE ST PR AC TI CE S

THE DIFFERENT STAGES OF STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT

WITH CONCRETE EXAMPLES ECOPOWER CV | BELGIUM
Ecopower is a large Belgian energy cooperative with more than 60,000 citizens who
jointly produce green and local energy. Because of its size, Ecopower engages in
different communication activities to keep its members’ engagement high over time.

Inform: Ecopower issues a quarterly digital and printed ‘Powerpost’ for members.
This informative brochure gives updates about the cooperative and the larger
energy cooperative network in Flanders.

Consult: Ecopower regularly organises ‘Energie cafés’ for its members. With these
interactive neighbourhood events, held at various locations, Ecopower aims to
42 | broadly inform its members about energy-related topics and – more importantly –
hear their opinions and exchange ideas.

Involve: Ecopower gives its members the opportunity to participate in innovative

research projects. Actively involving members in these projects not only increases
the know-how within the cooperative, but members are able to directly participate
in shaping the energy system of the future.

Empower: Each year, Ecopower organises its General Assembly. All members are
invited to participate in this meeting and thus in the collective decision making of
the cooperative. Members for example can decide on the size of the dividend that
will be paid, appoint the board of directors, or approve new investments. In addition
to the more formal parts of the General Assembly, Ecopower also takes the
opportunity to get its members’ input on specific topics.

The team of Ecopower

in front of their
windturbine.
© Ecopower cv
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HOW TO
UNDERSTAND
THE COMMUNITY
AROUND YOU?

Knowing your members is the process Motivation for joining an energy

of engagement that takes place before community varies: Some do it only for
the membership journey begins. the financial incentives. They, for example,
It’s important to identify your (future) receive a dividend or low-cost energy.
| 43
members and which communication Others join the energy community because
tools best suit them. they believe it’s the right thing to do out of
ideological considerations. But there are
It’s important to know that without
also members who join because of the so-
adequate engagement strategies,
called “affective motive”: they are members
resources allocated to the activity will
of the energy community because they feel
likely result in insufficient results. For this
good about it, they feel connected to the
reason, consider investing more time
mission of the energy community, and they
getting to know your members before
know that the energy community will offer
applying specific tools and techniques.
them reliable services. It’s this last group
The result of this activity should be
that will show the most commitment
deepening member engagement, since
and that can play an active role within
the content feels more personal. Getting to
the energy community.
know members on a personal level helps
identify who is engaged, who has lost
interest, and what is making them feel
that way. This will also help to craft a
compelling member value proposition.
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HOW TO UNDERSTAND
THE COMMUNITY AROUND YOU?

TOP TIP
CREATING PERSONAS WITH DIFFERENT
ENGAGEMENT INCENTIVES
One way to segment your audience is to create ‘personas’. A persona is a fictional
character that you create in order to profile a certain group of people. By creating
a real character for your audience segment, it will become easier to think of
appropriate tailored communications for each of them.

Financial incentive: Lisa is a 35-year-old woman living in the city. She

€ joined the energy cooperative in her neighbourhood because it could
supply her with low-cost energy. When first reading the annual report
Lisa of the cooperative, she was happily surprised about the dividend that
all members would receive that year. Lisa is proud that the company
44 |
of which she is a part is doing well economically. For Lisa, clear,
transparent and reliable information about the activities of the
cooperative makes her feel connected to it.

Normative incentive: Yemi is a 25-year-old student and a climate

NOW! activist. He is very concerned about environmental issues. Yemi is not
Yemi
only vocal about what is going wrong, he also wants to be a part of the
solution. Yemi joined his energy cooperative because it supplies its
members with 100% renewable and locally produced energy. Yemi
likes to follow the cooperative’s Twitter account since it underscores
the position of the cooperative in the public energy debate.

Affective incentive: Georgina is 70 years old, retired and socially

engaged. Georgina feels emotionally connected to the goals and core
values of the energy community she is a part of. She truly believes in the
TOGETHER
added value that her energy community brings to the transition to energy
democracy. Georgina likes to talk with other cooperative members
Georgina
during member meetings. She is an active member of the cooperative’s
Slack group and she values voting during the General Assembly.
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AT THE HEART

FROM AMBITION
TO ACTION ACTIO
N!

When an energy community grows, the After knowing and segmenting your
group of members also becomes more members, it’s best to create contextualised
heterogeneous and not all members feel content for your different audiences.
equally involved. It’s not an easy task to Personalising content is a great way to
| 45
first understand the different groups increase member engagement since the
within your community and then define content is more relevant to the member,
appropriate engagement activities for making them feel more engaged. The
each of them. more committed someone is, the more
personal your communication with them
should be (and vice versa). It’s important
LADDER OF ENGAGEMENT to develop inclusive and appealing
A tool that can be used for thinking about communications in which it is clear to
the different levels of engagement of those community members how they can
involved in your energy community is the participate in the design, planning and
so-called “circles of commitment” model. It implementation of your project.
classifies your community into 5 different
groups, and describes how people can
engage at each level and how they can move
from one level to another, called a “ladder of
engagement”. The circles are concentric,
which means each group is contained in the
groups that are larger than it.
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THE CIRCLES OF COMMITMENT URSTROM EG | GERMANY

THE CIRCLES OF COMMITMENT

COMMUNITY

CROWD
46 |
CONTRIBUTORS

CORE COMMITTED

CORE

The Circles of
Commitment by
Michael Pulsford.
© Commons library

We will explain the different circles of commitment with examples from UrStrom,
an energy cooperative founded in 2010 in Mainz, Germany. In March 2022, UrStrom
celebrated its 500th member, and now owns and operates 17 PV systems, good for
more than 1.1 megawatts peak (MWp) of installed capacity. It supplies locally produced
green electricity to members and the general public, and offers them an e-car sharing
service with 8 electric cars at 5 sharing stations as well as cargo bike sharing.
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AT THE HEART

FROM AMBITION
TO ACTION

1. COMMUNITY – the group of people you want to reach

The largest circle is the “Community”, representing the group of people you are trying
to reach with your energy project and who can potentially be a part of it. Although it
might seem obvious, it’s important to identify the stakeholders and the groups you
want to reach out to. The identification phase is crucial, since it will help you
understand the environment in which you are working.

The UrStrom community consists of citizens living in Mainz and the Rheinhessen region.
2. CROWD – the members of the community who showed an initial interest
in your project or topic

The second circle is your “Crowd’, those who have been in touch with your energy
project in one way or another. These are, for example, people that saw a social media | 47
post, signed a petition, subscribed to your newsletter, etc. Those in the Crowd are more
engaged with your energy community than those in the general Community, however,
it’s still largely a passive engagement. That said, it does make sense to see people in
this group as persons who are willing to connect. There is good reason to believe that
you can bring the people from your Crowd to your next circle of commitment.

UrStrom implemented several activities to connect with the citizens of its community
in order to make those people part of its Crowd. For example, to introduce people to its
e-car sharing services, UrStrom lets them take test drives. This first – likely positive –
experience is a good starting point for potential further involvement. Another example
is the organisation of an annual event – open to all – called “UrStromUnterwegs”. It
showcases inspiring energy transition projects to its broader community. A monthly
meeting for members and interested citizens called “UrStromClub” was quite popular
as a way to discuss, in person, recent activities of the cooperative and everything
connected to energy, mobility and the climate crisis. Due to the pandemic, this meeting
now takes place online, making it possible for those living farther away from Mainz to
now also join in the exchange of valuable information. UrStrom also participates in
various local public events, and provides information about the cooperative and electric
cars. UrStrom can be found online on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinekdIn.
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THE CIRCLES OF COMMITMENT URSTROM EG | GERMANY CONTINUED

3. CONTRIBUTORS – those members of the Crowd who volunteer,

buy shares or donate

The next level of engagement is the one where people contribute to your energy
project by, for example, buying a share or volunteering on an occasional basis.
Contributors are not systematically engaged, but can engage at important moments.

In March 2022, UrStrom had more than 500 members who had purchased one or more
co-operative shares. From the beginning in 2011, UrStrom founded the “UrStromClub”
to create a feeling of togetherness. The management and supervisory board of the
48 | cooperative, together with the members, are invited to this monthly meeting in an
informal context, like a neighbourhood centre or a café. Through the UrStromClub,
members get to know each other personally and can exchange views on new projects
and current developments in the field of renewable energy. It’s also in the UrStromClub
that members can sign up to volunteer in areas such as IT, administration, data
protection, project acquisition and PV monitoring. All important decisions are prepared,
discussed and made at these meetings.

4. COMMITTED – those Contributors who structurally engage with

and support your project

Committed members are engaged with your energy project in a more permanent
manner. These members are capable of independently organising activities for the
energy community. This level of engagement is more demanding compared to the
level of Contributors. These members feel a certain responsibility to make your energy
project a success, and manifest a higher level of belonging to the project.

The annual general meeting of UrStrom is an important platform to engage its committed
members. Here, among other things, the supervisory board is elected, which controls the
work of the management board. Each member has one vote, regardless of the number of
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ENGAGEMENT
AT THE HEART

FROM AMBITION
TO ACTION

co-operative shares they hold. Participation in the General Assembly and in the formal
decision making process of the cooperative is a great way to engage committed members.

5. CORE – those Committed people without whom the energy community

would not exist

The Core of your energy community are those people you need to actually run your
energy projects. In many cases, the people in the Core are the ones that took the
initiative in the first place. If your energy community has a staffed team, these team
members are also part of your Core. An energy community is rarely launched by just
one person, but rather by several people coming together to make it happen.
Therefore, facilitating good teamwork and team dynamics is important in this context.
| 49
UrStrom was launched in 2010 by nine founding members. Today, UrStrom is governed
by four management board members, supported by a five-member supervisory board.
The management board handles the day-to-day business and the supervisory board
oversees and supports the work of the management board. Volunteers organise events,
monitor, clean and repair the solar PV installations, maintain the website, manage
the e-carsharing platform, design communication materials and contribute to
the success of UrStrom eG in many other areas.
FIND
OUT
MORE
UrStrom:
https://www.urstrom.de/
https://www.urstrom-mobil.de/

Urstrom Mobil.
© UrStrom eG
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ENGAGEMENT
AT THE HEART

FROM AMBITION
TO ACTION

ENABLING INTERACTION members. So consider basing your

member engagement strategy on
Individuals often join energy communities encouraging member networking and
to meet like-minded people. This allows interaction: LinkedIn groups, Slack
them to learn and grow. Your members will channels, Facebook groups or cosy
like feeling that they’re part of a growing in-person meetings where people can
community. By simply bringing people interact at any time.
together, you can boost engagement,
build community, and offer value to your BE ST PR AC TI CE S

INTERACTION AMONGST MEMBERS PARTAGO | BELGIUM

Partago is an e-carsharing cooperative in Ghent, Belgium, founded in 2015, and
50 |
committed to contributing to a more sustainable transport system. With support
from over 1,000 local citizens and small businesses, the cooperative operates a
fleet of 111 electric cars that can be used by the members via a mobile app.

Partago’s range of engagement activities includes setting up a Loomio platform for

its members. This interactive online forum aims to connect members with each
other and with the Partago team. The Partago community can post messages
about electric driving, the neighbourhood, the cars, etc. Members can find a lot of
useful information on Loomio, and there is a dedicated group for Partago Buddies:
active users and ambassadors who occasionally do test drives, attend an event,
move cars, etc. Loomio was developed by the cooperative Enspiral (New Zealand).

Partago:
https://www.partago.be/

Loomio: https://www.loomio.org

FIND OUT
MORE

Group of citizens in front

of a cooperative e-car.
© REScoop.eu
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AT THE HEART

FROM AMBITION
TO ACTION

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY - is the ultimate act of engagement. For the

FORMALISING MEMBERS’ organisation on the other hand, it’s a great
moment to engage members by allowing
EMPOWERMENT them to participate in the democratic
The General Assembly is the highest decision-making and contribute to stable
decision-making body of the energy governance in the long term. Therefore,
community. It consists of all members and engaging in communication activities to
is responsible for defining the outlines and maximise the number of members joining
strategy of the energy community. Voting at your general assembly can increase overall
the energy community’s General Assembly member engagement.

BEST PR ACTICE S

REGIONAL ASSEMBLIES SOM ENERGIA | SPAIN

| 51
Founded in 2010, Som Energia is Spain’s largest renewable energy cooperative
with over 75,000 members located throughout the country. Som Energia supplies
renewable energy to more than 130,000 citizens. It uses a bottom-up governance
model. The general assembly is the main decision-making body. Each member has one
vote, regardless of how many shares they hold. The day-to-day operations are handled
by the board of directors and a staff. Som Energia has implemented a decentralised
model, giving autonomy to several local groups. These – usually geographically centred
– groups can organise their own regional assemblies, create information campaigns,
recruit new members or organise other capacity building activities. Some groups for
example focus on education and training, while other groups set-up e-car sharing
services. Sometimes, local groups form independent cooperatives to advance their
own causes. In this case, Som Energia is cooperating with the new local cooperative.

Som Energia:
https://www.somenergia.coop/

Som Energia School

in Mataró (Barcelona).
© Som Energia
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FROM AMBITION
TO ACTION

?
HOW TO ASSURE LONG-TERM Try to gain insight into why members
ENGAGEMENT? have joined your energy community.
Collect this information when they
It’s a challenge to keep the initial are onboarded. For example, set-up
engagement of your members high over a welcome programme that includes
time. You can include tactics in your a survey. This will enable you to
communication activities to increase communicate in a more targeted way
retention and keep members engaged from the start.
for longer. LET’S
PLAN

5. Think about the frequency of your OU

W AB N?
HO ACTIO
AN
T

1. Stay true to your story.

Show what you stand for. ! communications. Make choices
and develop a plan. Communicating
Be transparent and about everything will result in
communicate about how information overload. Find out what’s
52 |
you run your business. important to your members and see
When fees increase, for how you can use it.
example, communicate
this and explain why. 6. Don’t demand too much from your
members and be sensitive to the time
2. Communicate about your project’s they need to spend engaging with
results and create space for listening your project.
and reacting to critique and complaints
from members.

3. Show your unique identity. Proudly

proclaim that you are an energy
community. The language you use in your
communications can strengthen this
public identity. For example: use the word WE AERRES!
MEMB
“members” instead of “shareholders”.

4. Make digital and segmented content.

Especially if your energy community
continues to grow into a large
organisation, making a personal
connection with each individual
member no longer possible.
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ENGAGEMENT
AT THE HEART

MEMBERS AS
AMBASSADORS THERE IS
NO
PLANET B !

ACT
NOW!

Word-of-mouth advertising plays a major An ambassador campaign can be

role in many energy communities. designed for strongly committed members
Therefore, it might be a good idea to who want to convince not only friends.
develop promo packages for members Recruiting “celebrity” members or
| 53
to help them inform their neighbours. influential residents as ambassadors
This potential is especially high with can be a good idea since these people
members who have recently joined or are usually regarded as important and
members who are strongly connected credible, and can potentially convince
to your community. Brochures, posters, a larger group of people to take action.
stickers to put on a bike or window, an
“invite friends and family” button in a
welcome email, eco cups,… all these
activities can help members spread the
word and therefore increase the impact
of your communications.
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AT THE HEART

B E S T P R A C T IC E S

‘PUT A COOPERATIVE SHARE UNDER THE CHRISTMAS TREE’

ZUIDTRANT | BELGIUM
Zuidtrant is an energy cooperative founded in 2016 in Antwerp, Belgium. The
cooperative invests in renewable energy by installing solar panels on public and
private roofs, and supports and guides citizens in lowering their home energy use.
The cooperative has also invested in its local district heating network. At the end of
2021, Zuidrant launched a “member get member” campaign, packaged in an end-of-
year theme. It encouraged members to give a cooperative share to family and
friends as a sustainable Christmas gift. To this end, it designed a Gift Card and
provided its members with clear instructions.

54 |
ZuidtrAnt:
https://www.zuidtrant.be/

FIND
OUT
MORE

Gift voucher Zuidtrant.

© Zuidrant cv
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AT THE HEART

SKILLS

Energy communities can continue to Members of an energy community can be

operate autonomously and independently a source of expertise and even launch their
in a democratic and economically own complementary initiatives. Training
sustainable way, only if they are managed and education are key components of an
| 55
and controlled by people who are energy community, since they make
sufficiently trained and skilled. It’s possible a better appreciation and
important that members regularly receive understanding of energy by members and
transparent and clear information about local citizens. Therefore, understanding
the financial, economic and social status training needs and providing adequate
of their energy community. Equally educational activities and coaching should
essential is that staff and volunteers be a top priority when developing an
working in the energy community are able energy community. It’s useful to team up
to effectively and qualitatively manage with other energy communities or
and monitor the energy community. organisations to jointly provide for these
Therefore, the energy community needs training needs.
to pay attention to the training and
education of its members, directors,
management and staff so that they can
contribute optimally to the development
of the energy community.
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AT THE HEART

BE ST PR AC TI CE S

TRAINING PROGRAMME
ÉOLIENNES EN PAYS DE VILAINE (EPV) | FRANCE
The energy community EPV, founded in 2003, has over 2000 members who jointly
invested in 5 local wind turbines. EPV’s mission is not only to produce local renewable
energy, but also to educate the community around energy savings. They created
an MDE programme (maîtrise de l’énergie, or energy demand management) that
has developed various activities to make citizens aware and inform them on
energy efficiency.

For schools, for example, they developed an “escape game” about energy savings, an
interactive game that educates young people to be more aware of their energy use.

56 | EPV also has an educational van that visits markets and other public events
to share information in an accessible way to a broad audience, focusing FIND OUT
MORE
on energy efficiency and how to reduce the energy bill.

Citizens group with

paper wind turbines. Visit:
© Éoliennes en Pays https://www.enr-citoyennes.fr/
de Vilaine
COMMUNITY ENERGY - COMMUNICATION GUIDE

4
CHAPTER

DIFFERENT ACTORS,
DIFFERENT OPPORTUNITIES
LOCAL AUTHORITIES 58
COOPERATIVES 60

| 57

Bro Dyfi Community Renewables Ltd (BDCR) is a Welsh community

owned renewable energy company. It aims to promote wind and
other renewable energy projects that benefit people in the area
and that are subject to a significant degree of local control. © BDCR
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DIFFERENT
ACTORS

There are different actors that can be involved in energy communities. Under European
legislation, citizens, small and medium enterprises, and local authorities can set up a
legally recognised entity to produce, store, share, consume and sell the renewable
energy they produce. In this chapter, we will focus on municipalities and energy
cooperatives, two actors whose partnership often leads to successful community energy
projects. When it comes to communicating, each also has its own strengths that you
can take into account when planning your project’s communication and engagement
activities. When launching a new community energy project, you might want to reach
out to local authorities or check if there are existing energy cooperatives in your area!

LOCAL
AUTHORITIES
58 |

TRUST
Local authorities willing to develop community responds to communication
community energy projects have every activities, and adapt the project accordingly.
reason to encourage inhabitants and Municipal staff and all departments should
stakeholders to take action. In order to do also be informed about the project and
so, they might have to relinquish a bit of the benefits of wider participation in the
control and decision-making power, and be energy transition, in order to support
ready to listen, to take into account how the the communication activities.
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DIFFERENT
ACTORS

LOCAL
AUTHORITIES

The communication should be as open NETWORKING

and transparent as possible, in order to
build confidence in the project. Local For successful communication, you will
governments are often seen as a reliable need to reach out to other local actors,
player, so they can play a very important community leaders or related initiatives
role in explaining the processes, facilitating that could amplify your message. A local
discussions and addressing the concerns authority usually has a wide network of
of the local community. Impactful partners (universities, businesses etc.)
communication will make for a stronger and peers that can help you with word-of-
local partnership. mouth promotion or even decide to
support your project in a more direct way.

VISIBILITY
Cities have access to many “official”
channels to spread their message. From
newsletters to magazines, websites or
direct mailing, a communication with a
| 59
“city stamp” is likely to receive greater
attention. Local governments are also
likely to have established connections
with media and the press that could
further increase the visibility of a
community energy project and facilitate
its replication in other contexts.
T
US
TR
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DIFFERENT
ACTORS

COOPERATIVES

COMMUNITY ENERGY ACCESS TO KNOW-HOW

IS IN THEIR DNA An energy cooperative will be able to
Citizen energy cooperatives have the explain the project in detail thanks to its
development of community energy knowledge of the local energy system.
projects as their number one priority. Its team should be able to help clarify
They therefore can often take the lead technical aspects as well as the benefits
in communication activities. They might and financial returns expected for the
60 |
use their knowledge to explain the community. This information will be very
opportunities of citizens’ participation in useful to your project’s communication
the energy system, but also the legislative activities. Moreover, because energy
context in which the project operates, or cooperatives are often strongly anchored
provide more technical information on how in the neighbourhood, they can
energy can be produced and shared locally. communicate directly with residents,
thereby removing local opposition to
energy projects. Through their governance
FLEXIBILITY and tailored communication activities,
A citizen energy cooperative can be more cooperatives directly involve citizens in
flexible than a municipality-based initiative. the project, giving them ownership of
Thanks to its way of working and the the produced energy. This can result in
presence of volunteers, they can reach the a massive increase in acceptance and
target audience at times and places that support on the part of citizens.
better suit that audience.
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ACTORS

BE ST PR AC TIC ES

VILADECANS’ PARTNERSHIP FOR A LOCAL ENERGY OPERATOR

VILAWATT INITIATIVE | SPAIN
In Viladecans, a public-private-citizen governance partnership (PPCP) involving the
Municipality, the municipal companies VIGEM and VIMED, the Urban Ecology Agency of
Barcelona, the Catalan Energy Institute and various private companies (Ubiquat, Cíclica,
Gespromat, LIMA, EGM) resulted in the launch of the Vilawatt initiative, from March
2017 to October 2020, with the support of the European Union’s Urban Innovative
Actions (UIA). This PPCP established a new local energy operator promoting renewable
energy production and energy justice. The energy operator managed 4 services to
improve governance and facilitate the transition towards energy sovereignty:

• Renewable energy supply;

• Integral energy retrofitting that allowed for the renovation of 3 buildings
and 60 dwellings;
• Creation of a local currency linked to energy savings, to be used in local shops,
but also to raise awareness on sustainable energy management;
• Engagement and citizens empowerment activities around energy.

The engagement activities were organised with a strategic participation plan,

including for the year 2019:
| 61
• The creation of an open space to enable learning and exchanges among citizens,
businesses, professionals and schools.
• Monthly learning programmes about energy for residents and schools
• Involvement of professionals in working on future trends for the sustainable
building sector
• Free energy audits for local shops

The city is now bringing the Vilawatt experience to 3 additional European

cities who would like to replicate the project: Seraing (Belgium),
Nagykanizsa (Hungary) and Trikala (Greece)! FIND
OUT
MORE
Visit:
https://www.viladecans.cat/es/
vilawatt-3 and https://uia-
initiative.eu/en/uia-
cities/viladecans

© Viladecans
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ACTORS

NOTES
NOTES

62 |
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COMMUNITY ENERGY
5
CHAPTER

CAMPAIGNS
AWARENESS RAISING 64
POLITICAL PRESSURE 67
GROWING MEMBERSHIP 70
CROWDFUNDING 72
CREATING SPACES TO EDUCATE 74

| 63

Westmill Solar is one of the

UK’s oldest community solar
projects with over 1,500
members. © Westmill Solar
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ENERGY
CAMPAIGNS

In this chapter, we will highlight several communication campaigns relevant to many

energy communities throughout Europe.

AWARENESS
RAISING
!

Awareness campaigns are one of the most When developing your awareness
popular, effective, and flexible ways to campaign, try to structure and prepare it in
64 | generate public interest, educate your a strategic way. Set your goals, target your
community about your mission, explain audience, define your messages, and
why it matters, and show supporters how choose the appropriate tools and channels
to get involved. It is important to to share your message (see Chapter 1).
understand that not everyone has the same It’s important to understand that people will
level of awareness. Therefore, it’s very participate in your awareness campaign
important to inform people about the because they are attracted to your mission.
community energy basics. Take advantage of that natural connection
by keeping the messages in your campaign
mission-focused. The community energy
movement has many allies. Make maximal
use of that benefit by thinking of which
networks to contact in order to help and
support your organisation and the
awareness raising campaign.
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CAMPAIGNS

BE ST PR AC TI CE S

TEN REASONS TO START OR JOIN A COMMUNITY ENERGY PROJECT

COMMUNITY POWER COALITION | EUROPE
This campaign created by the Community Power Coalition highlights the advantages
of community-owned energy. This campaign image was used by several members of
the Community Power Coalition to increase awareness within its different networks.
REScoop.eu for example published a blog post and shared these reasons, one by
one, through its social media channels. https://www.rescoop.eu/news-and-
events/news/ten-reasons-to-start-or-join-a-community-energy-project

| 65

If you are interested in using this picture

for your own communication purposes,
feel free to reach out to REScoop.eu:
info@rescoop.eu
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CAMPAIGNS

B E S T P R A C T IC E S

ENGAGE ENERGY CITIES | EUROPE

From 2010 to 2012 Energy Cities rolled out its ENGAGE campaign: a participative
communications campaign implemented by local European authorities. The idea of
the campaign was to create a communication tool that local authorities could use
to share the Covenant of Mayors objectives locally. The campaign required personal
energy-saving pledges from all citizens and stakeholders as contribution to the
cities’ energy and climate targets.

A user-friendly online tool – still available and used today – allows local authorities
to create posters showcasing the pledges of each participant in order to
demonstrate the power of combined energy-saving actions.

Visit: https://energy-
cities.eu/project/engage/

FIND OUT
MORE

66 |

Aachen campaigners
with their posters.
© Aachen Municipality
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CAMPAIGNS

POLITICAL
PRESSURE

!
NOW!

Since the beginning of 2019, the This also means that community groups
European Union’s set of directives and now have the power to demand their rights
laws called the “Clean Energy Package to participate in the energy system. Energy
for All Europeans” gives power to citizens communities could, for example, write a
to take ownership of energy transition letter to their energy minister and local
projects through energy communities. political representatives, to explain that the
This new European regulation group wants to be part of the energy
acknowledges citizens as important transition and that the Renewable Energy
actors in the energy market, and outlines Directive should be fully transposed into
governance principles and activities for national law, to support the community
energy communities. People, local energy project.
authorities and small and medium-sized | 67

enterprises (SMEs) can set up legal

entities that must be supported by their
national governments.
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BE ST PR AC TI CE S

THE DUTCH CLIMATE AGREEMENT

ENERGIE SAMEN | THE NETHERLANDS
Throughout 2018, the Dutch government held dialogues with stakeholders across
the country in order to agree on goals for a climate agreement for The Netherlands,
including the value of local and community ownership of renewable energy projects.
During these so-called “round tables”, the Dutch community energy movement was
well represented by Energie Samen, the Dutch federation of energy communities,
which directly influenced the debate. The final agreement was a great success for
community energy, containing a non-binding objective stating that all new wind and
solar projects should be 50% owned by the local community.

More information can be found

on the website of the Dutch
federation of energy
cooperatives, Energie Samen:
https://energiesamen.nu/

68 |
FIND
OUT
MORE

Windturbine
inauguration in Neer.
© Energie Samen
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B E S T P R A C T IC E S

LETTER TO INFLUENCE GREEK

TRANSPOSITION PROCESS ELECTRA | GREECE
In February 2021, an informal coalition consisting of Greek energy communities,
REScoop.eu, Electra Energy, WWF and Greenpeace published a report, which was
also sent to the Greek government, addressing the problems that energy
communities are facing, and proposing recommendations on how to overcome
these issues by properly transposing the European directives on community energy
into Greek law. As a result, in March 2021, the group was invited by the energy
ministry to discuss the topic. Since then, the government has been actively working
on the transposition, and a dedicated working group in the ministry was set up to
work on energy communities. In the meantime, the community energy group
continues to apply pressure by sending follow-up letters to the ministry.

More information:
http://electraenergy.coop/report
_feb21/
FIND OUT
MORE
| 69

In Greece, community
energy groups
demand their rights.
© Electra
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CAMPAIGNS

GROWING
MEMBERSHIP

gy
ener er!
unity
comm s do this tog
eth

Energy communities usually start with CUSTOMISE YOUR

a core group that structures the project. COMMUNICATIONS
A moment will naturally arise when the
time becomes ripe to encourage more It may seem obvious, but you are more
citizens and local stakeholders to join in likely to reach a younger citizen via social
your initiative. Growing your membership media channels such as Facebook, Twitter,
base will cost time and effort. Appealing LinkedIn or Instagram. You might consider
and diverse communication activities will social media advertising to reach and
be key to motivating the broader convince specific target groups (based on
community to join. demographic information provided by the
social media platform). The better you can
70 | connect your message with your target
DEMOGRAPHICS group, the more likely this group is to
When recruiting more members, first consider joining your project. On the other
consider the demographics (factors like hand, some target groups might
age, race, sex, education, income level,…) appreciate reading printed brochures or
of your target audience. Identifying those being able to ask questions at a
groups that are currently underrepresented community meeting. In summary, the key
in your project will allow you to increase question you should ask yourself is how to
the “social capital” of your project, and to diversify your communication materials in
target your communication activities in a order to reach your different target groups.
more strategic and efficient way.
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CAMPAIGNS

GROWING
MEMBERSHIP

MAKE IT PERSONAL After all, energy communities are all about

citizen empowerment. Enabling interaction
Face-to-face contact is time consuming within your community will be important to
but also very effective. A neighbourhood your membership campaign. A good
meeting for example can be a great network of ambassadors can support
platform of exchange and a powerful tool these activities. A neighbour telling
to raise awareness of your initiative. someone else why he joined the energy
community will have more impact than
BEST PR ACTICE S any other digital message.

MEMBERS MEETINGS ZUIDERLICHT | THE NETHERLANDS

Zuiderlicht is an energy cooperative founded in 2014 in Amsterdam in the
Netherlands. The cooperative collaborates with the city, sports and youth clubs
as well as schools to jointly develop solar production projects. The cooperative
regularly organises ‘member meetings’. The purpose of these meetings is to inform
members about the cooperatives’ activities and to encourage dialogue among
community members, to promote a common goal, and to leverage the knowledge
and experience of the group in order to advance its initiatives. Different topics can
be addressed during these meetings, focusing on inspiration, education and
| 71
exchange. The meetings are also used as a platform to celebrate successes!
Usually these meetings are organised in person in an Amsterdam neighbourhood,
and the meeting provides space for words but also for different forms of art like
poetry. In doing so, the cooperative attracts both young and older members.
FIND
OUT
More information: MORE
https://www.zuiderlicht.nu/

Members of Zuiderlicht dancing at a Member’s

meeting. The cooperative combines word and
art for engaging a broad audience. © Zuiderlicht
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CAMPAIGNS

CROWDFUNDING
€
€
€

One of the biggest challenges you will Any crowdfunding activity will benefit from
face is funding your project. You will good preparation. Moreover, it’s important
need money, in different amounts and to choose a good online crowdfunding
forms, from the pre-planning stage platform (or build your own), and to
through the development, investment and present a compelling and transparent
operational phases. Overcoming financial story. Use your social media channels to
barriers requires a mix of innovative increase interest for the project and to
approaches and existing instruments. drive people to the crowdfunding platform.
Community energy projects are typically In your crowdfunding communications,
financed by citizens. Amongst the variety try to answer the following questions:
of innovative solutions to choose from,
72 | • Problem and solution: What problem
crowdfunding is an activity that many
are you trying to solve and how?
energy communities engage in to raise
Why is this a problem?
money directly from the community.
Crowdfunding can be a great way to • Transparency: How much funding do
empower the larger community to you need? How exactly will you spend
support the causes it believes in. it? What happens if you don’t reach
your target?

• Who are you: What is your background

and why should I trust you with
my money? Do you have
supporting partners?
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B E S T P R A C T IC E S

CROWD INVESTING FOR SOLAR ROOFS IN KRIŽEVCI ZEZ | CROATIA

ZEZ (Green Energy Cooperative) is an energy cooperative in Croatia with 18
members. Because of the restrictive cooperative-related legislation in Croatia –
in Croatia a cooperative member, for example, is ineligible to receive employment
related benefits – raising capital for production projects through membership fees
was not an attractive option for ZEZ. So the cooperative created a crowdfunding
platform to finance solar production projects. This project was the first of its kind in
Croatia and saw the creation of a wide-ranging partnership between ZEZ, the City of
Križevci, Regional Energy Agency North, Greenpeace Croatia, Solvis and ACT Group.
With the active collaboration of the City of Križevci, in no time, over EUR 53,000 was
raised in the form of 93 citizens’ micro loans to ZEZ. The City of Križevci provided
administrative and financial support in the preparation phase and has signed a 10
year PV power plant lease agreement with ZEZ. The PV power plant production is
mainly used for self-consumption, and the lease fee is lower than the achieved
savings on building energy costs, thus both consumers and investors are granted
an energy-saving bonus for a period of 10 years. ZEZ and Regional Energy Agency
North developed a cost-effectiveness analysis and the general design
documentation; Solvis, a PV module producer from Croatia, installed the rooftop PV
plant. With these investments, ZEZ has installed and operates two solar power
| 73
plants (30 kW peak) in the city of Križevci.
FIND OUT
MORE
More information:
http://www.zez.coop

Energy Cooperative ZEZ

collaborating with
the City of Križevci.
© Zelena energetska zadruga
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COMMUNITY ENERGY - COMMUNICATION GUIDE CHAPTER
ENERGY
CAMPAIGNS

CREATING SPACES
TO EDUCATE
M
GE
N GA HOP
E RKS
WO

Community energy creates spaces to There are different ways to create this
educate people on the issues of energy, education space. You for example could
climate and democracy. Energy ask your team to share its expertise in
communities raise awareness about the house renovations or mobility during a
energy transition within the community, workshop or webinar. You could also
and empower citizens to take action such facilitate peer-to-peer training, capitalising
as energy savings. The main reasons on the human capital within your
to actively provide education to staff, community. You could for example create
members and the broader society are a forum where members can share among
two-fold. First, this type of training themselves their tips for energy-efficient
opportunity will engage your members measures in homes.
74 | and connect them to your energy
community. Second, education can
empower your members to change
their energy behaviour, which in many
cases will directly contribute to your
overall mission.
 5
COMMUNITY ENERGY - COMMUNICATION GUIDE CHAPTER
ENERGY
CAMPAIGNS

BE ST PR AC TI CE S

TRAINING YOUTH TO JOIN THE GREEN ECONOMY

REPOWERING LONDON | UK
Repowering London is a not-for-profit community energy development organisation
that empowers urban and disadvantaged communities to plan, fund, build and
benefit from a low-carbon future. This work includes providing mentoring, training
and work-experience opportunities that prepare young people to join the Green
Economy. For example, trainees in its paid Youth Training programme develop skills
in low-carbon and renewable technical feasibility analysis, solar panel making,
installation and design, energy efficiency, community engagement, CV writing and
interviewing, and teamwork.

Repowering London -
Trainees. © T Mitchell More information:
https://www.repowering.org.uk/

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 COMMUNITY ENERGY - COMMUNICATION GUIDE

REFERENCES

https://simonsinek.com/commit/the- https://shapeenergy.eu/wp-
golden-circle content/uploads/2018/12/Workshop-Key-
Findings.pdf
https://commonslibrary.org/circles-of-
commitment/ https://www.epa.ie/publications/research/
climate-change/research-337.php
https://www.compile-
project.eu/products/coolkit/stakeholder- https://energy-cities.eu/publication/how-
engagement/ local-authorities-can-encourage-citizen-
participation-in-energy-transitions/
https://www.rescoop.eu/toolbox/communi
ty-energy-a-practical-guide-to-reclaiming- https://energy-cities.eu/wp-
power content/uploads/2020/09/BEACON-PR-
Catalogue_en.pdf
https://www.irena.org/publications/2021/
Nov/Community-Energy-Toolkit-Best- https://energy-cities.eu/wp-
practices-for-broadening-the-ownership- content/uploads/2019/03/fabrique_transit
of-renewables ion_democratique.pdf

https://www.compile- https://www.futureproofed.com/cities/free
project.eu/products/coolkit/stakeholder- -guidebook-communicating-city-climate-
engagement/ action

https://transitionshub.climate- https://energy-cities.eu/inspiring-
kic.org/publications/visual-toolbox-for- mind/strasburgs-first-energy-community-
system-innovation/ a-long-exciting-ride/

https://energy-cities.eu/wp- https://www.rescoop.eu/toolbox
76 |
content/uploads/2019/01/new_dialogues_
https://www.rescoop.eu/policy
cities_stakeholders_energy_cities_may201
6_en.pdf
COMMUNITY ENERGY - COMMUNICATION GUIDE

NOTES

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NOTES

78 |
COMMUNITY ENERGY - COMMUNICATION GUIDE

NOTES

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 DE
COM MU NIC ATI ON GUI

COMMUNITY
ENERGY COMMUNICATION
GUIDE
COMMUNITY ENERGY COMMUNICATIONS
AT THE LOCAL LEVEL

Today, many people still don’t know what community

energy is and the benefits it can offer in collectively
addressing climate and social challenges. Spreading
the word about community energy is thus an important
aspect of leading the transition to energy democracy.
This Guide will help you to kick off communication and engagement activities for the
development of local community energy projects. It will inspire you with numerous
examples of cities and cooperatives that successfully built a local, community-led
renewable energy revolution!

Spread the word about our story of hope, belief, connectedness, empowerment
and possibility. This book can help you.

www.rescoop.eu www.energy-cities.eu