Knowledge sharing to increase impact:
RIPEET goes to the Pathways to Impact Conference
RIPEET in Action: Beyond Crises/Beyond Normal - Energy and Society conference NTNU Trondheim
Knowledge sharing to increase impact:
RIPEET goes at Beyond Crises/Beyond Normal - Energy and Society conference
RIPEET in Action: International Sustainability Conference, Utrecht
Knowledge sharing to increase impact:
RIPEET goes at the International Sustainability conference
Utrecht, 30 August - 1 September 2023
RIPEET Webinar Series: 2nd Webinar on 25 October 2023
ESSI WEBINAR: SOCIAL INNOVATION CONTRIBUTIONS TO TRANSFORMATION
In collaboration with the RIPEET project
For its second webinar, RIPEET is collaboration with ESSI, the European School of Social Innovation.
Case Älvbyarna – Rural Green Transition in Ostrobothnia
Case Älvbyarna is a twofold solution aiming to expand the village cooperation into energy and resiliency questions on one hand and to develop and test a calculation tool to help the villages make well-informed fact-based decisions about their energy solutions on the other. From the tests, a handbook on village-level energy business models will be developed. The project activities are embedded into the local community through an active co-creation process.
Novia university of applied sciences, having expertise and research on sustainable energy solutions is in charge of creating the calculation tool and the energy production guide. The village association Älvbyarna, with extensive experience in co-creation and community organisation and development, is in charge of planning and implementing the co-creation process and of coordinating the civil society reference group in the pilot.
“Need for more citizen-led energy initiatives and local energy communities in the region of Ostrobothnia”
In September 2022 a call for Innovative energy solutions in Ostrobothnia was launched as part of the RIPEET project. The call was specifically meant to identify energy solutions connecting local resources to local solutions, a challenge that emerged from the RIPEET report, mapping and analysing the energy transition ecosystem in Ostrobothnia.
3 key challenges identified related to this need were:
Lack of networks connecting regional actors such as citizens and energy experts
Lack of support for citizen-led energy initiatives
Lack of dialogue on important issues for policy development supporting local energy solutions
Objectives
A calculation tool for building specific energy use and sustainable production will be created. For this, the old school in Älvbyarna will be the demo object, but the tool is intended to be usable for basically any type of building.
The solution will increase existing knowledge on community-operated energy production. The potential for hydropower production in the local rapid Voitbyforsen will be explored and a guide for community-operated energy production and related legal forms and business models will be developed
An active co-creation process will be created to enable continuous feedback from users and civil society in rural areas and to ensure that all activities are embedded into the local community.
Expected results
The calculation tool is a unique product created in the pilot, and one which can be used by both organisations with large buildings and owners of private homes as soon as the tool has been created and tested.
Älvbyarna has existing local energy resources (hydro power, wind, and even solar power) in the villages, some of them currently underused. To this background, the solution will also result in enhanced knowledge and village cooperation in energy and resiliency questions.
Civil society representatives
- Aktion Österbotten, the local Leader-group and organisation for rural development
- Svenska Österbottens Ungdomsförbund, concerning local and sustainable energy solutions for buildings
- Finlands svenska hembygdsförbund, concerning local and sustainable energy solutions for buildings (museums)
- Älvbyarna i Östra Korsholm rf, coordinating the civil society group, representing civil society group and the geographical area that the project will be implemented in as well as the local end users of the solution
- Citizens with an interest in the pilot solution
Public sector
- The municipality of Korsholm: Development and energy transition in the municipality of Korsholm
- Regional development, energy transition: The regional business and development company for the Vaasa region, VASEK
Private sector
- Stormossen, a local waste treatment and circular economy company that is jointly owned by six communities.
- Vaasan sähkö – local utility company
Universities and researchers
- Novia University of Applied Sciences
Do you want to learn more about it?
Get in touch!
Energy Village 3.0 – Ostrobothnia’s smart energy villages and communities
Energy Village 3.0 is one of the pilot solutions developed in Ostrobothnia as a results of the Call launched by the RIPEET project. Aktion Österbotten, the organisation implementing the solutions, will develop and pilot a new organisational model for developing strategies for smart energy villages that taps into the knowledge potential and local resources available. The model activates and enhances the capacity of villages and rural areas to deal with energy self-sufficiency and resilience. The organisational model is piloted through a co-creation process in one village.
“Need for more citizen-led energy initiatives and local energy communities in the region of Ostrobothnia”
In September 2022 a call for Innovative energy solutions in Ostrobothnia was launched as part of the RIPEET project. The call was specifically meant to identify energy solutions connecting local resources to local solutions, a challenge that emerged from the RIPEET report, mapping and analysing the energy transition ecosystem in Ostrobothnia.
3 key challenges identified related to this need were:
Lack of networks connecting regional actors such as citizens and energy experts
Lack of support for citizen-led energy initiatives
Lack of dialogue on important issues for policy development supporting local energy solutions
The solution aims to strengthen the knowledge of the village network of Ostrobothnia in their energy choices.
For this purpose, the co-creation process will lead into a way to build such energy strategies for the villages that tap into the whole potential of skills and ideas in the village. Looking specifically at the selected pilot village, the objective is to enhance the village’s large potential for energy self-sufficiency and resilience by exploring the possibilities to develop energy system solutions consisting of both local renewable energy production and local storage. The innovativeness of the organizational model lies in reconfiguring social practices.
Objectives
Creating new actor networks that links regional research actors with rural and village actors
Creating a new role of village associations within the themes of renewable energy and self-sufficiency.
Expected results
In the pilot, the expected result is to develop and pilot an “ideal model” for developing strategies for smart energy villages and activating rural areas to deal with energy self-sufficiency and resilience.
These strategies will enable villages to apply for funding for developing and implementing local energy initiatives, and in this way increase the number of local energy communities in the region of Ostrobothnia.
- Local Action Group: Aktion Österotten – pilot solution provider, manages the Leader Programme and related funding on a regional level, intermediary actor that can reach and bring together grassroot actors and link these to other key stakeholders in the regional innovation ecosystem.
- Esse Elektro-Kraft: Local utility company focusing on new renewable energy production and energy storage solutions by using second life batteries
- Research: University of Vaasa VEBIC, Vaasa Energy Business Innovation Centre – developer of Energy Village concept and process methodology, leading research on Energy Transition Management and Resilient Energy Systems
- People and society: Esse Byarådet – Local Village Council – key actor in outlining the village strategy, initiating village development projects and in implementing key actions resulting from the pilot co-creation process. The village council have had a key role in reaching out to and engaging citizens to take part in the co-creation process. All co-creation events have been held in the facilities of the Local Village Council.
- Government – Pedersöre municipality – responsible for spatial planning enabling renewable energy production in the Esse village.
Do you want to learn more about it?
Get in touch!
Energy Village 3.0
Mathias Högbacka, Executive Director at Aktion Österbotten
RIPEET project drives energy transition in Ostrobothnia
RIPEET pilot region Ostrobothnia has hosted the project General Assembly in Vaasa last June, raising the interest of local energy stakeholders and encouraging citizen-led energy initiatives.
The Regional Council of Ostrobothnia has emerged as an active participant in international cooperation, assuming a significant role in numerous organisations and initiatives dedicated to advancing regional development and fostering collaboration across Europe.
Join the live session - Harvesting citizens´knowledge: co-creating energy transition
Harvesting citizens´ knowledge: co-creating energy transition
Live session for the CO-CREATION module
21st September 2023, 10-12 CET
Open Seminar on Energy Communities and Local Energy Initiatives
Within the framework of the RIPEET project, partners from Ostrobothnia are hosting an event to hear about the latest developments and policy recommendations regarding energy communities in Finland and related opportunities for the regional energy transition in Ostrobothnia.