Placing citizens at the heart of energy innovation: Extremadura sustainable energy transition vision

In order to achieve the changes desired for 2040, new spaces, tools and resources with which citizens can play a leading role in the definition of the Extremadura energy transition are needed, in order to facilitate the identification of the main social challenges in the field of energy and favoring the development of new, fairer and more sustainable solutions, paying special attention to the Energy Communities Models.

These spaces should serve as a unique meeting point between the main stakeholders in the region, boosting collaboration between them and facilitating access to relevant information to enable the active participation of citizens in the energy transition process. The resources and information provided in the spaces must be adapted to the characteristics of the region and understandable by all target audiences.


The urgency of the need

The main global trends and European strategies indicate that in order to achieve a complete energy transition it is necessary for citizens to play a leading role in the process, being able to produce, manage and consume their own energy, within a framework of social justice and environmental protection. In recent years, the increase in global temperatures, geopolitical conflicts caused by fossil fuels, and  social movements demanding greater attention to the challenges facing society and the environment have made it necessary, on the one hand, to accelerate the energy transition process and, on the other, to do so hand in hand with society.

The emergence of a system based on renewable energies favours a process of democratization in the operation and development of the energy system itself, offering new opportunities to citizens, public administrations and entities at all levels. In the participatory process of the Extremadura Energy Transition Lab (ETL), a large part of the participants considered it urgent to create innovative tools that favour the participation of all key actors in the decision-making process regarding the energy transition and, in particular, the participation of citizens. The creation of open spaces in which anyone can participate in decision-making processes on the development of new energy solutions for Extremadura will encourage the active participation of all citizens in the energy transition process in the Region.


Expected impact of addressing this energy need

The main impact of addressing these energy needs will be the development of new socially-led energy projects. Although the main target group is the general public, the other stakeholders should also play a relevant role; the academia providing the necessary knowledge for the development of new solutions; the industry developing these solutions and introducing them into the market; the government developing policies that favour social energy projects, and the environmental experts accompanying the whole process to ensure the lowest possible environmental impact.

The solution should succeed in increasing people's knowledge and skills on energy issues by giving easy access to practical resources and tools, as well as increasing  connections between stakeholders in  order to foster the development of energy projects that improves citizens' well-being and are environmentally sustainable.  The solution provided should also demonstrate that interactive spaces, communication and support tools help citizens' engagement in the energy transition, and support the process of creating,  constituting and developing innovative and citizen-led models such as Energy Communities.

Do you have a solution?

You can apply to RIPEET Call for Solution in Extremadura here.

Fighting fuel poverty through locally generated energy: Outer Hebrides sustainable energy transition vision

2040 sees a much-changed energy ecosystem for the Outer Hebrides which better meets local needs and utilises the world class energy resources and pioneering communities of the region. Current strengths of the Islands such as community ownership and energy innovation have been retained whilst dramatic progress has been made on energy issues that have hampered local development, such as inconsistent stakeholder collaboration, limited grid resilience, grid constraints and fuel poverty.


By 2040, fuel poverty in the Outer Hebrides has, as far as is reasonably practicable, been eradicated following several technical, social, policy and behavioural interventions; making the islands an attractive place to live and for business to operate. Energy-related supply chains, involving installers, materials suppliers, and contractors, have been strengthened, creating a significant number of local, green jobs.
The local electricity grid is “smart”, resilient and responsive due to integration with new technologies for managing, generating and storing energy. There is greater use of smart metering in households and businesses and local network monitoring by the DSO.


Healthy collaboration across energy stakeholders within academic, public, private, community and environmental sectors continues in 2040. Comhairle nan Eilean Siar continues to play a key supportive role for energy projects, having been central in establishing a Regional Energy Consortium and supporting its management to facilitate collaboration on energy projects, foster greater local engagement with energy and develop Hebrides Energy, a local energy supply company (ESCo). 


The urgency of the need

Fuel Poverty has been a widespread and pervasive problem across the Outer Hebrides for many years. The Scottish House Condition Survey (2017-19)1 reported a fuel poverty rate of 40% in the Outer Hebrides compared to the average in Scotland of 24%. The region also had significantly higher extreme fuel poverty rates, 24%, double the national average of 12%. Although wider factors have contributed to this issue, examining the three key causes of Fuel Poverty offer some explanation as to why the regions suffers so greatly.

  1. The energy efficiency of properties
  2. The cost of energy
  3. Household income

With the current rapid increase in energy prices, the incidence of fuel poverty in the region is set to increase and will have a dramatic impact on the livelihoods and wellbeing of the Outer Hebrides.  In addition, there is significant local generation of energy in the region, the majority of which is renewable electricity which is sold to the National Grid and transported to the UK mainland. This pilot project hopes to reduce energy costs for local people by utilising locally generated energy to provide energy at a lower cost than is currently being paid by households and businesses. 


Expected impact of addressing this energy need

Allowing locally generated energy to be supplied and/or marketed locally to help reduce household energy costs would help to reduce the incidence of fuel poverty in the Outer Hebrides. This would have the added benefit of freeing up income to spend in other areas of the local economy as well as ensuring that households can adequately heat their homes which would support their overall health and wellbeing. The Outer Hebrides face some of the highest poverty levels in Scotland with over 880 families living in poverty. The impact of the Covid pandemic has been a 4.1% increase in poverty levels. Fuel poverty levels in the Outer Hebrides are the highest in Scotland at 36% (the national average is 25%)  highlighting the vulnerability of our island communities to rising energy costs. Therefore, understanding and delivering better solutions to reducing household energy costs in the Outer Hebrides has never been more important. Potential results of the pilot project could include:

  • Advancing the innovative knowledge basis and/or technology base of the Outer Hebrides on local off-grid energy generation
  • Developing a virtual model of the Outer Hebrides energy system
  • Conducting research into the long term economic impacts of fuel poverty in the Outer Hebrides
  • Designing an innovative campaign for policy reform on local energy supply
  • Improving the knowledge/technological basis for alternative fuel sources
  • Showcasing new and improved means for insulating properties

Do you have a solution?

You can apply to RIPEET Call for Solution in Outer Hebrides here.

Connecting local resources to local solutions: Ostrobothnia sustainable energy transition vision

In Ostrobothnia, bringing society into the process of accelerating and decentralizing energy production to connect local energy solutions has been recognised as critical for the regional energy transition. The journey towards carbon neutrality in Ostrobothnia, getting rid of the use of fossil fuels and basing the energy systems on green renewable energy, is connected to a need to work in new ways to engage different societal group in finding energy solutions based on local resources.


The urgency of the need

We are standing in front of a fast transition towards renewable energy raising the need for different types of solutions and requiring fundamental social changes to patterns of both consumption and production. The journey towards basing the energy systems on green renewable energy, will cause, especially during the period of building up the new systems worldwide, a situation where the energy availability in the grid is more intermittent and insecure than it has been. This will be a particular risk in the more sparsely-populated regions at the outer edges of the grid. Thus, actions and solutions that either improve the self-sufficiency of such areas in energy production, or resiliency solutions for energy shortages organised by the users (municipalities, villages, other types of end-user associations) themselves independently of the central actors, are needed more than ever.


The target groups most affected by the need

The target group most affected by the need is anticipated to be civil society including individual energy consumers, associations, and other citizens organisations. Depending on the solution suggested and developed, there will be related impact to varying extent on the following target groups:

  • Cities and municipalities in the region
  • Policy makers
  • Politicians
  • Industry/private sector
  • Researchers/academia

Do you have a solution?

You can apply to RIPEET Call for Solution in Ostrobothnia here.

Call for Solutions in Extremadura

Call for Innovative Energy Solutions in Extremadura

Increasing general knowledge on energy issues, fostering collaboration between key actors and promoting the development of new energy solutions for the benefit of society

Description of the challenge 

According to the innovation needs identified, to achieve the changes desired for 2040 Extremadura needs new spaces, tools and resources that put citizens at the heart of the energy transition. Establishing alternative organisational models for satisfying energy needs – such as Energy Community Models – will favour the development of new, fairer and more sustainable solutions in our region.

The challenge is to offer the adequate spaces, knowledge and tools to citizens o they can best take up different courses of action contributing to sustainable energy transition solutions. This could mean creating unique meeting points for citizens and the main stakeholders in the region, boosting collaboration between them and facilitating access to relevant information to enable the active participation of citizens in the energy transition process. The resources and information provided in the spaces must be adapted to the characteristics of the region and understandable by all target audiences.

For a full description of the challenge, please review “Complete description of the challenge”.

Why should you apply? 

  • This is an opportunity to co-develop and validate your solution in a real-world context.
  • Receive €50,000 to develop your solution until November 2023
  • Opportunity to network and learn from organisations across Europe who are also involved in energy transition

There is more information on the Extremadura Call for solutions.

Who can apply?

The following eligibility criteria apply:

  • Applicants must be headquartered in eligible countries based in an EU member state (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden and United Kingdom) or H2020 associated country (Iceland, Norway, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey, Israel, Moldova, Switzerland, Faroe Islands, Ukraine, Tunisia, Georgia and Armenia).
  • Applicants must be legal entities in a situation to receive public funding (Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014 of 17 June 2014 declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the internal market in application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty).
  • Absence of double public funding. The very same project activities cannot receive other public funds.
  • The application form can be submitted in the local language (Spanish). The budget template and declaration of honour should be submitted in English. The submitted documentation should contain all requested elements specified. Incomplete proposals will not be taken into consideration.
  • Applications have to be submitted before the deadline stated in the call 15th of November of 2022, 17:00 CET
  • Applications shall include a declaration of honour duly signed by the legal representative.
  • Please note that the co-creation process will be carried out in Spanish, so applicants must be able to communicate in that language.

Each application will be assessed against the eligibility criteria. The Applicants might be requested to provide additional explanations clarifying, in particular, their legal status, but no changes to the Application documentation are allowed once the Application is submitted. If so, applicants have up to 7-calendar days to correct or provide documents to complete their initial application.

Application from consortiums will also be considered.

Application process

The call will be open for 2 months with the call closing on the 15th November 2022 at 1700 CET. Applications should be submitted to this email address by the time and date of the call closing: ripeet@fundecyt-pctex.es.

All of the following documents need to be completed, failure to submit all necessary documents will result in the application being rejected.  

Approved languages for applications are Spanish or English.

Selection process

Applications will be evaluated based on the Evaluation Criteria by a regional selection committee. Applications will be assessed individually by committee members and discussed during a collaborative assessment meeting. If it is difficult to decide between the top 3 applications, then these 3 potential solution providers will be invited to take part in oral presentations.

Questions

Please submit your questions to ripeet@fundecyt-pctex.es. Please note that all questions and related answers will be published in the RIPEET Extremadura Call for Solutions FAQ document (Spanish version here).

No questions have currently been submitted, this document will be updated with questions and their responses as they arise.​​​​​​​​​​​​​

CALL OPENS:
15 September 2022
CALL CLOSES:
15 November 2022
RELATED REGIONS:
CALL DOCUMENTS

 Call Documents

 ALL the following documents must be filled in and returned to ripeet@fundecyt-pctex.es

Call for Solutions in Ostrobothnia


Call for Innovative Energy Solutions in Ostrobothnia

Energy solutions connecting local resources to local solutions


Description of the challenge 

In Ostrobothnia, the challenge of bringing in society to accelerate decentralized and local energy solutions set up by 2030 is critical for the regional energy transition.

In this call, we are searching for innovative solutions connecting local resources to local solutions in energy production and/or energy consumption, e.g. heating, central or distributed energy production or storage, diminishing the use of energy. The journey towards carbon neutrality in Ostrobothnia, getting rid of the use of fossil fuels and basing the energy systems on green renewable energy, is connected to a need to work in new ways to engage different societal group in finding energy solutions based on local resources.

Successful applications can have the aim to e.g.:

  • Design a new organisational method in business practices, workplace organisation or external relations
  • Reconfigure social practices such as creating new social business models, actor networks, governance modes, policy interventions or organisational entities
  • Develop a new or significantly improved process e.g. production or delivery method

We will fund two applications receiving a grant of 25 000 euro each.

For a full description of the challenge, please review the “Complete description of the challenge” document.

Why should you apply? 

  • Co-develop and validate the solution with the challenge promoter
  • Receive 25 000 € to develop your solution over 12 months (January-December 2023)

There is more information in the Outer Hebrides “Call for solutions” document.

Who can apply?

Associations, companies, public enterprises and other types of organizations registered as legal entities in EU or EU/H2020 associated countries can apply. As the co-creation process will be carried out also in the local languages, the applicants will need to be able to communicate with stakeholder groups in Swedish and Finnish in addition to English.

Actors who are granted project funding do not need to be connected to the Ostrobothnian region, but must be able to offer their solution in this region.

Application from consortiums will also be considered.

Application process

The call will be open for 2 months, from 15th of September to 15th of November 2022.
Applications should be submitted to: ripeet@merinova.fi
The application form, budget template and full call description can be found in the “Documents” section below. Approved languages for applications are Finnish, Swedish or English.

Selection process

Applications will be rated based on the evaluation criteria described in the document Evaluation criteria.

Questions

Please send your questions (in Finnish, Swedish, English) to ripeet@merinova.fi
Please notice that all questions and related answers will be published in the document “RIPEET Ostrobothnian Call for Solutions FAQ”

No questions have currently been submitted, this document will be updated with questions and their responses as they arise.

​​​​​​​​​​​​

CALL OPENS:
15 September 2022
CALL CLOSES:
15 November 2022
RELATED REGIONS:
CALL DOCUMENTS

Call Documents

ALL the following documents must be filled in and returned to ripeet@merinova.fi

Call for Solutions in the Outer Hebrides

Call for Innovative Energy Solutions in the Outer Hebrides

Explore solutions to reduce household energy costs by better utilising locally generated energy

Description of the challenge 

Fuel Poverty has been a widespread and pervasive problem across the Outer Hebrides for many years. The Scottish House Condition Survey (2017-19) reported a fuel poverty rate of 40% in the Outer Hebrides compared to the average in Scotland of 24%. The region also had significantly higher extreme fuel poverty rates, 24%, double the national average of 12%. 

With the current rapid increase in energy prices, the incidence of fuel poverty in the region is set to increase and will have a dramatic impact on the livelihoods and wellbeing of the Outer Hebrides. In addition, there is significant local generation of energy in the region, the majority of which is renewable electricity which is sold to the National Grid and transported to the UK mainland.
This pilot project hopes to reduce energy costs for local people by utilising locally generated energy to provide energy at a lower cost than is currently being paid by households and businesses.

For a full description of the challenge, please review the “Complete description of the challenge” document.

Why should you apply? 

  • This is an opportunity to co-develop and validate your solution in a real-world context.  
  • Receive €50,000 to develop your solution until November 2023
  • Opportunity to network and learn from organisations across Europe who are also involved in energy transition

There is more information in the Outer Hebrides “Call for solutions” document.

Who can apply?

The following eligibility criteria apply:

  • Applicants must be headquartered in eligible countries legally established as a business and based in an EU member state (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain and Sweden) or H2020 associated country (United Kingdom, Iceland, Norway, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey, Israel, Moldova, Switzerland, Faroe Islands, Ukraine, Tunisia, Georgia and Armenia).
  • Applicants must be legal entities in a situation to receive public funding (Commission Regulation (EU) No 651/2014 of 17 June 2014 declaring certain categories of aid compatible with the internal market in application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty).
  • Absence of double public funding. The very same project activities cannot receive other public funds.
  • The application form can be submitted in the local language (English). The budget template and declaration of honour should be submitted in English. The submitted documentation should contain all requested elements specified. Incomplete proposals will not be taken into consideration.  
  • Applications have to be submitted before the deadline stated in the call 15th of November of 2022, 17:00 CET
  • Applications shall include a declaration of honour duly signed by the legal representative.
  • Please note that the co- creation process will be carried out in English, so applicants must be able to communicate in that language.
  • Application from consortiums will also be considered.

Application process

The call will be open for 2 months with the call closing on the 15th November 2022 at 1700 CET. Applications should be submitted to this email address by the time and date of the call closing: sarah.marshall@hient.co.uk.

All of the following documents need to be completed, failure to submit all necessary documents will result in the application being rejected.

Selection process

Applications will be evaluated based on the evaluation criteria by a regional selection committee. Applications will be assessed individually by committee members and discussed during a collaborative assessment meeting. If it is difficult to decide between the top 3 applications, then these 3 potential solution providers will be invited to take part in oral presentations. 

Questions

Please submit your questions to sarah.marshall@hient.co.uk. Please note that all questions and related answers will be published in the RIPEET Outer Hebrides Call for Solutions FAQ document.

No questions have currently been submitted, this document will be updated with questions and their responses as they arise.​​​​​​​​​​​​​

CALL OPENS:
15 September 2022
CALL CLOSES:
15 November 2022
RELATED REGIONAL CALLS:
CALL DOCUMENTS

 Call Documents

  ALL the following documents must be filled in and returned to sarah.marshall@hient.co.uk

Call for Innovative Energy Solutions

CALL OPENS:
15 September 2022
CALL CLOSES:
15 November 2022
RELATED REGIONAL CALLS:

Why launch a call for solutions?

Each of the three RIPEET territories (Outer Hebrides, Scotland; Ostrobothnia, Finland and Extremadura, Spain) has collaboratively identified the most urgent energy need in their region in close collaboration with a diverse range of local stakeholders. We are launching a call for solutions because we want to hear your ideas on how to best address these regional energy needs. 


What is the RIPEET co-creation approach?

The implementation of the RIPEET pilot project will be supported by a “co-creation team”. The term co-creation means that all stakeholders in this team are centrally involved in shaping the work plan, implementation, delivery and assessing the impact of the pilot project in the region. This co-creation approach will also ensure that the developed solution is aligned with the values, needs and expectations of the region. ​​​​​​​


Why three different calls?

Each of the RIPEET territories has identified an energy need which is unique to their region. Since the needs are so diverse, it makes sense to have 3 separate calls, one for each region. You can find more information on the regional calls for solutions in the dedicated pages.

Discover the selected energy solutions

Ostrobothnia selected solutions

Energy village 3.0 - Ostrobothnia’s smart energy villages and communities

by Aktion Österbotten​​​​​​​

Development and piloting of an organisational model 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.

Case Älvbyarna- Rural Green Transition in Ostrobothnia 
by Novia University of Applied Sciences & Älvbyarna village association 

Creation of an energy calculation tool for building specific energy use and sustainable energy production. Development of a guide for resident or community operated energy production describing e.g. potential legal forms and business models.

​​​​​​​

Outer Hebrides selected solution

Local Energy Economy

by the University of the Highlands and Islands Outer Hebrides (UHIOH) and the local council, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (CnES)

Creation of a Local Energy Economy based on sufficient renewable generation to supply all island consumers, the establishment of a locally owned Energy Supply Company, “Hebrides Energy”, examination of better energy efficiency strategies and domestic-level renewable generation to reduce household bills and address fuel poverty 

Extremadura selected solution

Promotion of Energy Communities in Extremadura

by ENVERDE Extremadura Energy, Cooperative Society

Development of a space for co-creation with a key objective of facilitating the interaction of different actors of the quadruple helix to boost Energy Communities in Extremadura and reach, in a collaborative way, a change in the energy model of the region associated to changes in habits and patterns to seek a positive social, economic and environmental impact in the territory.

The Aran Islands, Ireland

The Aran Islands are a group of three islands at the mouth of Galway Bay, off the west coast of Ireland, with a total area around 46 km2. From west to east, the islands are: Inishmore which is the largest; Inishmaan, the second largest; and Inisheer, the smallest. There are also several islets. The total population of the Islands are 1,226 inhabitants (as of 2016).

The Aran Islands wish to join the RIPEET community as they recognise the importance of learning from peers and how that could have a dramatic effect on success or failure. The Aran Islands hope that by building a connection with other similar groups, they can learn what can be done, what should be done and maybe most importantly, what not to do.

Role in RIPEET

The Aran Islands are willing to engage with the RIPEET project and successfully put in practice the skills and lessons learned from RIPEET.

They have already participated EU funded projects and have successfully delivered pilot demonstrators for replication elsewhere. They have also learned a lot about our own energy system, the barriers faced and the challenges to overcome, and this would be an advantage when trying to identify areas suitable for mirroring in RIPEET.

About the region

Local ecosystem

Local stakeholders which will be involved in the project:

Civil Society: Comharchumann Fuinnimh Oileáin Árann Teoranta Árainn development co-operative; Inis Oírr development co-operative Inis Meáin development co-operative 
Business Sector: The Aran Islands Business Network; Ferry Companies; Aer Arann plane service; Electricity Supply Board Networks (ESBN) 
Public Sector: Galway County Council; Gaeltacht Authority (Údarás na Gaeltachta); Sustainable Energy; Authority of Ireland Department of Communications; Climate Action and Environment (DCCAE) 
Academia: University of Galway; Atlantic Technological University; Primary Schools and Secondary Schools on all islands


Energy best practices implemented by the region


  • Retrofitting has been very high on our list of priorities in order to achieve their goals. They understand that in order to move to renewable heating,  an upgrade of the fabric of the majority of homes and buildings on the islands must first be carried out. This is in order to ensure that when fossil fuels are entirely eliminated, no person or home is left behind and would help to ensure a just transition for all citizens of the islands. 
  • They have also put a strong focus on community engagement and working with local residents to identify suitable, acceptable RE projects that would be welcomed by the community at large. This has been a long process, but one which is vital to the success of their projects. In order to do this, they have engaged continuously with all local stakeholders, as well as other relevant bodies such as the planning authority, DSO, government departments, academia and more. These stakeholders were formally identified during the writing of a Transition Agenda. The stakeholders can, for the most part, be broken down into three categories as with the transition agenda; citizen, businesses, academia and civil society. 
  • Although not a registered charity, CFOAT have signed up to 'The Governance Code' which is a code of practice set up for charities to follow. There is a heavy focus on transparency within the code which CFOAT adheres to fully. This is to ensure that members of the community can have full trust in our organisation at all times. CFOAT is non-profit, and therefore will never pay a dividend out toshareholders. They intend that any profits made from projects would go into a community benefit fund. The purpose of this fund would be to help the island communities to thrive but supporting employment, sustainability, avoiding population decline and preserving our language, culture and heritage.

Latest Updates

The Aran Islands show how an engaged island community can move forward with small citizen-scale investments.

The EU islands' call for applications of interest for 30 renewable islands for 2030 has concluded, and the EU islands secretariat is thrilled to announce the selection of 30 islands and island groups from 10 European countries ready to lead the way towards a sustainable future. 

The mission was clear: to identify and provide technical support to 30 islands and island groups over the next three years, propelling them towards complete energy independence through 100% renewable sources by 2030. The success of these exemplary islands will now become a beacon of guidance for others on their paths to comprehensive decarbonisation. 

One of the selected Islands is RIPEET mirror ecosystem: The Aran Islands!

The Aran Islands show how an engaged island community can move forward with small citizen-scale investments.

Read more aboit it here. 

Using the RIPEET methodology in the energy transition on the Aran Islands

The Aran Islands, Mirror Ecosystem for the Outer Hebrides in the RIPEET project, have successfully replicated the RIPEET Transition Lab approach in their territory and are now ready to share their first impact!

Read more aboit it here. 


Photo by Tina Ryan

Our Mirror Regions

RIPEET Mirror Ecosystems

The RIPEET project supports peer-learning activities in the field of  Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) policy experimentations for energy transition in 6 Mirrors regions all over Europe:  Andalucia (ES), Lithuania, The Aran Islands, Galway (IE), La Réunion (FR), Eigersund (NO) and Silesia (PL).

Learn more about our mirrors below:

RIPEET's Regional Partners

Transition Lab Key External Documents

Key Documents

It provides a brief historical overview of the RRI concept, and identify three distinct features; democratic governance of the purposes of research and innovation, the responsiveness, anticipation, reflection and deliberation in and around research and innovation, influencing the direction of associated policy.

RRI, dimensions, policy

This book develops conceptual and regional perspectives on responsible innovation as well as exploring the prospects for further implementation of responsible innovation in emerging technological practices ranging from agriculture and medicine to nanotechnology and robotics. 

RRI, emerging technologies

This guide has been conceived as a methodological guidance for policy-makers and implementing bodies on how to prepare for and how to design, draft and implement a national/regional research and innovation strategy for smart specialisation (RIS3).

RIS3, methodologies, innovation strategies

Energy research highlights are set on the development of reliable renewable energy systems and applications; transition to decentralized systems and socio-technical, behavioural and institutional issues combination which requires the integration of both energy and research policies. Global trends in research policies showing an advocacy for responsible approaches are for example Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) and Open Innovation European strategies which promote the development of social issues as core key of the research and innovation and the definition of the outcomes as the expression of human values such as safety, justice, sustainability and efficiency. 

Renewable energies, RRI, policy, transitions

This article develops a model for a regional responsible research and innovation (RRI) policy, integrating existing European Union policies on RRI, and on research and innovation strategies for smart specialisation (RIS3). RRI and RIS3 are central concepts in the EU’s innovation policy agenda, but there are tensions between the two approaches. It highlight that Europe’s innovation challenges can only be resolved by leveraging the strengths of both types of innovation policy.

smart specialisation, responsible research and innovation,  regions, EU policy

This paper analyzes how the Living Labs can be designed as tools for a more effective implementation of the Smart Specialisation Strategy (S3) within the Quintuple Helix Model. 

Smart specialisation strategy, Living labs, Quintuple helix model 

Renewable energy communities are grassroots initiatives that invest in ‘clean energy’ in order to meet consumption needs and environmental goals and thereby – often unwittingly – conduce to the spread of renewables. It explores the potential of renewable energy communities in the Netherlands, as social niches, to contribute to transitions in the energy system. 

Multi-Level Perspective, Social niche, Social innovation, Renewable energy communities

This paper presents an interdisciplinary framework explicating how values influence institutional change in the case of the energy transition. We build on a dynamic framework for institutional change that combines the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework with the concept of social learning. This basic analytical framework is expanded by conceptualizations of values in moral philosophy, institutional economics, and social psychology. Our framework offers researchers and policy makers an analytical tool to identify how values are embedded in infrastructure and existing regulation and how values shape communities and behavior.

Energy transition, Institutional change, methodological approach

Vision building, pathway construction and experimentation are key processes in the management of long-term sociotechnical transitions. The need to accelerate transitions and to adapt transition management to new country contexts calls for new means to catalyse these processes. We improved the path creation toolsets and procedures of transition management to create more detailed pathways and analyses of pathway step interrelations. The system has facilitated and anchored well the discussions by participants with cross-sectoral backgrounds. Overall, the redesigned system underscores the potential that codesign for sustainability transitions holds.
Sociotechnical transitions, codesign, toolset

EU Project

H2020 project is running until 2024. It aims to develop an integrated energy system to help decarbonise (industrialised) islands. To this end, the project will develop and deploy an integrated, smart and cost-efficient energy system that couples thermal, electrical and gas networks, which will optimise the utilisation of local renewable energy sources. The ROBINSON project supports islands and Europe by contributing to Europe’s technological advancement, improving quality of life, protecting the environment, and being cost-competitive and market-ready.
Decarbonisation, technologies, Energy Management System (EMS), Islands
The ISLANDER project focuses on the implementation of a smart energy management solution aggregating distributed energy resources and the development of a roadmap for a complete decarbonisation of the island. It considers the development of an advanced smart IT platform to flexibly manage Distributed Energy Resources (DER) coupled with Hybrid Energy Storage (HES) while also incorporating Demand Response (DR) and Local Power Balancing (LPB). Starting with the Pilot island of Borkum, the project aims at replicating these solutions to 4 Follower Islands: Lefkada and Skopelos in Greece, Orkney in the UK and Cres in Croatia, and to other EU islands.
IT platform, decarbonisation, islands, smart energy
The main goal of INSULAE is to foster the deployment of innovative solutions aiming to the EU islands decarbonization by developing and demonstrating at three Lighthouse Islands a set of interventions linked to seven replicable use cases, whose results will validate an Investment Planning Tool that will be then demonstrated at four Follower Islands for the development of four associated Action Plans. This will allow the island to generate their own sustainable and low-cost energy.
Decarbonisation, Innovation, Energy planning, Islands
BRIDGE is a cooperation group involving 90 projects (58 ongoing) in the areas of Smart Grid, Energy Storage, Islands, and Digitalisation funded under the Horizon 2020 program over the last 6 years (2014-2020). It aims at fostering the exchange of information, experience, knowledge, and best practices among its members. BRIDGE wants to provide field experience, feedback and lessons learned from the participating projects to help overcome the barriers to effective innovation. It aims at gathering coordinated, balanced and coherent recommendations to strengthen the messages and maximize their impacts towards policy makers in view of removing barriers to innovation deployment.
Knowledge exchange, smart grid, energy storage, Islands
The project aims to develop a theoretically-based and empirically-grounded understanding of cross-cutting issues related to SSH aspects (socio-economic; socio-technical; socio-ecological; socio-cultural; socio-political and socio-psychological; and gender related) of “Clean Energy Transition” in European coal mining and carbon-intensive regions.
Clean energy transition, coal, mining, multi-dimensional perspectives
It brings diverse groups together to make sense of how social innovation can bring about a more sustainable energy system in Europe. How has social innovation contributed to making our energy sources, use, and production cleaner? How can social change help reduce our carbon footprint in the future?
Social innovation,  City labs
SMARTEES
Social Innovation Modelling Approaches to Realizing Transition to Energy Efficiency and Sustainability
Aims to support the energy transition and improve policy design by developing alternative and robust policy pathways that foster citizen inclusion and take local peculiarities into account. Examines five types of energy- and mobility-related local social innovation in ten front-runner cities and islands across Europe. 
energy transition, policy design, cities

TOMORROW

Towards Multi-stakeholders transition Roadmaps With citizens at the centre

Empowering local authorities to lead the transition towards low-carbon, resilient and more liveable cities. Based on the concept of transition management, to facilitate and accelerate sustainable transitions through participatory processes of visioning, learning and experimenting. 
engagement, energy transition, government
The project created a research consortium funded by the Academy of Finland’s Strategic Research Council that examined the global energy transition and its impact on Finland. Research areas were new technologies, business models, experiments, learning and institutional barriers and opportunities.
energy transition, technologies, experiments, Finland 
The PentaHelix project is focusing on developing and testing a new approach for integrating multi-governace planning for sustainable energy, both horizontal and vertical, together with a close interaction with key stakeholders in energy efficiency and sustainable energy solutions such as the industry and business, building sector, NGO's, academia and individual citizens or relevant associations
Multi-governance, sustainable energy, stakeholders engagement

GRACE

Grounding RRI Actions to Achieve Institutional Changes in European Research Funding and Performing Organisations

Putting RRI principles into practice. It brings together three European regions – Lombardy (Italy), Brussels-Capital (Belgium) and Catalonia (Spain) – to design, test and disseminate three sound co-creation methodological frameworks (participatory research agenda setting, design for social innovation and citizen science) within their Smart Specialisation Strategies (S3). 
RRI, RIS3, social innovation, citizen science, institutional changes
The project map how, where and why members of the public, stakeholders, consumers and other groups are engaged in the research and innovation process, from early policy development to the delivery of research activity. Engage2020 aims to increase the use of engagement methods and policies by mapping what is practiced and spreading awareness of the opportunities amongst researchers, policy makers and other interested parties. The project will map existing policies, structures, methods, approaches, tools and instruments, as well as highlighting promising new or adapted approaches we would like to see in the future.
R&I, public engagement, policy

TERRITORIA

Territorial responsible research and innovation through the involvement of local R&I actors

TeRRItoria is a Horizon 2020 project which aims to position regions and local authorities as places for science governance, education, public engagement, ethics, and open access. The project operates in a context of transition in European society. For territorial governance, this shift and transition can be a challenge to the usual strategies and measures fostering economic development and social cohesion.
RRI, governance, public engagement, education

SEERRI

Building Self-Sustaining Research and Innovation Ecosystems in Europe through
Responsible Research and Innovation

SeeRRI is a joint project of 12 partner organizations from five countries, financed by the European Union under the Horizon 2020 programme. SeeRRI is developing a framework for integrating the principles of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) into regional Smart Specialisation policy. In a nutshell, the project aims to find a new way for all actors to collaborate in research and innovation activities based on a responsible mindset
RRI, RIS3, policy, stakeholders

TERRIFICA

Territorial RRI fostering Innovative Climate Action

The EU-funded TeRRIFICA project will review the state of the art in climate change adjustment models, policies and strategies. The purpose is to examine approaches to climate action, climate change adaptation and climate change mitigation in central, south, east and west Europe, in urban and rural areas as well as in EU and non-EU regions. Applying Living Lab strategies, crowd-mapping and co-creation activities, citizens, local authorities and experts will be integrated as partners to develop and coordinate adaptation processes. The key policies of RRI will be considered to address Sustainable Development Goals. TeRRIFICA will set up customised guides and key performance indicators for climate change adjustment exercises.
RRI, climate change, Living Labs, policy

SUPER MoRRI

Scientific Understanding and Provision of an Enhanced and Robust Monitoring system for RRI (SUPER MoRRI)

The bigger the role research and innovation plays, the more important it is to monitor its integration and responsible use. Building on the achievements of the MoRRI project, which conceived and delivered the first RRI monitoring system in Europe, the EU-funded SUPER_MoRRI project will work to secure sustained data collection, curation, further evaluation and clarification of the MoRRI indicators. It will also develop a more complete scientific understanding of the complicated and diverse relationships between RRI policies and practices and their societal and economic impact. 
RRI, monitoring, indicators, stakeholders

CHERRIES

Constructing Healthcare Environments through Responsible Research Innovation and Entrepreneurship Strategies

CHERRIES project is a EU funded project aimed at enabling Responsible, Research and Innovation (RRI) policy experiments in the healthcare sector in three European territories –  in Murcia (ES), Örebro (SE) and the Republic of Cyprus (CY). The CHERRIES team applies the RRI framework to mobilise territorial stakeholder ecosystems and engage them into regional pilot actions aimed identifying needs in the healthcare sector at territorial level, encourage the proposition and co-creation of innovative solutions to the identified needs, stimulate institutional reflection processes on how to innovate products and services in the healthcare sector through participatory approaches and to present evidence-based recommendations for revision of sectoral policies, strategies and innovation support instruments.
RRI, RIS3, health, innovation, experiments, policy
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