The clean energy transition will only succeed if everyone can participate in and benefit from it. For Housing Europe’s EU-funded project SOCIALNRG, this means looking beyond technologies and considering the people, homes and local systems that shape how energy is used. Across Europe, other EU-funded projects are approaching this challenge from complementary perspectives. Two of our peers, ASSERT and LOCATEE, are doing just that.
ASSERT focuses on the intersection between energy poverty and physical disability. People with disabilities may spend more time at home and have higher energy needs, making high energy costs particularly challenging. At the same time, the professionals who already support them – from healthcare and social services to municipalities – may not always have the knowledge or tools to recognise and address energy poverty.
ASSERT therefore works across three groups: people with physical disabilities, frontline intermediaries such as healthcare and social service professionals, and local policymakers. Through specialised training and mentoring, the project aims to make energy support part of the services and interactions that already take place in people’s everyday lives. A professional visiting someone to discuss their health or living conditions, for example, could also help them understand their energy consumption and point them towards appropriate support.
At policy level, ASSERT is helping local authorities consider energy poverty and disability together, embedding these concerns across relevant policies rather than treating energy poverty as a standalone issue.
LOCATEE looks at another major piece of the energy poverty puzzle – renovating privately owned multi-apartment buildings. These buildings can be particularly difficult to renovate because decisions involve multiple owners, while municipalities may lack the data and tools needed to identify vulnerable households and prioritise support.
LOCATEE is testing its approach in Rumia in Poland, Torres Vedras in Portugal and Piraeus in Greece. Working with municipalities, housing actors and other local partners, the project is developing a toolkit that uses local data to identify energy vulnerability and determine where interventions could have the greatest impact.
The three pilots will also establish local contact points and bring municipalities together with representatives of multi-apartment buildings. The aim is not only to support individual renovations, but to give local authorities a stronger role in coordinating the transition and incorporating energy poverty into their longer-term climate and energy strategies. The project plans to extend its approach to a further 32 municipalities across Europe.
ASSERT, LOCATEE and SOCIALNRG tackle different but closely connected barriers to an inclusive energy transition.
SOCIALNRG explores how energy-vulnerable residents in social, public and affordable housing can participate in renewable energy communities. ASSERT strengthens the capacity of the people and public services that support households experiencing both energy poverty and disability. LOCATEE gives municipalities tools and evidence to identify energy vulnerability and support renovation in private multi-apartment housing.
Together, the three projects show why tackling energy poverty requires more than a single solution. It means understanding people’s circumstances, improving their homes, strengthening local services and giving municipalities the capacity to act while ensuring that vulnerable residents have a meaningful place in Europe’s transition to clean energy.