Renoverty
“Home Renovation Roadmaps to Address Energy Poverty in Vulnerable Rural Districts”
Background of RENOVERTY
In recent years, the driving forces of energy poverty at the local, regional, national and European scales have become more well known, yet the absence of a practical and theoretical understanding of how to address the issue in rural areas still persists. Rural and peri-urban areas across Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), South-eastern Europe (SEE), as well as Southern Europe (SE) are increasingly being left behind in the energy transition, due to their housing stock being less condensed than in urban areas, where economies of scale for energy renovation are easier to achieve as a result of a greater concentration of people and housing. Despite their particular need for support as a direct consequence of increased vulnerability, high risks of poverty and frequent social exclusion related to depopulation, lack of education, unfavourable labour markets, and remoteness, significant gaps in knowledge and practices to reduce energy poverty in rural areas remain.
RENOVERTY summary
RENOVERTY will foster energy efficiency building upgrades in the energy poor households of CEE, SEE, and SE countries by establishing the methodological and practical framework to build renovation roadmaps for vulnerable rural districts in a financially viable and socially just manner. Specifically, the project aims to deliver tools and resources to support local and regional actors to build and execute operational single or multi-household roadmaps for rural areas. A scalable model will also be created to ensure the wide geographical replicability and implementation of the roadmaps by different actors at the EU level.
Strategically, the project will contribute to minimize logistical, financial, administrative, and legal burdens caused by a complex and multi-stakeholder home renovation process. Additionally, RENOVERTY will ensure that building retrofits consider the social dimension by incorporating security, comfort, and improved accessibility in the roadmaps to further improve the quality of life of vulnerable populations. n.
Over the project’s three years, seven pilots located in Sveta Nedelja (Croatia), Tartu (Estonia), Bükk-Mak & Somló-Marcalmente-Bakonyalja Leader (Hungary), Zasavje (Slovenia), Parma (Italy), Coimbra (Portugal), and Osona (Spain) will implement the roadmaps, while wider integration of rural and peri-urban development is foreseen in the long run.
The project implementation period: 2022-2025. Total budget – 2 027 104€
