About the project
POWERYOUTH aims to empower young people between 15-30 years old to play an active role towards the energy transition by:
- Developing digital participatory tools to facilitate young people voicing their opinions and participating in decision-making to support energy transition in their communities.
- Training Youth Energy Community Leaders through capacity-building programs
- Focusing on increasing youth participation in energy communities and triggering collective energy actions
- Creating innovative business and financing schemes tailored to youth energy communities to support youth participation in energy cooperatives and reinforce young entrepreneurship
- Facilitating meaningful dialogue between youth and local stakeholders
- Implementation of local pilot programs in 5 target EU countries, aiming to establish youth-empowered energy communities
- Involving at least 1000 young people and stakeholders to act as Young Ambassadors and multipliers across the EU to effectively develop and operate energy communities
Key outputs
Analysis of the barriers and local conditions for youth energy communities
- Release of POWERYOUTH Toolkit
- POWERYOUTH Capacity building program and learning modules
- POWERYOUTH Engagement Campaigns
- Production of National and EU policy recommendations and policy brief
POWERYOUTH Objectives
Effectively engage young people and other key stakeholders in collective actions
At the core of POWERYOUTH is the desire to make a real positive impact on the lives of all citizens, especially youth, through the development of a sound engagement mechanism, including the creation of Stakeholder Liaison Groups
Develop a toolkit that facilitates the empowerment of youth in energy communities
An in-depth assessment of the barriers and needs for the development of youth energy communities in 5 Member States will be undertaken. This process will lead to the development of a toolkit, integrating a set of interactive tools that will encourage youth participation and active involvement in local energy communities.
Create and execute a comprehensive and easily replicable capacity-building program to train young people in green energy skills
POWERYOUTH will develop a capacity-building program that will include clean energy, energy production and storage training, an energy-efficient lifestyle, etc. The program will aim to equip local and regional authorities, as well as young people, with the necessary skills to contribute to the green economy by promoting green energy practices and lowering the barrier for young green entrepreneurs. The POWERYOUTH capacity-building program will be structured into 3 learning modules (technical, business, and social skills). Within each module, concrete guidance for developing and operating youth energy communities will be provided.
Mobilise youth organizations and local authorities to replicate the POWERYOUTH approach across the EU
POWERYOUTH will actively engage young leaders in energy and sustainability, as well as local authorities and policymakers, to trigger replication of the approach to energy communities across the EU.
Formulate policy recommendations and develop exploitation plans for accelerating youth energy communities’ adoption
Based on the experience gained and the lessons learned from implementing POWERYOUTH, EU policy recommendations and national policy briefs will be elaborated to accelerate the adoption of youth energy communities and the implementation of collective energy actions.
Set up and support collective actions in youth energy communities
POWERYOUTH will establish youth energy communities in 5 different regions in the EU (Austria, Greece, Latvia, Poland, and Portugal), focusing on different aspects of the energy transition. Pilot activities will apply to both renewable energy communities (Austria, Portugal) and citizen energy communities (Latvia, Poland, Greece). New and upgraded business models for innovative collective actions and protocols for each one of the pilot countries will be delivered.
The 3 Interactive Tools
POWERYOUTH interactive tools - PARTICIPATE - DECISION - FINANCE - will facilitate youth engagement and participation in energy communities.
"PARTICIPATE"
A tool that will assist in establishing local youth dialogue among young people, youth organizations, local authorities, and policymakers. It will help youth voice their opinions on energy transition topics at a local level.
"DECISION"
A tool that will support collective decision-making, motivate young people to change their behavior regarding energy use, and inspire them to implement energy efficiency measures.
"FINANCE"
A tool that will promote innovative financing, and it will provide young people with information on funding opportunities for a variety of projects that can contribute to energy transition, including
- an online marketplace for becoming a member of an energy cooperative, creating an energy cooperative, as well as for the daily operation of an energy cooperative
- implementation of crowdfunding campaigns and connection with peer-to-peer energy markets
- opportunities for green entrepreneurship funding
Pilots in 5 Countries
The POWERYOUTH pilots will demonstrate the effectiveness of the interactive tools and business models/protocols developed and showcase the benefits of such projects.
The POWERYOUTH approach will be tested in five countries, i.e., Austria, Greece, Latvia, Poland, and Portugal, providing substantial evidence of its success.
Portugal: Scale activities of Asprela renewable energy community through youth engagement
Austria: Increase youth participation in existing REC Windhaag windfarm in Spörbichl, lower Austria
Latvia: Educating young Energy Ambassadors to participate in energy communities in line with the national legal framework
Greece: Empower young people in actively participating and/or creating energy communities in rural areas in line with the Greek climate law
Poland: Facilitating young people’s participation in energy communities, involving especially Youth City Councils (in Niepołomice and Kęty)
Explore POWERYOUTH Content
Resources & News
Explore POWERYOUTH Content
Resources & News
Work Package No.1: Project Management
Lead Partner: SingularLogic
D1.1 – Project Management and Data Management Plan
D1.2 – Technical Progress Report
D1.3 – Extract of the project data from the LIFE KPI webtool
D1.4 – Updated extract of the project data from the LIFE KPI web tool
Work Package No.2: Interactive tools for empowering youth energy communities
Lead Partner: SingularLogic
D2.1 – Analysis of the barriers and local conditions for youth energy communities
D2.2 – 1st Release of POWERYOUTH Toolkit D2.3 – 2nd Release of POWERYOUTH Toolkit
Work Package No.3: Building empowered youth energy communities
Lead Partner: AdePorto
D3.1 – Empowered Youth Energy Communities Operations Report - V1
D3.2 – Empowered Youth Energy Communities Operations Report - V2
Work Package No.4: Capacity building and replication across Europe
Lead Partner: National Technical University of Athens - NTUA
D4.1 – POWERYOUTH learning modules
D4.2 – Mobilisation, capacity building, and evaluation of the 1st POWERYOUTH Engagement Campaign
D4.3 – Mobilisation, capacity building, and evaluation of the 2nd POWERYOUTH Engagement Campaign
Work Package No.5: Share, connect and attract
Lead Partner: ALDA
D5.1 – Report on Dissemination Communication and Exploitation Activities – V1
D5.2 – Report on Dissemination, Communication and Exploitation Activities – V2
D5.3 – National and EU policy recommendations and policy briefs
D5.4 – Final Publishable Report D5.5 – After-LIFE Plan
POWERYOUTH NEWS
Consortium
Consortium
Disclaimer
Co-funded by the European Union. The views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or CINEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
Social Media
