Citizens at the heart of the energy transition 

The energy sector causes over 75% of Europe’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. European and national initiatives are not enough to solve the problem, but united action from territories and citizens could help. There are, however, various financial, legal and other obstacles, coupled with a lack of information and tools to support these projects. 

The team behind LIFE LETsGO4Climate have turned to citizens in the Centre-Val de Loire region to alleviate the situation. 

Residents have been invited to join a citizen initiative on the energy transition by signing up to four workshops in their area.  

These workshops teach them about energy, the energy transition, and the opportunities to get involved in this vital shift to protect our planet. They also meet other like-minded people and discuss issues like consuming less energy, producing renewable energy and energy sobriety. 

The first six partner territories have completed their workshops, and six others are ongoing. The final six territories will join the project in 2024. 

At the end of the four workshops, participants have the chance to join a regional network and become part of a wide range of collective projects. 

Some of these collective projects have already begun, focusing on topics like mobility, repair services, light pollution and energy-efficient renovations.  

The team hopes to recruit 1 800 citizens for the workshops and train 720 people on the energy transition. A further 5 200 people will learn about energy efficiency and energy sobriety topics. 

They hope to change people’s behaviour towards energy consumption and increase renewable energy production from the new energy communities. 

The longer-term objective is to reduce GHG emissions by up to 1.6% in the region. 

LIFE_LETsGO4Climate supports the European Green Deal, REPowerEU plan and Energy Union objectives.