With the implementation of this project, we wanted to involve rural inhabitants, including those with reading difficulties, in the energy transition process of the European agenda, raise awareness regarding the essential role that local energy communities can play in such a transition, and provide the training tools and know-how to increase knowledge on the structure, operation, and benefits of local energy communities in rural areas, in an inclusive manner. Beyond the dissemination and training objective itself, the project also had networking objectives on two different scales: planting the first seeds to create networks of local stakeholders who, in the immediate future, could put into practice the knowledge acquired in order to create the first energy communities in our areas and, on the other hand, setting up a working group that would focus on rural energy issues, exchange good practice, reinforce the partners’ work with specific experience, etc. The European dimension was essential to increase the efficiency of exchanges on this second scale.
In 2018, local energy communities (LEC) were incorporated into EU legislation. At the time of the application, this had yet to be transposed into the national legislation of Italy, France and Spain, but there were already LEC underway and we considered that any progress in informing and training the public to promote them would result in a better development of the European strategy. This is one of the tools that EU institutions have to face climate change. All partners carry out work in rural (or former rural, now dormitory) areas, where depopulation is a problem, directly related with global energy and climate change issues, since the consumption patterns of urban culture have largely contributed to the problem. At the time of the application, but also today, energy companies were seeking to implement renewable energies on a gigantic scale. A small-scale energy production and consumption model, such as LEC, is key for a successful energy transition. The project also focused on the empowerment of rural society in decision making, to fight disaffection towards European institutions. Finally, tackling energy poverty was also a critical need in a scenario of rising energy prices.