The EU Clean Energy Package brings changes to the way countries must draft and report Integrated National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) and long-term renovation strategies to decarbonise the building stock by 2050. At the same time, policy makers at regional and municipal level struggle to implement measures to boost renovation activities and local actors face multiple challenges in developing and implementing renovation strategies and climate plans.

The project will develop capacity and transfer knowledge enabling municipalities and civil society to integrate building renovation strategies in local and National Energy and Climate Plans, focusing on the target countries of the project, Bulgaria and Romania, which have similar building stocks, characterised by large run-down communist-era blocks and inefficient individual homes, contributing to air pollution and high CO2 emissions.

Thereby, the project will enable the target groups to fulfil the Clean Energy Package requirements while creating lasting benefits in the two countries. It will increase exchange between Romania and Bulgaria and disseminate results in all of South East Europe, create capacity to strengthen National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs), pursue policy coherence, contribute to common objectives, support effective governance, train national and local public officers and enable civil society and national stakeholders to proactively contribute to the NECPs.

At the end of the project, the participation of civil society and stakeholders in developing and implementing action plans for building renovation, strengthen and create new networks will increase. Target groups will be informed about changes introduced by the Clean Energy Package for All Europeans and will be trained to integrate renovation strategies in energy and climate plans. Partners will reach out to public officers and stakeholders, train 50 public officers and stakeholders in 10 municipalities and support the development of at least 10 municipal renovation strategies.

This project is part of the European Climate Initiative (EUKI) of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU).