Welcome to the launch of our latest report, a key resource in the ComActivate project’s mission to reduce energy poverty in multi-family apartment buildings (MFABs) across Bulgaria, Hungary, and Lithuania. This report serves as a guide for creating Neighbourhood Energy Sufficiency Roadmaps (NESRs) by offering valuable Good Practice examples for neighborhood renovation strategies tailored to energy efficiency.

The report begins with an overview of neighborhood renovation approaches, discussing their benefits and potential challenges. It then connects these strategies directly to the needs and goals of ComActivate’s pilot municipalities. In the final sections, a curated list of Good Practices is presented, offering practical insights for the project’s demonstration sites.

Alongside other project reports, this document is a foundational tool in supporting ComActivate’s pilot sites as they build localized strategies to address energy poverty. While this report primarily focuses on neighborhood-level renovation, upcoming project tasks will expand on the NESR concept, incorporating broader aspects of energy sufficiency and sharing EU-wide examples, with special attention to developments in Bulgaria, Lithuania, and Hungary.

It explores three main dimensions:

1. Understanding Neighbourhood Renovation– defining a neighbourhood-wide approach to renovation.

2. Integrated Approaches in Practice – examining what a holistic renovation process looks like.

3. Creating an Integrated Renovation Concept – guiding stakeholders on how to design a cohesive strategy.

In essence, an integrated renovation roadmap extends beyond individual building upgrades, encompassing factors such as land use, density, building types, infrastructure, mobility, and open spaces. Some challenges to this approach might already be obvious: very skilled and knowledgeable project members are needed, multiple stakeholders need to be engaged at the same time, including successful communication between everybody, a supportive regulatory framework and funding are key, as well as monitoring progress and developing typologies to replicate.

The report also includes a selection of exemplary case studies from Germany, which we will continue to expand throughout the project. Current highlights include:

• Gartenstadt Drewitz District Renovation Concept
• We Make Schlaatz! Initiative
• Energiesprong District Renovation in Erlangen
• Tuttlingen District Renovation
• Lutherviertel Climate District
• Märkische Scholle District Renovation
• Neuaubing – Westkreuz District Renovation
• Energy District Ettlingen, Musician’s Quarter

Stay tuned as we add more examples from other European countries to our website.