Scaling Up together Innovation for Energy Vulnerability
Build a sustainable development plan for the implementation and growth of the ASSIST model to combat energy poverty
SUITE is a project funded under the European Social Catalyst Fund initiative that aims to deepen the different financing models of the ASSIST model to allow its adoption as a concrete tool for combating energy poverty.
As part of the ASSIST project , a model based on the figure of the Domestic Energy Tutor (TED) with integrated skills on all sectors related to energy poverty has been tested. The ASSIST model (also called ASSSIT-TED) has been built with a holistic, inter-disciplinary and multi-sectoral approach – in line with the problem of energy poverty. Thanks to this approach, the ASSIST model could now be adopted in private, public and/or mixed (public-private) contexts.
The TED is an operator who already carries out support and assistance activities and therefore already relates to people in difficult conditions. The TED can therefore come from different work contexts, for example social institutions, consumer associations or non-profit support associations, or the municipal desk for citizens on energy and environmental issues, or customer service or even a helpdesk on energy consumption within a point of sale.
The TED receives specific training on all aspects of energy poverty (ASSIST-TED online course) and acquires the knowledge and skills to provide support to people in energy poverty (examples of TED actions can be evaluation of consumption habits and real consumption, support for the evaluation of contracts on the market with the comparator, clarifications on energy bills, access to financing, evaluation of small renovations, etc.). The figure of TED wants to represent a bridge for people in conditions of energy poverty (hardship that is reflected not only in their energy consumption but also in other sectors) to be able to ask for and receive assistance.
The ASSIST model, thanks to the holistic approach with which it was built, can now be adopted in different contexts – public (such as municipalities in their Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans – SECAP) or by non-profit entities (associations) but also private entities in the context of social responsibility policies.
Objective
The objective of SUITE is to define one (or more) financial models of ASSIST so that the ASSIST-TED model can move from the experimental pilot phase (within the EU project) to the implementation phase as a concrete and long-term tool in the fight against energy poverty.
SUITE will provide a plan for the adoption of the ASSIST model in Italy and in 4 other European countries – Poland, Romania, Spain and Hungary.
The plan will outline the steps for the creation of national TED networks managed by a single national entity in the 5 countries and also the creation of a European secretariat that will encompass the national networks and the major European stakeholders.
Actions
SUITE is developed in 5 European countries (Italy, Poland, Romania, Spain and Hungary) over 6 months: February – July 2021.
– in-depth analysis of the national context
– identification of the value chain for potential implementers of the ASSIST model
– definition of the self-financing models of the ASSIST model
– sharing of models with national and European stakeholders
– validation of the national and European implementation and scalability plan
Partners
Asociacion Ecoserveis – Spain
AISFOR srl – Italy
Climate Alliance – Europe