After three years of operation in seven European countries, the RENOVERTY project ended in October 2025 leaving a concrete legacy: replicable roadmaps, hundreds of vulnerable households involved and a co-creation methodology that demonstrated how the energy transition can truly reach the most remote rural communities. This article goes over the key findings and significance of the project closure.
What is RENOVERTY and why was it born
RENOVERTY (Home Renovation Roadmaps to Address Energy Poverty in Vulnerable Rural Districts), GA N° 101077272 is a European project coordinated by the European Institute for Energy and Climate Policy (IEECP) and funded by the LIFE CET (Clean Energy Transition) programme. Active from November 2022 to October 2025, its mission was to promote energy-efficient residential renovations in Europe’s vulnerable rural and peri-urban areas.
Its birth responds to evidence often overlooked by European energy policies: rural areas have fallen behind in the clean energy transition, despite the fact that the populations that inhabit them are exposed to a significantly higher risk of poverty than urban areas. This gap is particularly acute in the countries of Central Eastern, South-Eastern and Southern Europe.
“Energy poverty in rural areas is the result of structural disadvantages: aging and inefficient housing, limited incomes, inadequate access to credit, and weak support policies.” — RENOVERTY Final Report
The four types of obstacles identified
1. Financial – lack of capital, high initial costs, difficulties in pre-financing;
2. Awareness and access – limited access to technical information and residents’ skepticism;
3. Geographical – labour shortages and specialised local skills;
4. Regulatory/policy – regulatory frameworks that are fragmented, inconsistent and inappropriate to the rural context.
The survey showed that high transport costs and inadequate public transport have a significant impact on rural households’ exposure to energy poverty — a factor often ignored by national policies.
The methodology: REER and the co-creation process
The operational heart of RENOVERTY has been the development of the Energy Efficiency in Rural Areas (REER) Roadmaps: practical and contextualized guides to support both households and local authorities in the planning, financing and implementation of renovation interventions.
Two complementary types of REER have been produced for each pilot area:
• REER for families: accessible retraining pathways (gradual or full), with budgets, timelines, financing options and practical advice on the most common obstacles;
• REER for stakeholders: definition of roles and responsibilities, reskilling indicators, strategies to overcome obstacles, connection with national and regional programs.
The 4-step co-creation process
1. Local needs assessment – community workshops and home consultations to identify the specific obstacles of each territory;
2. Stakeholder engagement and training – sessions with municipal authorities, regional agencies, NGOs, technicians and building experts;
3. Participatory co-design workshop – 1,031 total participants including landlords, tenants, social workers and professionals;
4. Synthesis and development of action plans – translation into REER contextualized with viable paths and coordination mechanisms;
The Italian case: the province of Parma
The Italian pilot project was implemented in the province of Parma, in collaboration with AISFOR, the GAL del Ducato and ATES Parma (Territorial Agency for Energy and Sustainability). The area presents strong contrasts: the plain to the north is dense and urbanized, while the Apennine areas to the south suffer from depopulation and degradation of the building heritage.
Around 75% of the energy performance certificates (EPCs) issued in the zone belong to energy classes E, F or G. Eight residential buildings were selected for 24 apartments on which comprehensive energy audits were conducted in municipalities such as Albareto, Bedonia, Berceto, Fornovo, Solignano and Tornolo.
The specific barriers that emerged in Italy
- Economic barriers: lack of liquidity, instability of national incentives (Superbonus), constantly evolving regulations on tax credits;
- Technical constraints: historic buildings with stone masonry and wooden frames that require customized solutions, landscape regulations that limit standard interventions;
- Administrative barriers: complex authorisation procedures in protected areas;
- Social barriers: low digital literacy, scepticism towards redevelopment proposals, difficulties in consensus in multi-family buildings.
The measures implemented in the Italian pilot
• RENOLABS and Community Tool Bank: training on free DIY interventions and shared tools;
• Partnership with third sector entities and microcredit program for small-scale renovations;
• Collaboration with “Sportello Energia Web” to disseminate information in accessible language;
• Dialogue with the CER Parma 2030 Foundation to integrate social solidarity clauses in Renewable Energy Communities;
• Creation of a programmatic document for municipalities and trade associations.
The impact on policies: from the community to Europe
In three years, RENOVERTY has influenced 60 policies, strategies and initiatives at all levels of government. A further 21 are expected in the coming years.
At the Italian level
• Dialogue with the MASE (Directorate-General for Energy Demand and Efficiency) to integrate REER into national regulatory frameworks;
• Contributions to the Climate City Contract of Rome and Parma and participation in consultations on the Social Climate Plan;
• Dialogue with ENEA for the possibility of disseminating REER as examples of good practices;
• Commitment of the Del Ducato LAG to integrate the results into future Local Development Strategies.
At European level
• Contributions to two own-initiative opinions of the European Committee of the Regions, including the “Affordable Energy Action Plan”;
• Publication of results in the EU CAP Network, the European Smart Villages Observatory and the Covenant of Mayors;
• Joint Research Centre (JRC) interest in the EU ETS II and summer energy poverty;
Lessons learned: what worked
The Final Report identifies ten key lessons for anyone looking to replicate or scale this type of intervention:
1. Almost full funding – measures only work when the support covers almost all the costs, co-financing excludes the most vulnerable households;
2. Trusted intermediaries – mobile counters and social workers break down the barriers of mistrust and distance;
3. Regulatory simplification – many rural homes do not have regular permits; regularisation is an indispensable prerequisite;
4. Training of the local workforce – contractor shortages require stable investment in training, not sporadic campaigns;
5. Community models (aggregated purchasing, CERs) – lower costs but require transparent governance;
6. The technical “first mile” – audits and building projects unlock access to contributions and give certainty to families;
7. Policy stability – unexpected changes in incentives (e.g. Superbonus) erode trust and slow down decisions;
8. Integration with Social Climate Plans – co-design with ministries allows REER to enter national calls;
9. Feedback loops and peer learning – multi-year stakeholder involvement is essential for success;
10. Don’t depend only on national funds – supplement them with the Social Climate Fund for long-term renovation
After the Close: Replicators and Future Prospects
Following an open call, 9 organisations in 6 countries joined as replicators of the RENOVERTY methodology: Green Living Projects and the Municipality of Beteta (Spain), Municipalities of Kunsziget and Romonya (Hungary), PEDDE (Greece), EcoVision (Ireland), Izvor LAG and Mura Drava LAG (Croatia).
Local and regional authorities are encouraged to take up the tools developed by the project — from CEPTI indicators to REERs, from audit models to training materials available on the training platform — to continue to identify and support households affected by energy poverty in their areas.
The closure of RENOVERTY marks the end of a project cycle, but not the end of the work. The project has built knowledge infrastructures — methodologies, tools, stakeholder networks — that outlive the original funding. It has shown that the European energy transition can and must reach the most remote communities, as long as policies are designed with and for those communities, and not simply dropped from above.