A tailored and dynamic capacity building programme to transform local and regional authorities into autonomous early adopters of digitised, integrated, and ambitious Clean Energy Transition plans

  The project aims to promote energy transition by building and increasing the local and regional authorities’ skills and capacities to deliver, implement, and monitor their Clean Energy Transition plans for their local context.

  The multiplicity of local geographical, political and social contexts adds more variations at local governance level as stakeholders have roles, activities and skills that differ based on the characteristics of the area they administer. Step-WISE builds on a thorough understanding of this “local DNA” and embeds this into the decision-making process of LRAs as a first step towards a systemic, future-appropriate CET plans development.

  Step-WISE provides LRAs with an inclusive, adaptive and effective support package leveraging: i) Use Case (UC)-based learning streams, which establish local partnerships to understand how to engage stakeholders and their contexts; and ii) a unique intuitive digital toolkit enabling LRAs to create their own, cross-sectoral digitized and dynamic model, with energy and socio-economic and regulatory aspects to make CET plans development, implementation and monitoring easier, faster and more accurate.

  A two-wave cascade Capacity Building Programme (CBP) will empower Local and Regional Authorities (LRAs) across 4 UCs (Bulgaria, Spain, Cyprus and Mediterranean Islands). This will target local governance and consider challenges of different areas, and stakeholder engagement.

  The The first wave will "Train the Trainers" to co-create, implement and refine the Step-WISE toolkit, its operational guidelines and the CBP. The second wave will pass on the knowledge to local authorities, by guiding them step-by-step through the Step-WISE toolkit for their CETP. The two-wave CBP will ensure the sustainability of the approach through 5 Virtual Knowledge Offices acting as knowledge repositories and amplifiers, helping to replicate the approach across EU.

Project calendar

  The The project will run for 3 years, from 1 December 2023 to 31 May 2026.

Project partners

• IES R&D - coordinator
• Energy Agency of Plovdiv
• Frederick University
• Energeiako Grafeio Kyprion Politon
• CERES OTC
• SINLOC-Sistema Iniziative Locali Spa
• R2M Solution Srl