During the seminar, Fedra Vanhuyse (Stockholm Environment Institute) gave a presentation on the definitions of transformative finance, while Jenny Palm (IIIEE) and Henner Busch (LUCSUS) provided concrete examples from established energy communities in Sweden and Denmark. Inspired by these presentations, the participants discussed various opportunities for further facilitating the establishment of energy communities locally.

Altogether, we conclude that energy communities can be an important piece of a transition to climate-neutrality, and that successful funding models exist. Municipalities and local actors have an important role in supporting energy communities, by providing incentives and opportunities, but there needs to be support from the national and international governance levels as well.

The seminar was financed by Lund University and the Swedish Energy Agency, forming a part of the pilot study Increasing the transition pace through climate-benefit analysis of investments.

Climate-neutral cities 2030 – Open Academy is coordinated by IIIEE researchers Lena Neij and Sofie Sandin Lompar. For further information feel free to reach out!