Cooperatives as Drivers of Collaborative Positive Energy Districts (Coop4PEDs)
Name: Cooperatives as Drivers of Collaborative Positive Energy Districts (Coop4PEDs)
Project Leader: realitylab GmbH
Duration: November 2025- October 2028
IIIEE Researchers: Palm, Jenny (PI), Lazoroska, Daniela (CoPI), Kojonsaari, Anna-Riikka (Forskare), Alfredsson Jofs, Ella (Forskare)
Financing Body: Horizon Europe programme DUT, Driving Urban Transition and the Swedish Energy Agency
Aim: Coop4PEDs is a three-year European research project that investigates how cooperatives can act as key actors in urban decarbonisation and in the development of Positive Energy Districts. The project brings together partners from Austria, Sweden and Italy and explores how cooperative models can support coordinated energy planning, social inclusion, and long-term governance arrangements for climate neutral cities. Through a comparative approach in three Urban Living Labs the project examines how cooperatives influence energy practices and enable new forms of collaborative energy planning.
The Swedish Urban Living Lab is located in Sege Park in Malmö, a district undergoing transformation with a strong emphasis on sustainability and social innovation. Here the project studies how housing cooperatives, community organisations and municipal actors work together to develop local energy sharing solutions and to create conditions for a future Positive Energy District and an Energy Community. Special attention is given to participatory processes, everyday energy practices and the institutional frameworks that shape opportunities for cooperative engagement.
The IIIEE leads research on governance and citizen involvement in the transition towards cooperative energy systems. The institute contributes expertise in energy communities, socio-technical change and inclusive urban governance. The project examines how cooperative approaches can support alignment between municipal climate strategies, spatial planning, and local energy initiatives. It will also identify organisational models and policy recommendations that can strengthen citizen participation and promote socially just and resilient energy transitions.
Through cross-case learning, co-creation processes and neighbourhood testing, Coop4PEDs aims to generate transferable knowledge, planning tools and guidelines for cities wishing to integrate cooperative-led energy models into their strategic climate work. The project supports European efforts to achieve climate neutrality by highlighting how cooperative structures can bridge local action, system innovation and long term urban energy strategies.
Project Website: https://portal.research.lu.se/sv/projects/cooperatives-as-drivers-of-collaborative-positive-energy-district/ (LU research portal) https://dutpartnership.eu/index.php/projects/coop4peds (Driving Urban Transitions)