Transitioning to a low-carbon economy requires profound changes in the energy system, including digitisation and decentralisation. Collective action energy projects are a promising means of supporting this transformation since they redistribute control of energy resources to the citizens and foster sustainable energy behaviours, as well as potentially enhancing energy justice and democracy. The EU has funded a number of collective action energy R&I projects which combine the use of new technologies and community engagement. We identify 28 such projects and investigate the types of community engagement strategies trialed and the challenges they face. We find that engagement strategies comprise a mixture of shorter term participation and longer term behaviour change strategies. There is a tendency towards behaviour change strategies based on feedback and/or rewards, while other promising strategies like targeting group norms are less common. Overall, projects opt for medium-level participation, while co-creative or more empowering approaches are less common. A lack of consistency in approach and a lack of reported data on social impacts of the projects makes it difficult to determine how effective the engagement strategies (and hence projects themselves) have been. We provide some recommendations for designing and monitoring similar research projects going forward.

This report analyses EU-funded collective action projects in the energy field. The objective is to provide an overview of the current state of play of relevant research and innovation activities in the EU and to identify the research gaps to be addressed in the future. The report focuses on collective action projects that combine the use of new technologies, business models and community engagement approaches to support consumers in changing the way they use electricity. The analysis is also supported by an overview of projects that address the social dimension of the energy transition and promote the development of collective action initiatives at policy, institutional and societal level.

Although the EU has not adopted a definition of energy poverty and energy vulnerable consumers, it has adopted a wide range of provisions to trigger and steer Member States’ action in these fields. The EU approach requires Member States to adopt a comprehensive strategy, including energy and non-energy measures, to address the root causes of energy poverty and to alleviate the condition of energy poor and vulnerable consumers. The EU has also supported a variety of research and demonstration projects to test and validate innovative approaches to fight energy poverty and to promote good practice at national, regional and local level. Through the analysis of these projects, this report aims to highlight the emerging trends in the efforts to tackle energy poverty in the EU and to contribute to the sharing of knowledge and best practices. It also aims to contribute to the on going debate on how EU funding can further support the combat against energy poverty and improve the living conditions of vulnerable consumers.