(Slovenia) and REGEA (Croatia) meet to learn experiences from each other. This cross-fertilizing bi-lateral meeting was held in Maribor, Slovenia, on 20 November 2017. On one hand, Eco Fund, The Slovenian environmental public fund, explained the performed work on tackling energy poverty, as the AERO measure (Assistance for Energy Deprived Households). Eco Fund is a state-owned body specialized in providing financial incentives for environmental investments set-up in 1993 following the example of EU member states leading in sustainable development and green technologies, as one of public mechanisms for environmental policy enforcement.
On the other hand, the Croatian DOOR organization, a NGO founded in 2003 and devoted to sustainable energy development, gave expert insight on how to engage citizens in Energy Poverty in Croatia, as the good practice Through Knowledge to a Warm Home. This is a project implemented by DOOR in collaboration with a local government, City of Petrinja. The project has succeeded in establishing energy advice as a new social service on regional level with the intention to combat energy poverty through a change in regional policy. 80 households were equipped with simple low-cost energy efficiency measures (ca. 100 EUR investment per household: LED light bulbs, reflexive foils behind radiators, thermometers, rubber draft proofing for windows, aerators for water taps, switch electrical cables, timers for electrical boilers, draft proofing for below doors); all households received energy advice on how to rationalize their energy use. Those measures resulted in annual savings of 700 kWh per household. A significant indicator of success is the change in regional policy.
As a result of the project, energy advising was added as social service to the regional Plan of development of social services in Sisak-Moslavina county with direct link to the national Operational programme delivering ESF.
More information at folder in LIBRARY.
