The main objective of POWERPOOR is to develop support programmes/schemes for energy poor citizens and encourage the use of alternative financing schemes (e.g. establishing energy communities / cooperatives, crowd funding). POWERPOOR will facilitate experience and knowledge sharing, as well as the implementation of small-scale energy efficiency interventions and the installation of renewable energy sources, increasing the active participation of citizens. Pilot energy poor support programmes/schemes will be designed, developed and implemented in eight countries across Europe, led by a network of certified Energy Supporters and Energy Communities Mentors. The Energy Supporters / Mentors will support (more than 22,000) energy poor households to plan and implement energy efficiency interventions, as well as participate in joint energy initiatives. Energy poor citizens will be engaged through various planned activities, such as Info Days, Local Energy Poverty Offices, and ICT-driven tools (Energy Poverty Mitigation Toolkit). The establishment of the Stakeholders Liaison Groups will also facilitate the engagement and the provision of support to energy poor households. Guidelines on how to tackle energy poverty in Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans will also be developed. Based on the experience gained and the lessons learnt from implementing POWERPOOR, EU policy recommendations and 8 National Roadmaps will be elaborated, so that policy makers at all governance levels can learn from the project. The project results will be broadly disseminated, and synergies will be pursued with global and EU initiatives, such as the EU Energy Poverty Observatory and the (EU and Global) Covenant of Mayors on Energy and Climate. The participation of networks in the Consortium will strengthen the dissemination and exploitation of POWERPOOR outputs across Europe during and beyond the project implementation.

The project Reducing housing inequalities in the green and digital transition (ReHousIn) is committed to better understand the impacts of recent crises on housing inequalities across different European regions, especially with regard to the implementation of the green transition launched by the EU. The overall aim is to explore the mechanisms affecting the (re)production of housing inequalities under recent crisis conditions, and the impacts of the EU induced green transition in different national contexts and along different degrees of urbanisation. Based on a contextualized and comparative understanding of the mechanisms (re)producing housing inequalities, ReHousIn inquiries into multi-level pathways and inclusive local housing initiatives to spark innovative EU, national and local policy solutions towards inclusionary and quality housing, mitigating the possible negative impacts of the EU induced green transition. It conducts a comparative, multi-level analysis in 9 European countries – Austria, France, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom – focusing on attractive metropolitan regions, middle-sized cities and rural areas by means of a mixed-method project design. A quantitative data analysis on recent trends in housing inequalities and their relation to crises across different levels of urbanization will provide the framework for 27 local cases studies in which the impact of multi-level trajectories of housing-system, welfare regimes and environmental policy instrumentations on the (re)production of local housing inequalities and the emergence of inclusive housing initiatives are analyzed. Based on this, ReHousIn compares mechanisms of differentiation feeding into policy labs, aiming to formulate recommendations on how to tackle negative social externalities related the EU green transition at EU, national and local levels.

ABRACADABRA is based on the prior assumption that non-energy-related benefits play a key role in the deep renovation of existing buildings. In particular, ABRA actions will focus on the creation of a substantial increase of the real estate value of the existing buildings through a significant energy and architectural transformation. The central goals of the proposal consist of an important reduction of the pay back time of the interventions, a strengthening of the key investors’ confidence, increasing quality and attractiveness of the existing buildings’ stock and, finally, reaching a concrete market acceleration towards the Nearly Zero Energy Buildings target. The actual investment gap in the deep renovation sector is due to the fact that high investments are required up-front and they are generally characterised by an excessively high degree of risk and long payback times. It is therefore necessary to develop harmonized, concerted and innovative actions to unlock the needed public and private funds, fill the energy efficiency investment gap and ultimately contribute to re-launch the construction market and create new jobs. Therefore, ABRA aims at demonstrating to the key stakeholders and financial investors the attractiveness of a new renovation strategy based on AdoRe, intended as one (or a set of) Assistant Building unit(s) - like aside or façade addictions, rooftop extensions or even an entire new building construction - that adopt the existing buildings (the Assisted Buildings). The creation of these new Assistant Buildings’ Additions integrated with Renewable Energy Sources aims at reducing the initial investment allocated for the deep renovation of the existing building creating an up-grading synergy between old and new. The ABRA strategy results in the implementation of a punctual densification policy that has been proven capable of fostering the investments in deep renovation of the existing built environment throughout Europe

ROCK aims to develop an innovative, collaborative and circular systemic approach for regeneration and adaptive reuse of historic city centres. Implementing a repertoire of successful heritage-led regeneration initiatives, it will test the replicability of the spatial approach and of successful models addressing the specific needs of historic city centres. ROCK will transfer the Role Models blueprint to the Replicators, adopting a cross-disciplinary mentoring process and defining common protocols and implementation guidelines. ROCK will deliver new ways to access and experience Cultural Heritage [CH] ensuring environmental sound solutions, city branding, bottom-up participation via living labs, while increasing liveability and safety in the involved areas. ICT sensors and tools will support the concrete application of the ROCK principles and the interoperable platform will enable new ways to collect and exchange data to facilitate networking and synergies. The added value is the combination of sustainable models, integrated management plans and associated funding mechanisms based on successful financial schemes and promoting the creation of industry-driven stakeholders’ ecosystems. A monitoring tool is set up from the beginning, running during two additional years after the project lifetime. Main expected impacts deal with the achievement of effective and shared policies able to: accelerate heritage led regeneration, improve accessibility and social cohesion, increase awareness and participation in local decision making process and wider civic engagement, foster businesses and new employment opportunities. Involving 10 cities, 7 Universities, 3 networks of enterprises, 2 networks of cities and several companies and development agencies, a foundation and a charity, ROCK is able to catalyse challenges and innovative pathways across EU and beyond, addressing CH as a production and competitiveness factor and a driver for sustainable growth.