Empowering youth for energy community actions

Introduction

The involvement and leadership of youth in energy communities is crucial. Young people are more likely to adopt new lifestyles and eager to develop new skills to support the energy transition. Notably, 2022 was designated as the European Year of Youth, to actively prove the EC policy to support young people at all levels.

Current Challenges

Despite ongoing initiatives, there is a lack of tools to systematically reinforce the participation of young people in energy communities and their training towards energy sustainability.

Project Aim

POWERYOUTH aims to empower young people to play an active role towards the energy transition. The cornerstone of the POWERYOUTH concept is a participatory approach that establishes a dialogue between youth and local stakeholders (such as local authorities and policymakers) and empowers young people to actively participate in energy communities.

Alignment with EU Strategy

In line with the EU Youth Strategy 2019-2027, which identifies three core areas—connect, engage, and empower—for activating youth communities, POWERYOUTH will develop appropriate tools and methods to facilitate the three stages.

Tools and Methods

POWERYOUTH will deliver the following tools:

1. PARTICIPATE Tool: A participatory democracy platform to allow young people to voice their opinions.
2. DECISION Tool: A tool to support collective decision-making.
3. FINANCE Tool: A tool for promoting innovative business models and financing schemes.

Implementation and Impact

The POWERYOUTH approach will be implemented in pilots in 5 EU countries, targeting the creation of at least 10 empowered youth energy communities and the involvement of at least 1,000 young people and other stakeholders.

Capacity Building

In addition, with the support of EU-wide networks of local and youth communities, POWERYOUTH will create and deliver a capacity-building programme to develop a cohort of Youth Energy Community Leaders who will act as multipliers for the replication of the POWERYOUTH approach across the EU.