BRIDGE at EUSEW 2021 with session on citizen engagement

The BRIDGE initiative, coordinated by Zabala Innovation, participated in the extended programme of the EU Sustainable Energy Week (EUSEW) on 13th October with a session focused on the lessons learned from the various, Smart Grid, Energy Storage, Islands, and Digitalisation Projects projects taking part in BRIDGE

Taking place online on 13th October 2021 under the full title of: “Bringing Citizens on Board the Energy Transition: – Integrated Learning from a Year with Different Measures of Engagement”, the session engaged participants in sharing stories about citizen collective action and their role in the digitalized energy system of 2030. It also highlighted what have we learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and how we can continue engaging citizens in the green energy transition of the future.

The session will provided examples of citizen engagement strategies and methodologies implemented by BRIDGE projects and proposed recommendations on the main topics that the Consumer and Citizen Engagement Working Group has addressed, together with a thematic discourse derived from leading engagement activities in a time of a pandemic:

The Stage of Change is offering a new concept to understand the development of citizen collective action schemes. The Working Group on Customer Engagement has proposed a set a new way to understand and assess citizen-led projects to encourage their development

Building citizen-centric projects will present the engagement strategies for Smart Grid projects. Projects of the BRIDGE initiative have discussed the adaptation of engagement strategies according to current constraints in the energy market, from COVID19 to the lack of diversity. This presentation will present the solutions that have been found so far.

Change is possible – a key takeaway across BRIDGE projects is that, even under extraordinary circumstances, they have demonstrated ingenuity and willingness to adapt. The lessons learned will help to bring the green energy transition even further.

Speakers to the EUSEW session included:

Cristiana Marchitelli, Policy Officer, DG Energy

Stanislas d’Herbemont, Development Manager at REScoop and Chair of the BRIDGE Consumer and Citizen Engagement Working group (Representing the Compile Project)

Diego Casado, Doctor en Informática, Deusto (Representing the PARITY Project)

Thomas N. Mikkelsen, CEO & Founder, GECO Global and Chair of the BRIDGE Joint Communication Task Force (Representing ELAND, iElectrix, and SYNERGY projects)

Mats Tiborn, Strategic Communicator, IMCG International (Representing the Flexigrid project)

Watch the recording of the session below: