With over 80 million inefficient heating & cooling (HC) systems still installed across Europe motivating consumers to replace those units with more efficient, greener alternatives will be key for a decarbonised Energy Union fuelled by renewable energy. REPLACE therefore aims to improve coordination in local networks to implement replacement campaigns in ten target regions by means of action plans fortified with policy and business-related improvements. Based on lessons learnt from previous projects and sound on-the-ground research on stakeholders’ mind-sets, local working groups (LWGs) will connect all key actors in each region – local governments, consumer associations, developers, energy utilities and professional associations – to steer the direction of a wide range of replacement activities. For the first time, REPLACE will explicitly unite intermediaries, such as chimney sweepers or installers, who have constant access to consumers, and policy makers to develop common activities with maximum impact. REPLACE supports the LWGs by providing a communication framework and a rich toolbox of online and offline actions targeted to the needs of all relevant stakeholders. The “REPLACE Your Heating System Calculator” will be central in raising consumers’ and investors’ awareness of the monetary and wider benefits of HC replacements and develop real momentum towards collective actions. By making all materials openly accessible and highlighting success stories the uptake of activities can be multiplied beyond target regions. In addition, all activities will be firmly established within local policy programmes to ensure that the overall impact of REPLACE is sustainable and the networks forged during the action will continue beyond project life. Together with a dedicated focus on capacity building measures and knowledge transfer REPLACE identifies and merges all elements necessary to successfully make heating and cooling for European consumers efficient and climate-friendly.

The overall goal of BE-Rural is to realise the potential of regional and local bio-based economies by supporting relevant actors in the participatory development of bioeconomy strategies and roadmaps. BE-Rural will investigate the particular characteristics of the selected regions at a macro level, as well as existing best practices and business models geared towards the bioeconomy. This higher-level analysis will aid in the assessment of the 'bioeconomy potential' of the selected regions. This work will set the foundation for the implementation of a series of regional Open Innovation Platforms to kick-start the co-creation process, bringing together key stakeholders from academia, policy, business and civil society to develop ideas and capitalise on this bioeconomy potential. Activities will include research & innovation capacity building workshops, educational seminars and webinars, summer schools, and Bio-based Pop-up Stores. Building from this, the proposed 'Network of Knowledge' will aim to share knowledge and lessons learned from the Open Innovation Platforms at an inter-regional level, further disseminating best practices, closing the information gap on issues related to sustainability, and increasing capacities of regional authorities and stakeholders.

The objective of CoolHeating is to support the implementation of "small modular renewable heating and cooling grids" for communities in South-Eastern Europe. This will be achieved through knowledge transfer and mutual activities of partners in countries where renewable district heating and cooling examples exist (Austria, Denmark, Germany) and in countries which have less development (Croatia, Slovenia, Macedonia, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina). Core activities, besides technoeconomical assessments, include measures to stimulate the interest of communities and citizens to set-up renewable district heating systems as well as the capacity building about financing and business models. The outcome will be the initiation of new small renewable district heating and cooling grids in 5 target communities up to the investment stage. These lighthouse projects will have a long-term impact on the development of “small modular renewable heating and cooling grids" at the national levels in the target countries.

The overall objective of BioVill is to develop regional bioenergy concepts in Slovenia, Serbia, Croatia, Macedonia and Romania up to the investment stage in order to become “bioenergy villages”. This will increase the market uptake of bioenergy on the basis of cooperation with partners from countries with established bioenergy markets (Austria, Germany). The following specific objectives and activities will contribute to the overall objective: (1) 5 villages have developed the institutional set-up and energy management concept for becoming a bioenergy village up to investment stage for physical infrastructure with at least one bioenergy village in Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Romania and Macedonia. The local market uptake of bioenergy value chains are to be proven by signing of letters of commitment. (2) Mobilization of 62 GWh/y heat and power based on solid biomass in at least 5 target villages. The individual biomass value chains will include the production and distribution of heat and electricity. The concepts include technical and non-technical aspects for each target village. (3) Increase public acceptance of sustainable bioenergy and raise public awareness on commercial opportunities for farmers, foresters and the bioenergy value chain as a whole by means of public participation. This will be realized by ensuring the public participation of the inhabitants (10,000 households) in the target regions for setting up at least 5 villages across the 5 implementing countries. (4) Capacity Building of users and key actors in business and legislation to manage the bioenergy villages in a sustainable way and be able to either enact the EU based national legislation or make full use of the opportunities that these new markets create for them. In the set-up of bioenergy villages along the bioenergy value chains it will involve at least 500 participants in order to have a critical mass of key actors.