Renewable Energy Communities are often described through panels, grids, incentives, and kilowatt-hours. Yet, before the first kilowatt is shared, something else may already be happening: people start meeting, asking questions, building trust and imagining a different role for their community in the energy transition.
This is the core message emerging from the final Social Impact Assessment (SIA) developed within the LIFE ISLET project. The assessment looked at the experience of the three pilot islands — Procida in Italy, Astypalea in Greece and Cres in Croatia — and explored how the process of establishing Renewable Energy Communities has already generated social value, even before the communities become fully operational energy infrastructures.
The approach adopted by LIFE ISLET was participatory and reflective. Rather than assessing social impact only at the end of the process, the project followed the development of the RECs over time, using roundtables, stakeholder mapping, interviews, questionnaires, and surveys. This choice was particularly important because the pilot RECs had not yet reached a fully operational stage. As a result, the assessment did not focus on the impacts of energy production and sharing alone, but on the social transformations emerging during the establishment process itself.
Four dimensions guided the analysis: energy democracy, community empowerment, energy justice and social capital. Together, they helped capture different aspects of what community energy can mean for small islands: participation in decision-making, growth of local knowledge and skills, fair access to benefits, and the strengthening of trust and cooperation among local actors.
Across the three islands, the findings show that the establishment of a REC can already produce meaningful social effects. In Procida, the process has contributed to growing awareness and a stronger sense of agency around energy transition, although participation still needs to expand beyond a relatively narrow group of active stakeholders. In Astypalea, the REC has functioned as a strong participatory platform, reinforcing trust, belonging and the desire for greater energy independence. In Cres, the process has built on an existing cooperative culture, strengthening social capital and local confidence in addressing energy-related challenges.
The SIA also highlights the importance of communication. In all three islands, the need for clear, continuous and accessible information emerged as a key condition for maintaining trust and participation. Citizens need to understand not only the potential economic benefits of joining a REC, but also the wider social and collective value of the initiative. They need updates, realistic timelines, visible milestones and identifiable contact points able to accompany them throughout the process. Transparent communication and short-term achievements can therefore help communities see that the process is moving forward, even before the first tangible energy benefits appear.
Another important message concerns the relationship between economic and social impacts. People often join energy communities because they expect savings or direct economic advantages. This motivation is legitimate and important. But the assessment shows that RECs are also, by their very nature, social processes. Participation, cooperation and trust-building are not secondary effects: they are enabling conditions for a technically and economically functioning community energy project.
For policymakers and institutional actors, the findings also point to the need for more enabling frameworks. Many of the barriers faced by the islands are not internal to the communities themselves, but are linked to regulatory, administrative and bureaucratic conditions. Strong municipal leadership can give credibility and legitimacy to REC processes, but it should be supported by inclusive governance structures able to go beyond political affiliations and ensure continuity over time.
The final Social Impact Assessment therefore offers more than an evaluation of what has happened so far. It provides a learning tool for the next phases of community energy development. It shows that social impact should be integrated from the earliest stages of REC projects and used not only to measure results, but also to guide decisions, adapt strategies and strengthen local ownership.
What it takes to develop a REC on an island?
