Around the table
On 11-12 June, the PLANtoACT consortium gathered in Alba Iulia, Romania, for a two-day meeting hosted by our member, the Alba Local Energy Agency. The discussions focused on moving from planning to implementation, with partners taking stock of progress across the project’s pilot regions and aligning on the next steps.
A key part of the meeting centred on the development of integrated, spatially detailed energy planning tools that will support municipalities and regions in designing coherent energy transition pathways across electricity, heating, cooling and transport. Partners reviewed the first modelling results from the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes pilot region and discussed progress on data collection and processing in all five pilot regions. The objective is to provide local authorities with robust, science-based evidence to turn ambitious climate goals into concrete actions.
The consortium also advanced its work on stakeholder engagement, agreeing on a structured co-creation process that will actively involve municipal staff, businesses, civil society organisations and citizens in shaping their region’s energy future. Through a three-stage process, stakeholders will first define transition priorities and scenarios, then assess modelling results, and finally validate the proposed pathways. This approach aims to ensure that regional energy strategies are not only technically sound, but also reflect local needs and enjoy broad support for implementation.
Two buildings, two lessons
After the working sessions, the consortium headed out for a site visit that turned out to be one of the most memorable parts of the trip.
The municipal Home for the Elderly is the city’s third-largest energy consumer, serving residents who need reliable warmth and cooling around the clock — in a climate that swings from minus 20°C in winter to plus 40°C in summer. The municipality’s answer was an integrated renewable energy system: a geothermal field of 60 ground probes drilled to 120 metres, three reversible heat pumps, solar thermal collectors with underground seasonal heat storage, photovoltaic panels, and a Building Energy Management System. Result: 175 tonnes less CO₂ per year — and a project now recognised as a Good Practice at European level.
The Olympic Swimming Pool — the single largest energy consumer in the city — tells an equally compelling story of step-by-step modernisation. Funded, as the first project, through the EEA and Norway Grants Programme 2014–2021, seven targeted measures were implemented: from LED lighting and thermodynamic solar panels to a combined heat and power system and demand-controlled ventilation. The outcome: savings of over 1,600 MWh per year and 336 tonnes less CO₂ annually.
The project lead’s reflection stays with us: “It is rarely one complete solution that drives change — it is many small, targeted steps, each pointing in the right direction.” The municipality of Alba Iulia has made a habit of seeking out funding programmes to finance those steps — which is precisely the spirit PLANtoACT exists to document and help replicate across Europe.
What comes next
Co-creation workshops will launch across all five pilot regions. Energy models will be shared with local stakeholders for evaluation and refinement. Capacity-building programmes are taking shape. Alba Iulia showed us it can be done — and PLANtoACT is here to help others follow that path.
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PLANtoACT is co-funded by the European Union under the LIFE Programme, Grant Agreement No. 101214506. Views expressed are those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or CINEA.
