TIPS4PED local ‘Focus Groups’ kickstart Stakeholder Dialogues on Positive-Energy Districts

Cities, districts, buildings and users’ needs are at the core of TIPS4PED, as each local context provides unique challenges and opportunities. For this reason, TIPS4PED recently established local ‘Focus Groups’ in the partner cities of Turin, Cork, Kozani, and Budapest‘s Kőbánya district to align the project’s objectives with the local stakeholders’ interests. Each Focus Group meeting involved engagement workshops to identify the most relevant local stakeholders as well as their priorities, needs, and capabilities for achieving a Positive Energy District (PED) in the respective city.

The sessions brought together diverse stakeholders from different sectors to reflect on shared challenges and opportunities. They also provided valuable insights into the needs and expectations of the respective local communities. For example, participants were quizzed on the most valued functionalities for the Integrated Assessment Platform (IAP) that TIPS4PED will co-design as a tool for other cities to simulate and evaluate PED interventions.

Across the different cities, the cross-sectoral discussions in the Focus Groups were met with high interest by local stakeholders. Starting from a streamlined methodology, the Focus Groups took different approaches, reflecting each city’s unique context. While Kőbánya began with internal municipal discussions, other cities included a broader array of stakeholders, such as philanthropic organisations in Turin and community groups in Cork and Kozani.

Breakout Session during Workshop in Cork

Despite differences in scale, geography, and urban context, common themes that emerged included an emphasis on holistic planning and the need for advanced digital tools. Stakeholders across cities criticised piecemeal updates to infrastructure, highlighting the need for integrated renovation strategies. There was a strong interest in digital platforms such as the planned IAP to offer real-time monitoring and socio-economic impact analysis. Consequently, a user-friendly interface for technical and non-technical users and better mechanisms for sharing and interpreting data among stakeholders were identified as instrumental prerequisites.

Workshop of the Torino Focus Group, mapping of stakeholders in a power/interest matrix

Participants in all cities highlighted the need for supportive policies at local, national, and EU levels to streamline PED development. All Focus Groups emphasised cross-sector collaboration and public engagement, with cities like Turin and Kozani stressing the importance of campaigns for behaviour change, e.g., to incite more efficient energy use.  Cork and Turin highlighted the importance of engaging with Renewable Energy Communities to learn from their experiences and further support localised energy generation and storage.

Overall, these first workshops in the Focus Groups confirmed the local needs and challenges, laying the groundwork for the next steps in the TIPS4PED project. An important result was the identification of hitherto missing or underrepresented stakeholders such as philanthropic organizations, banks and real estate investors, data analysts, mobility-as-a-service providers, logistics companies, construction companies, and schools and religious institutions.

Moving forward, continuous open communication and collaborative implementation will be essential for the successful realization of the PEDs. To that end, some Focus Groups have already agreed to hold periodic meetings to track progress, gather additional feedback, and address any emerging issues. In other Focus Groups, a need for more focused discussions by interest area, e.g., mobility or energy, was identified. Moreover, to further improve visibility and accessibility, future Focus Group meetings and/or presentations might be videorecorded. These activities will also synergize with the future capacity-building and co-creation events developed under TIPS4PED.