Citizen-Led Renovation, CLR projekt
Project implementation period: 1 January 2025 – 31 December 2028
Funding source: European Commission – Directorate-General for Energy (DG ENER)
Project partners:
- AESS (Italy) – Energy and Sustainable Development Agency – Lead Partner
- FEDARENE – European Federation of Agencies and Regions for Energy and Environment
- Energy Cities – European association of local authorities in energy transition
- REGEA – North-West Croatia Regional Energy and Climate Agency
- REScoop.eu – European Federation of Citizen Energy Cooperatives
- Akaryon – Austrian IT company specialised in developing digital tools and sustainability solutions
- CODEMA – City of Dublin Energy Management Agency
- VCE – Valencia Climate and Energy Foundation
- AURA-EE – Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regional Energy Environment Agency
- ALTER – Alter Alsace Energies
About the project
Citizen-Led Renovation (CLR) promotes building renovation initiated and led by citizens themselves, with support from local enabling structures (so-called Enablers). The aim is to empower local communities and citizen-led initiatives to engage in sustainable renovation efforts, supported by legal, technical, and organisational assistance.
The third phase of the initiative, running from January 2025 for a duration of 48 months, focuses on developing local enabling structures that support citizen initiatives – such as energy communities – in organising and implementing building renovations. The project thus contributes to creating systemic conditions for scaling up citizen-led initiatives across Europe.
The Citizen-Led Renovation initiative is funded by the European Commission. During the summer of 2025, the initiative will expand to include five additional enabling structures.
REGEA’s role
As the enabling structure for Croatia, REGEA provides comprehensive technical support to citizen-led renovation initiatives, including:
- Advice on legal, technical and organisational aspects of renovation
- Building site visits, collection of technical documentation, and roof condition analysis
- Assessment of the building condition and preparation of technical specifications for deep renovation
- Support in developing project and tender documentation, along with climate resilience advice
REGEA is also part of the project consortium, contributing to coordination, methodology development, and dissemination of results. Additionally, REGEA supports the development of national and local support networks for energy renovation, including one-stop shops (OSS) and CLR ambassadors, to ensure long-term support for local communities and initiatives and enable their replication across the country and beyond.
Why CLR matters for Croatia
Building renovation is essential for achieving Croatia’s climate and energy goals. While national incentive schemes exist, they primarily focus on single-family homes or apartment buildings and do not support collective renovation models. Unresolved property-legal issues, complex administrative procedures, and limited access to financing further hinder progress.
CLR offers a new approach – placing citizens at the heart of the renovation process. By supporting collective initiatives, the project facilitates access to financing, improves housing quality, reduces energy poverty, and creates green jobs at the local level. It also fosters greater social cohesion and resilience and ensures a fair and inclusive energy transition in Croatia.
Link on project: https://citizen-led-renovation.ec.europa.eu/enablers_en
