IREES at the Energy Cities Annual Forum 2026

🌍 Heating Transition Meets Community Action: IREES at the Energy Cities Annual Forum 2026

At the 2026 Energy Cities Annual Forum 2026 in Guimarães 26 – Capital Verde Europeia our colleague Antonia Kranz represented IREES and shared insights from the EU-funded project ESCALATE during the session “Journey 3 – The Leaf.”

Within ESCALATE, we work together with Energy Cities and European partners to support municipalities in implementing Article 25 of the Energy Efficiency Directive by strengthening capacities for local heating and cooling planning. The project develops practical training materials, guidance formats and exchange opportunities for municipalities, energy agencies and other local actors across Europe. A key focus is also the role of energy communities and citizen-led initiatives in the heating transition.

Discussions in Guimarães highlighted that successful local heating and cooling plans depend not only on technical solutions, but equally on governance, local cooperation and active citizen involvement.

Three key takeaways from the forum in Guimarães:
➡️ Municipalities across Europe need not only regulatory obligations for heating and cooling planning, but also practical support, guidance and exchange formats to translate plans into implementation.
➡️ Energy communities can become important local partners in the heating transition – especially where municipalities face limited capacities or seek stronger local involvement.
➡️ Successful local heating transitions require stronger connections between planning, governance, communication and citizen participation in order to turn strategies into concrete projects.

A sincere thank you to Energy Cities for the invitation and especially Nicolas Raimondi for the fantastic moderation of “Journey 3 – The Leaf” and for creating such a valuable space for exchange with municipalities, practitioners and researchers from across Europe!

IREES – Research for Future 🌍🍃