COMPILE Toolkit: Stakeholder Engagement Guide

This report provides ideas on how to start and structure an energy community (i.e.: a group of citizens who want to develop activities in favour of a decentralised and democratic energy transition). It focuses on the tools and techniques to structure the core group of an energy community project and raise support in the local community.

The report includes an introduction to the community energy model and its legal background, advice on how to organise the core group of people, a description of the institutional construction of an energy community, suggestions on how to develop your project, tips to raise enthusiasm in the neighbourhood and key governance guidelines to build a democratic and stable organisation.

The target audience is project leaders and citizens looking to build an energy community. Thus, it takes the standpoint of a community leader or organiser and assumes that the reader is at the very start of the project. The aim of the document is to direct readers to a path rather than to provide a single answer to the question of how to start an energy community.

This guide is part of the COMPILE Toolkit, a series of reports and dashboards to help you build your energy community. You can also explore its Financing Guide and Best Practice Guide.