Project AURORA has linked up with the EU LIFE project EC4RURAL, Fostering local engagement for Clean Energy Transition in Rural Areas through Energy Communities. EC4Rural is worth €1.499 million, started in January 2023, will run until 31 August 2027 and has 10 partners. The project is setting up pilots in Estonia and Spain, with a total of 34 case studies in different rural municipalities. They will be encouraging the development of rural energy communities able to install photovoltaic panels on the roofs of public buildings to produce electricity.
Project AURORA will be able to share all its experience in developing Energy Communities from its five pilots in the Universities of Évora Portugal, UPM Spain, Ljubljana Slovenia and Aarhus Denmark, as well as in its rural community of the Forest of Dean in the United Kingdom where solar panels will be installed on a local leisure centre and school this year.
Working with partners in the EC4RURAL project AURORA will be able to also share details of the AURORA Energy Tracker app and the unique way we are linking energy communities to personal citizen efforts to reduce their carbon pollution. The European Leader Association for Rural Development (ELARD), for instance, has 29 Members with more than 2,500 Local Action Groups across rural, coastal, urban and periurban Europe. With the AURARA app now available for all European countries this is a great way to share and exploit the AURORA tools and techniques and expand our impact on citizen carbon emissions across Europe.
Martin Brocklehurst
Project AURORA
14 January 2024
