Exploring the Transformative Potential of Energy Communities in Rural Areas

• by OEGA
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During an intensive workshop held on November 9 at the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA) of the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), the Galicia Wind Observatory joined a panel of experts in a co-creation session. The main objectives of the workshop were to:

• Build a support network for people driving energy communities in rural areas.
• Explore the transformative potential of rural energy communities.
• Identify the barriers and opportunities rural communities face when launching these community energy initiatives.
• Validate the results of an ongoing ICTA study on the spatial distribution of energy communities and the vulnerability of the rural municipalities where they are located.

With the participation of various groups from many Spanish autonomous communities, the discussion led to several key conclusions:

• Rural areas are becoming increasingly vulnerable due to a convergence of socioeconomic and environmental challenges. Currently, they are more often seen as sacrifice zones than as territories with transformative dynamics.
• Despite these challenges and the dynamics of the dominant economic model, these territories present a unique niche for experimenting with innovative community initiatives that could provide solutions to this precarious situation.
• While there are various fields for experimentation (e.g., food systems, basic services), the energy sector holds great potential to transform the role of rural societies within the global economic framework.
• Specifically, energy communities, which often extend their objectives beyond sustainable energy promotion by fostering community development and aiming to catalyze social transformation that transcends their specific projects, are a tool of great interest for rural spaces.

In an open and participatory environment, all attendees contributed to defining strategies to improve knowledge of community initiatives in the field of renewable energy, highlighting their strengths but also the numerous (political and economic) barriers they face.