AISFOR SRL
Project Coordinator
AISFOR srl, is an Italian firm with over 15 years in fostering the growth of Europe’s green sector, emphasizes environmental and economic sustainability in project execution. They commit to minimizing travel, favoring online communications, and selecting travel and lodging options with the least environmental impact. For in-person events, they choose venues and caterers based on cost-efficiency and green policies, ensuring CO2 emissions are offset. As project coordinator and WP1 and WP4 leader, AISFOR oversees all project aspects, supports pilot co-design of social energy policies, and bridges knowledge gaps in local government training, emphasizing a holistic approach to environmental stewardship and effective project management.
RETE ASSIST – ETS
Affiliated Partner
RETE ASSIST, in collaboration with AISFOR, will contribute to the ENTRACK project by focusing on addressing energy poverty within rural areas. Their involvement will be critical in developing energy poverty plans and integrating these plans into municipalities’ Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans (SECAPs). RETE ASSIST will provide support across various work packages, including understanding local social energy dynamics (WP2), framing the social energy transition in rural Mediterranean areas (WP3), and building capacity for co-designing social energy plans (WP4), aiming to mitigate energy poverty and foster sustainable energy solutions.
KILOWATT SOC COOP
Project Partner
Kilowatt, a pioneering organization in Bologna, specializes in social innovation, circular economy, communication, and urban regeneration. Founded in 2012, it initially focused on enhancing the socio-economic conditions of the knowledge economy workers through collaborative coworking spaces. As a leader in WP3 for the ENTRACK project, Kilowatt will conduct empirical analyses on energy plans, engage with stakeholders, and create tools for understanding and shaping energy perceptions and policies, emphasizing the empowerment and participatory involvement of local communities and policy makers.
COMUNE DI PIANO DI SORRENTO
Project Partner – Italian Pilot Case
Piano di Sorrento, set in the Metropolitan City of Naples, combines natural beauty with potential for sustainable development. Constrained by its geography, the town faces challenges like limited space for expansion, congestion, and environmental vulnerabilities, including risks from heavy rain and rising sea levels. Despite these obstacles, Piano di Sorrento’s strategic location offers unique opportunities for innovation in renewable energy and eco-friendly business ventures. Addressing infrastructure and energy distribution issues is crucial for enhancing quality of life and ensuring sustainability. Leveraging its position, Piano di Sorrento is poised to transform challenges into drivers of sustainable growth, promoting resilience and economic vitality in the face of environmental challenges. This approach highlights the town’s commitment to becoming a model of sustainable coastal living.
COMUNE DI VICO EQUENSE
Project Partner – Italian Pilot Case
Vico Equense, nestled between mountains and sea within the Metropolitan City of Naples, presents a blend of natural beauty and untapped potential for sustainable growth. This coastal town, despite its infrastructural and spatial challenges, is positioned for innovative development, particularly in renewable energy and eco-friendly business ventures. Efforts to improve infrastructure and address environmental resilience are key priorities, aiming to enhance the quality of life and safeguard against climate change impacts. Vico Equense’s partnership with the Entrack project underscores a commitment to leveraging its unique location for sustainable development. The collaboration aims to transform challenges into opportunities, fostering a future where Vico Equense thrives as a model of sustainability and economic vitality. Through strategic initiatives, the town is poised to capitalize on its potential, paving the way for a prosperous and resilient future.
ASOCIACION ECOSERVEIS
Project Partner
ECOSERVEIS, a non-profit consultancy based in Barcelona, specializes in energy efficiency, environmental sustainability, and social innovation. Since its establishment in 1992, it has played a pivotal role in developing sustainable energy models, offering training, solutions, and advisory services in sustainable energy and mobility, project financing, IoT, climate change, and environmental protection. ECOSERVEIS has a strong track record in European projects, leveraging its extensive network across local, national, and European levels to manage and coordinate initiatives that merge scientific innovation with societal needs. As the leader of WP7 in the ENTRACK project, ECOSERVEIS is at the forefront of building exploitation strategies, analyzing energy policies, leading empowerment evaluations, and supporting the co-design of energy plans with Spanish municipalities. This role underscores its commitment to promoting sustainable development and environmental stewardship, emphasizing community engagement and the integration of social sciences in technological advancements to address the pressing challenges of our time.
ASSOCIACIO PER LA GESTIO DEL PROGRAMA LEADER RIPOLLES GES
BISAURA
Project Partner
Founded in 2009 and recognized by Catalonia’s Department of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries, and Food as a Local Action Group, Associació per la Gestió del Programa Leader Ripollès Ges Bisaura (ALRGB) aims to enhance the quality of life in the Ripollès region of Girona and eight towns in the Vall del Ges, Orís, and Bisaura areas, covering 1,151.36 km². As a member of the ARCA (Associació d’Iniciatives Rurals de Catalunya), which connects eleven Local Action Groups in Catalonia, ALRGB is dedicated to sustainable development, climate change mitigation, promoting the circular economy, fostering business innovation, and ensuring demographic balance and social cohesion. Through the ENFOCC project since 2010, ALRGB seeks to instill a new culture of energy and forestry, emphasizing sustainable forest management and climate change resilience. Its involvement in the ENTRACK project includes supporting two local municipalities in Spain to co-design energy plans and facilitating the creation of a mixed public-private stakeholder group for pilot co-designing exercises. These initiatives are aimed at promoting energy efficiency, renewable energy sources, climate change action, and sustainable forestry, reflecting ALRGB’s commitment to the sustainable development of rural Catalan areas.
UNIVERSIDADE NOVA DE LISBOA
Project Partner
NOVA University of Lisbon through the School of Science and Technology (NOVA-FCT) is one of the most prestigious Portuguese and European engineering and science public schools; it is engaged in extensive research activity developed in 16 research centres involving 1600 PhD and 8000 Master’s students. The team in this project is part of the Centre for Environmental and Sustainability Research (CENSE), devoted to interdisciplinary research in environmental sciences and engineering. It develops research projects, outreach initiatives, dissemination of results and science-policy dialogues, among others, in the broad areas of energy and climate change, with a special focus on energy systems modelling, smart and sustainable cities, climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies, buildings energy efficiency and energy poverty. In ENTRACK, NOVA leads the activities on the understanding of local social energy and stakeholders’ engagement for social energy co-design.
AREANATEJO – AGENCIA REGIONAL DE ENERGIA E AMBIENTE DO NORTE ALENTEJANO E TEJO
Project Partner
AREANATejo is a private non-profit organization, created in July 2002 under the SAVE Programme of the European Commission. The geographical coverage of AREANATejo comprises 15 Municipalities belonging to the District of Portalegre (Alter do Chão, Arronches, Avis, Campo Maior, Castelo de Vide, Crato, Elvas, Fronteira, Gavião, Marvão, Monforte, Nisa, Portalegre, Ponte de Sor and Sousel) with a total of about 105.000 inhabitants (census 2021) and an average surface of about 6,000 km2. AREANATejo has the mission to promote and develop activities that contribute to a major energy efficiency and a major use of endogenous resources, to develop projects and methods for a rational use of energy and resources and to disseminate best available techniques and procedures aiming to promote a local sustainable development. Our main expertise areas are: energy, environment and mobility. Our main stakeholders are 15 the Municipalities belonging to Alto Alentejo sub-region, to whom the a.m. expertise areas are developed. AREANATejo’s vision is to contribute to energy efficiency and the best use of endogenous resources and renewable energies, thus guaranteeing the development of the region.
PROSVASI AMKE
Project Partner
Prosvasi is a not-for-profit and civil society organization, aims to enhance European democracy and civic dialogue through inclusive and accessible deliberation methods. It fosters knowledge sharing and civic engagement to improve citizen-government interactions, emphasizing democratic consciousness across diverse communities. Prosvasi’s innovative approach engages citizens of various backgrounds in policymaking processes, promoting voice equality. The organization undertakes actions in citizen science, facilitating collaborations between civil society and scientists to co-create and contribute to innovative projects. It also focuses on policy design, offering evidence-based policy plans and fostering participatory approaches for enhanced policymaking. Additionally, Prosvasi addresses sustainable energy communities through interactive workshops, raising awareness on climate change and energy poverty. As a leader of WP6, Prosvasi oversees communication, dissemination, and outreach for the ENTRACK project, aiming to improve visibility, establish stakeholder synergies, and support the co-design of energy plans in Greek municipalities, highlighting its commitment to sustainable policy outcomes and civic empowerment.
DIMOS AVDIRON
Project Partner – Greek Pilot Case
The Municipality of Avdira is one of the four municipalities of the Xanthi Regional Unit, which belongs to the Region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace. It was established in 2011, with the merger of the three pre- existing municipalities of Avdira, Vistonida and Selero. Its seat is Genisea, while Avdira has been designated as its historical seat. It extends over 352 square kilometers, in the south-eastern part of the Regional Unit of Xanthi, bordering the Regional Unit of Rodopi on the borders of Lake Vistonida and the lagoon of Porto Lagos. In the 2011 census it had 19,005 inhabitants. The Municipality of Avdira includes 39 communities, divided into three Municipal Units.
DIMOS TOPEIROU
Project Partner – Greek Pilot Case
The Municipality of Topeiros is a municipality of the Region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace and occupies an area of 312,493 acres. Its seat is Eulalos. The municipality was established in 1997 based on the Kapodistrias law from the amalgamation of eight former communities, while remaining intact with the Kallikratis Program. It has a permanent population of 11,544 inhabitants (2011), 60% of whom are Orthodox Christians and the remaining 40% Muslims. The name Topeiros comes from an ancient city that existed in the area. The city was founded in the first century AD. and was located on Egnatia Street. It flourished during the second century AD. and gave a historical presence until 812 AD. when it was destroyed. The ruins of ancient Topeiros are located between the current settlements of Toxotes and Paradisos. Municipality of Topeiros is rural municipality with protected wetland.
E3-MODELLING AE
Project Partner
E3-Modelling, a consulting spin-off from the University laboratory E3MLab in Greece, specializes in empirical large-scale modelling across the economy-energy-environment nexus. Leveraging advanced modelling tools, the company offers insightful analysis and recommendations to a diverse clientele including the European Commission, national governments, energy regulators, and entities within the energy and transport sectors. With expertise dating back to 1990, E3-Modelling has contributed to key models like PRIMES and GEM-E3 and supported significant European Commission studies on climate transition and energy market evolutions. The company’s consultation services focus on designing transitions towards greener, climate-friendly energy market systems, assessing economic, policy, and implementation aspects of these transitions. In the ENTRACK project, E3-Modelling applies its extensive experience to develop custom, user-friendly energy system modelling tools for local and regional authorities to aid in planning their clean energy transition strategies for the future.
Institute for European Energy and Climate Policy
Project Partner
This non-profit, independent research foundation brings extensive experience in stakeholder management, conducting problem-driven and policy-relevant research, and effectively communicating key project outcomes. Its proven track record in handling diverse groups and synthesizing research findings positions it as a valuable contributor to projects requiring multidisciplinary approaches and clear dissemination of results. The foundation’s capabilities are instrumental in ensuring successful collaboration and the advancement of research objectives, leveraging its expertise to facilitate informed decision-making and impactful project development.