On 21 June, ICLEI Europe kicked-off a 3 year cooperation as part of the new Act!onHeat project, which will support municipalities and local energy planners to develop strategic heating and cooling plans, and to translate them into actionable projects.

ICLEI and six European partner organisations will establish a practical programme (called a "support facility") to actively support at least 120 municipalities in their strategic heating and cooling planning, and in the development of sound pre-feasibility studies for related projects. Through individual tutoring and group trainings, participants will receive guidance on how to develop locally-tailored plans and projects, based on extensive project research on heating and cooling success factors. The project will, in particular, make use of the state-of-the art open-source planning tools Hotmaps and THERMOS.

Interested municipalities and planners can apply to take part in the support facility through an open call (expected launch in Fall 2021). The project will furthermore roll-out a holistic online training programme for a broader audience to benefit from the developed solutions, cases and the Hotmaps and THERMOS tools, as well as the vast experience of project partners. The THERMOS and Hotmaps tools are publically available for all interested planners.

More information about the project can be found here. For the latest news and to keep track of opportunities to take part in the support facility, connect with @ActionHeat_eu on Twitter.