Not all communities in Europe are affected equally by energy transition. As Europe progresses toward its goal of being the first climate-neutral continent, EU coal, lignite, peat and oil shale regions (“coal+ regions”) need unique support and resources to be able to face the disproportionate challenges that transition poses for them. What’s more, with adequate support, coal+ regions can not only survive the energy transition, but can thrive, benefiting from the new opportunities that transition brings.

To this end, coal+ regions are now once again able to apply to receive expert technical assistance from the European Commission’s Initiative for Coal Regions in Transition and its START programme. All information and application forms are available on the START webpage.

START – which stands for Secretariat Technical Assistance to Regions in Transition – provides tailored support over 6-10 months to assist with efforts to decarbonise energy production and usage, diversify economic activities, and progress social development in regions heavily affected by the transition away from fossil fuels. This assistance can build local capacity in areas like transition strategy development, governance, stakeholder consultation and engagement, community cohesion and resilience, and project identification and assessment.

This round of START will particularly welcome assignments related to local and regional aspects of energy transition, such as community-based renewable energy projects and energy communities, energy efficiency, development of capacity and governance mechanisms to support energy transition at sub-national levels, repurposing of local and regional assets to facilitate energy transition, etc. In this way, it is particularly relevant to the ICLEI Europe community.

Typical applicants are public administrations or civil society organisations, and applications from smaller regional actors are particularly welcome. The START application form, application guidelines, a one-page Summary Document (available in nine languages), and information about previous START recipients are all available now.

For more information about the START programme and how to apply, click here. The deadline to submit your application for START support is 23 February 2024.