Working formulas and question marks for pathways out of energy poverty - International Social Housing Festival 2023

Even if the social housing stock is on average in better shape than private homes, the number of tenants or residents impacted by energy poverty often prevails in social or affordable housing dwellings because they rely on very modest incomes.

In the span of three years, social and affordable housing providers, municipalities, health or social workers, and the academia have acted to protect households from exuberant energy bills. 

In parallel to riding the Renovation Wave, they got training to become certified energy supporters and visited people at their homes to provide advice or accompanied households to one-stop shops to help them access financial help. Social housing providers from the Flemish Region of Belgium and the Barcelona Energy Agency have taken even more progressive measures, ensuring that the energy generated from sunshine directly benefits the pockets of vulnerable households.

This 80-minute event will take place during the most important international celebration (and protest) about decent, social, and affordable housing in Europe, the ISHF - International Social Housing Festival 2023 in Barcelona. The session will bring successful tactics and examples to the surface and you will hear firsthand from motivated energy supporters and mentors about how they gained the trust of energy-poor households and helped them to find a way out of the problem. 

The organisers are Housing Europe’s EU-funded project POWERPOOR, the ASTER initiative that has been changing the scene in Belgium with the support of the Elena fund, and the Horizon project Sun4All which brings solar power to the people.

Register by May 29.

The agenda

Moderator: Diana Yordanova, Communications Director at Housing Europe

09:00 - 09:10
The State of Housing in 2023, an energy crisis in the midst of layers of crises
Alice Pittini, Research Director at Housing Europe

09:10 - 09:20
How can policy cool down and warm up the homes of people with modest incomes?
MEP Ernest Urtasun, the Greens/Catalunya en Comú, Spain (tbc)

09:20 - 09:30
Flemish social housing investment in a solidarity-based and sustainable energy transition for tenants
Current situation and objectives & priorities by Sven Van Elst, General Manager ASTER

09:30 - 10:10
Panel discussion on successful tactics and examples that lift energy poverty, moderated by Housing Europe 

• Eleni Kanellou, POWERPOOR project coordinator, National Technical University of Athens
• Anu Sarnet, Head of International Relations and Projects at the Estonian Union of Co-operative Housing Associations (EKYL)
• Sven Van Elst, Director of ASTER, Belgium
• Sergi Delgado, Agència de l’Energia de Barcelona
• Tijn Croon, PhD Researcher at TU Delft University, the Netherlands

10:10 - 10:20
The energy supporters who went above and beyond to get people out of energy poverty

• Nelson Brito, POWERPOOR Energy Mentor in Portugal
• Fermin Arruabarrena Olaiz, Member of the energy community in Enherkom, Basque Country), working in the POWERPOOR energy office in the Basque country
• Aiga Kalnina, Project manager at Auce communal services in Latvia and POWERPOOR mentor
• Urmas Mardi, Lawyer of EKYL; certified POWERPOOR energy mentor in Estonia
• Yana Garkova, Expert in informational services and POWERPOOR mentor in Bulgaria
• Antonija Pukec, Director of the Red Cross - Križevci, Croatia

Conclusion

If all goes to plan, where can power-poor households be in a year & five years from now?

Register on the website by May 29.