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Upgrading Toolkit: Community energy growth
The life COMET Upgrading Toolkit
How can citizens, communities, and national coalitions find paths to upgrade community energy development?
The LIFE COMET partners have compiled the Community Energy Upgrading Toolkit: a comprehensive guide to help stakeholders strengthen policy frameworks, develop viable business models, and build inclusive, citizen-led energy communities.
The toolkit compiles key European resources, organised into three themes and a series of practical paths, or guiding questions that help different actors find the right tools for their needs.
This blog post series presents a short selection of the tools from the Toolkit recommended by the Life COMET partners.
Theme 3: Community energy growth
The final theme of the Toolkit focuses on how community energy initiatives can support their long-term development and broaden their impact. Beyond project design and implementation, communities need strong networks, communication strategies, and active public engagement. This theme gathers tools that help energy communities mobilise stakeholders, build inclusive groups, and raise awareness of community energy at the local level.
Path 6: How to develop networks and mobilise stakeholders for community energy?
SCCALE Community Energy Methodology Guide
Developed through the experiences of five pilot projects, this methodology guide offers a structured approach to citizen engagement in community energy initiatives. It breaks down the development of a project into four clear stages — inspiration, preparation, implementation, and operation — providing concrete actions and insights for each phase.
The guide helps project leaders grow an initiative from a small core group into a broadly engaged community capable of running its own energy project. It is rich with lessons learned and practical steps that support both new and existing communities in strengthening participation, building ownership, and mobilising local stakeholders.
Among the complementary tools featured under this path, the Inclusivity Guide for Energy Communities also stands out as a valuable resource for helping groups reflect on representation, equity, and inclusive governance, a key dimension of long-term community engagement.
Path 7: How to improve knowledge and raise awareness of community energy?
Community Energy Communications at the Local Level
Clear, accessible communication is essential to build trust and participation around energy initiatives. This guide offers practical strategies for designing a communication plan, using positive narratives, engaging different audiences, and launching campaigns that resonate with local communities.
Aimed at non-experts, it provides straightforward tips and examples to help community leaders communicate effectively: from crafting messages suited to the local context, to collaborating with partners and telling the story of their project in meaningful ways. Strengthening communication skills is key not only for raising awareness, but also for building long-term support and visibility for community energy.
This third post concludes our series on the Community Energy Upgrading Toolkit, which brings together 36 tools across 7 practical paths to help strengthen, scale, and sustain community energy in Europe. We hope this series inspires citizens, communities, and national coalitions to explore the full Toolkit and find resources tailored to their needs. Many of these resources can also be found on the Energy Community Platform.
The Life COMET partners will continue sharing insights and developments as the project advances, including updates from national coalitions and stories from the field. Stay tuned for more news and activities.
