Beyond participation: the role of engagement in EU-funded projects

Almost every day, I read one or more articles on Horizon and other EU-funded energy projects, as editor of the EU Projects Zone content on Enlit World – incidentally, the largest compilation of content online on these projects.

The diversity of the projects is fascinating, and the content always interesting but while each is obviously individual, it is also clear why there has been a recent trend towards ‘clustering’ of projects in similar areas that can share and learn from their individual experiences.

The oldest and largest ‘cluster’ can be said to be the BRIDGE initiative, now in its tenth year. Also EU-funded, it encompasses over 200 projects, including Enlit's own project DECODIT, of which over half are currently active, according to the current brochure, with the aim to encourage the sharing of information, experiences, knowledge and best practices within the community and to provide input to policy development within the European Commission.

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The four working groups address regulation, data exchange, business models and consumers and citizen engagement.

The annual general assembly took place last week, with a panel discussion highlighting some of the challenges being experienced. These include the transposition and harmonisation of EU regulations in member states, data interoperability, support for market ready solutions and engaging citizens in the energy transition.

A key focus of the assembly is to review progress and define the work programme for the year ahead, which will be covered in a forthcoming article.

Overarching themes that emerged are the need for closer liaisons both among the four working groups and with external parties and the further development of ways to encapsulate and share the knowledge that is gained from the projects via the working groups.

In the case of market uptake, this is considered particularly important, as early stage business model thinking in projects is observed to be the exception rather than the norm and ultimately commercialisation should be the goal of a solution development.

Thus, a business model handbook and repository of good practices and project examples are planned in the coming year.

A notable point, highlighted by Stavros Stamatoukos, Policy Officer for Digitalisation and AI in DG Energy, in the Commission's closing remarks, is the limited engagement of projects within BRIDGE. Reminding that they have an obligation to the initiative, he expressed regret, saying that the output should be representative of the community rather than from just a few active projects.

Clearly, not all projects can be involved in all aspects of BRIDGE, but engaging offers multiple opportunities. For one, while there are numerous industry bodies, there aren’t for the ‘workers on the ground’ who are the backbone of many projects, i.e. outside the utilities, and BRIDGE offers the opportunity for them to have a ‘voice’ in the energy transition.

With concern about projects ‘dying’ with their ending and more focus being put on plans for continuations, it can also give longevity to project findings by being incorporated into policy proposals to the Commission or the technopedia on state-of-the-art technologies managed by ENTSO-E and DSO Entity.

Stamatoukos was clear on the importance of policy reports – even if lengthy – and engagement with the Commission as input to its work, particularly now with development underway on the programme for the next multiannual financial framework (2028-2034).

Confirming continued support for BRIDGE, he concluded: “Engage early to define the scope of next reports so that they can be helpful for policymaking and we are here to help as much as possible.”

Are you engaged in a project? Let me know.

Jonathan Spencer Jones