Energy Efficiency Financing and Stakeholder Engagement: Evidence from a Participatory Approach

Energy efficiency (EE) is an integral part of global energy policy, since it helps in tackling climate change and ensures long term security of energy supply. EE investments have a direct effect on reducing energy consumption towards achieving the Europe energy and climate objectives, while driving economic growth. However, it remains a challenge how to identify which investments could foster sustainable growth, while having the capacity to meet their commitments. To identify such projects and ensure the effectiveness of their financing, it is important to involve relevant actors whose engagement is key to enlighten the challenge of identifying EE investments. To this end, what type of effort should be used for each target group needs to be analysed, while participatory activities should be followed to foster their contribution. The aim of this paper is to propose a stakeholder consultation framework and provide evidence from its impact in EE financing. Analysis showed that effective consultation with high engagement was ensured achieving successful decision making of EE project towards sustainability. The impact analysis of the methodology is elaborated within the framework of the Horizon 2020 Triple-A project. The results of the research reveal how important stakeholder engagement is in conveying project message and activities, making it popular among the interested communities, attracting key actors and, achieving project results. To this end, the methodological steps could be independently used in other sectors of activity, acting as an effective stakeholder engagement action plan, providing alternative dissemination and exploitation means that could enhance this engagement