mong the applications selected by the Energy Poverty Advisory Hub (EPAH) within the scope of technical support with a view to mitigating energy poverty at local level, there are two Portuguese initiatives. While the Central region of Portugal will focus on the development of a diagnostic and mapping tool, the parishes of Baixa da Banheira and Vale da Amoreira will jointly lead a project to diagnose energy poverty involving the local health centre.

The two Portuguese representatives are part of a list of 49 municipalities and regions from 12 countries in Europe, which includes 28 elected proposals, selected after the second notice by the EPAH, whose application phase ended at the end of March.

“This collaboration's mission is to empower local governments by providing them with the technical assistance they need to achieve tangible, impactful results. By tackling the issue of energy poverty in their communities, these municipalities are paving the way for others to follow suit and get involved in similar initiatives”, explains the website of the hub funded by the European Union with the aim of combating energy poverty and accelerating the energy transition.

The Central Region's proposal is related to a diagnostic and mapping tool that makes it possible to identify situations of energy poverty in each municipality. “The idea is to start developing a broader tool, applicable on a large scale and replicable, and then test it in a municipality in the region, which in this case will be Arganil”, explains João Pedro Gouveia, from the Center for Research in Environment and Sustainability ( CENSE FCT-Nova), one of EPAH's partners.

The candidacy of the Union of Parishes of Baixa da Banheira and Vale da Amoreira (Moita municipality) is “a highly innovative project, even at European level, and clearly at national level”, which seeks to make a diagnosis of energy poverty involving the center of local health. "It explores the link between energy poverty and health impacts, as well as the role of clinicians, which can be important for referral of cases and diagnosis of the problem." For example, “clinicians will be able to refer users to platforms from different networks that will then try to help people with vulnerabilities linked to thermal discomfort, cold or heat”, adds the researcher.

In addition to Portugal, candidates from 11 other countries were elected: Cyprus, Denmark, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Romania, Spain (the most represented) and Sweden.

It should be remembered that the first call for applications chose 23 proposals, referring to 34 local authorities in Europe, two of them also Portuguese: the Parish Council of Lumiar (Lisbon) and the Parish Council of Mértola. The first is developing a renewable energy community, in collaboration with Coopérnico, integrating families in energy poverty. As for the case of Mértola, it seeks to diagnose energy poverty in the historic center of the town, so that various mitigation actions can be planned. For this, interviews are being carried out with the inhabitants that, in a first phase, help to identify and understand the local experiences.

In addition to CENSE, FCT-NOVA, the Energy Poverty Advisory Hub has four other European partners: the climate action network Climate Alliance (Belgium and Germany), the agency for innovation, development and education AISFOR (Italy), the software development and information technologies Akaryon (Austria) and the non-profit organization Ecoserveis (Spain).