Introduction

Since the EU’s Clean Energy for All Europeans Package (2019), citizens are increasingly taking an active role in shaping the future of their homes, communities and local energy systems. Some of the old assumptions that renovation work is something people do or plan individually, or with renovation firms, are rapidly changing. The movement of citizen-led renovation (CLR) is emerging, in which local communities and citizens organise themselves to plan for retrofitting their homes and buildings as a community, to achieve energy efficiency improvements and increase energy savings, rather than pursuing financial profit. As the old assumptions are slowly fading away and greater importance is placed on collective local actions, energy communities and cooperatives are stepping up. With their help, the CLR movement is gaining more visibility and credibility, as energy cooperatives can connect local communities with relevant construction stakeholders and support the renovations in their municipality. 

Composed and controlled by citizens, energy communities are becoming more supportive of the emergence of cooperative one-stop shops (OSSs) for CLR. As 70% of the EU’s dwellings are still energy inefficient and run on fossil fuels, households face higher energy bills, and many people are continuing to live in homes that are uncomfortable or pose a risk to their health. Cooperative OSSs and energy communities are increasingly recognised as the actors best equipped to address these pressing realities, given that they are deeply familiar with their local needs.  National renovation efforts are still struggling to reach the scale and depth needed to meet Europe’s climate and energy targets. Cooperative OSSs and the CLR movement have the potential to trigger important shifts in how renovations and energy efficiency measures are handled. Such shifts can be enormously beneficial both for local contractors and the local economies, and they can firmly place citizens at the centre of Europe’s Renovation Wave. 

Furthermore, the CLR movement originates from the work of local actors who understand the lived realities of their communities, and it can be a practical response and a bridge that connects the often-fragmented renovation and construction markets to households. OSSs run by energy communities are a model in which cooperatives offer an alternative to commercial providers or public bodies and play a role as facilitators in the process of renovation, thus promoting trust and support for their communities. All these aspects are crucial for the people who need reliable and trusted support in their renovation journey and a shared sense of purpose with their community. In this context, the OSR-Coop Project, funded by the EU’s LIFE Programme, was created and started operating in October 2022, addressing these particular needs with the idea to demonstrate that the cooperative OSS models for CLR can achieve results that are both impactful and inclusive of local communities.
 

The OSR-Coop Project, a participatory and iterative learning model

Implemented between October 2022 and October 2025, the OSR-Coop Project brought together three pilot energy cooperatives, EcoVision in Ireland, Energent in Belgium and Les 7 Vents in France. With coordination from SNAP in Portugal and strategic guidance and support from REScoop.eu, the European federation of energy communities, the project set out to design and pilot new models of cooperative one-stop shops for deep home renovations. These models were tested in three very different national contexts and with households that represented a broad cross-section of needs, constraints, and motivations. These cooperatives developed integrated renovation services that linked several aspects together: awareness raising, audits, technical scenarios, contractor coordination, financing guidance and post-work follow-up, all into a coherent and accessible customer journey tested throughout the project. The overall aim was to both renovate homes and test and create services that citizens could trust and that cooperatives could sustain over time. 

The OSR-Coop Project was built on a methodology of participatory and iterative learning. Throughout its implementation, the partners worked closely together through in-person and online meetings, hot-seat and knowledge-sharing sessions, workshops and study visits. The project’s hot-seat and knowledge-sharing sessions shaped the learning journey of the pilots and provided the basic structures for the further development of the replication toolkit. In these sessions, each one of the OSR-Coop pilots presented existing services, workflows and organisational structures, while the other partners collectively analysed, deconstructed and rebuilt them, based on shared knowledge, experience and expertise. This approach helped the cooperatives to identify blind spots, refine their processes, and shape more effective pathways. It also helped strengthen internal capacities to operate renovation services coherently and professionally, and evolve the pilots into OSSs. 

As the implementation and piloting progressed, the OSR-Coop pilots directly supported 85 households, of which 82 entered into signed contracts and 54 completed renovation works. Together, these renovations mobilised more than €4.7 million in local investments, delivering energy savings and reductions in CO₂ emissions. The results demonstrate that energy communities can deliver high-quality integrated renovation services that are technically robust and socially inclusive. They also show that households respond positively to cooperative models because they combine independence, technical expertise and a strong focus on local values. The impact of the pilots is summarised in the project’s main results table below.
 

_{Figure 1. Official results from the work of the OSR-Coop pilots at the end of the project in October 2025.}

These results were achieved through organisational transformations within each of the OSR-Coop pilots. In Ireland, EcoVision rebranded from being formerly known as ECTC (Energy Communities Tipperary Cooperative) and professionalised its operations by adopting new workflow systems, digitising its customer intake process, and strengthening its partnerships with local credit unions. This contributed to strengthening its ties with local communities and made information and financing more accessible to citizens and households. The cooperative completed 36 renovation projects, the highest number among the pilots and demonstrated how a local energy cooperative can evolve into a trusted renovation partner, all while staying true to its identity. Images documenting EcoVision’s rebranding and communication approach are featured in the project’s final report and reflect how even the visual communication and identity-building played an important role in their transformation.

_{Figures 2 and 3. EcoVision’s rebranding on the right, from the former ECTC on the left.}

In France, the OSR-Coop pilot Les 7 Vents operated in a rapidly changing national policy context marked by the introduction of new advisory frameworks such as the ‘Mon Accompagnateur Rénov’ accreditation. The cooperative used the OSR-Coop Project to diversify its services, reduce dependence on short-term public funding, and build new forms of partnerships with regional stakeholders and contractor networks. Despite significant challenges linked to national grant systems and administrative delays, Les 7 Vents succeeded in completing eight renovations and further professionalised its renovation accompaniment service. Their experience showed how cooperative OSS models need to be adaptable and resilient, especially in contexts where funding or regulatory frameworks are unstable.

In Belgium, Energent focused on developing its Renovatiekompas model, which is a coordinated renovation service aligned with Flemish climate goals and municipal retrofit schemes. The cooperative advanced its service design significantly, completing ten renovation projects and establishing a foundation for future scale-up through regional collaborations. Energent’s approach combined strong technical expertise with community engagement and a streamlined customer journey. Images from Energent’s pilot activities included in the OSR-Coop reports capture the practical implementation of their services and their partnerships with local authorities.

_{Figures 4 and 5. Before and after a renovation done during the OSR-Coop Project.}

Beyond the pilot activities, one of the central achievements of the OSR-Coop Project is its contribution to the development of a structured learning and replication framework for cooperative OSSs and CLR services. Throughout the project, the partners developed the OSR-Coop Replication Toolkit, which consists of three main components. The OSR-Coop e-learning course titled ‘Delivering Citizen Led Renovation through one-stop-shops Co-ops’ provides an accessible and modular curriculum for cooperatives, local authorities and practitioners interested in creating cooperative renovation services. The course builds on the project’s methodology and offers a step-by-step pathway for learners and potential future replicators, from introductory concepts to practical implementation. Alongside the course, the OSR-Coop Guidance Manual synthesises the pilots’ overall experience into a comprehensive reading that covers governance, service design, technical coordination, financing, communication and scaling of OSS services by energy communities. Finally, the OSR-Coop Mentoring Programme, which ran in the final year of the project, provided personalised support to selected mentees from Sweden, Portugal and Ireland. The mentees had the chance to learn directly from the OSR-Coop pilots and test the OSR-Coop models in their own contexts.

_{Figure 6. OSR-Coop e-learning course promotional image.}

The project also played a role in strengthening the wider ecosystem of CLR within REScoop.eu’s network and beyond. Through participation and co-organisation of events, study visits, forums and public workshops, the project contributed to ongoing policy dialogues at European, national, and local levels, particularly in the field of energy efficiency and citizen-led transitions. The project partners engaged with sister-renovation projects, policymakers, local authorities, and community representatives to showcase the value of cooperative OSS models and identify supportive regulatory and financial frameworks. This work helped position citizen-led renovations within the broader context of Europe’s energy transition and contributed to policy developments. The project’s final paper on legal and regulatory barriers also provides evidence on how national frameworks can either enable or constrain the development of cooperative OSS models. Within the broader context of CLR and the work of REScoop.eu, the OSR-Coop Project also created synergies with other work programmes under the same umbrella. What emerges clearly from the OSR-Coop Project as its legacy and the CLR movement in general is the unique value proposition that combines trust, local community benefits, and technical competence. Cooperative OSS models are a success only because, at their core, they are designed around people’s needs over profit.

The OSR-Coop pilots continue to offer households independent and reliable advice, expand partnerships with local actors, build long-term relationships with contractors, and ensure that the benefits of renovation remain within the community. For any new cooperatives being developed across Europe, the OSR-Coop pilots show that some of the most persistent challenges in the renovation market, such as complexity, fragmentation and lack of clear accountability, can also be addressed by energy communities acting as OSSs. By acting as a single point of contact that accompanies households from start to finish, cooperative OSS models bring clarity and confidence to the renovation process, which is also important for vulnerable households or those with limited capacity to navigate the system. The OSR-Coop Project demonstrates that OSSs are effective when supported by cooperative structures and that they can deliver integrated and financially viable renovation services while staying true to their social mission. With this in mind, the CLR movement reflects a commitment to fairness and local community empowerment, aligning renovation with broader societal goals.

As Europe continues to advance its energy and climate objectives in an increasingly volatile global system, we must remember the importance of delivering energy efficiency improvements that are socially just. Citizen-led renovations are more than just renovating homes, as they merge energy efficiency improvements and energy saving with local communities and citizen ownership. Nothing empowers people more than knowing that they are part of something larger, yet still visible and tangible through the positive changes brought in their own homes, streets and buildings. Therefore, the backbone that the CLR movement gives to the energy transition is built on a foundation of justice, equity and local realities, providing the energy transition the additional credibility it needs to keep transforming the future towards the Europe we envision.

Conclusions

CLR is proving that meaningful change begins within communities, where trust, engagement and local knowledge shape better outcomes. Through cooperative OSS models, energy communities demonstrate that renovation services can be both technically robust and socially grounded, offering households clear guidance and long-term support. The OSR-Coop pilots show that when citizens take the lead, renovations become more accessible, investments stay local, and the energy transition strengthens its social foundations. As Europe moves forward with its climate and building renovation goals, placing communities at the centre is becoming essential for a fair and lasting transformation of the built environment.