Research meets practice in Torri Superiore
The idyllic surroundings of Torri Superiore, Italy
This week, the EC² consortium members traded offices and lecture halls for the winding cobbled streets and carefully restored medieval buildings of Torri Superiore ecovillage.
Torri Superiore is home to our practice partner, Ture Nirvane cooperative, and between sharing updates on our research and working together on our upcoming deliverables we were able to hear first-hand accounts of the community energy solutions. It was clear that technical aspects are only part of the story: the social aspect of the community has also been crucial in creating a long-lasting and successful collaboration.
Ture Nirvane representative Massimo takes the consortium members on a tour
During our consortium meeting, we reviewed how far we have come and what we have achieved until today: a well-functioning consortium with several published deliverables (available on our downloads page), ongoing research, successful co-creation with citizens and a newly-launched Community Energy Academy. In an exercise of sharing our key highlights to date, our in-person connections, our multidisciplinary collaboration, and our co-creation events were noted as stand-out activities. Hopes for the future included a strong legacy and impact well beyond the finalisation of the project.
We also heard with curiosity about our latest findings from our research partners, which inspired conversations about our upcoming work such as our Energy Citizenship Empowerment Kits and our digital tool for energy citizens.
Collecting our past, present and hoped-for future highlights of the project
All participants commented on the relaxing and recharging energy that this change of setting offered us: we return to our organisations full of excitement about the insights we shared and the new ideas that bubbled up in our work sessions, on walks out in nature, and over delicious home made Italian food. We are confident that this meeting has strengthened our collaboration even further, and are looking forward to the final year of EC² - and already thinking about what might come next together.
The team after a day and a half of intense and enjoyable work
