Energy poverty causes many inconveniences for those who suffer from it: economic difficulties, inability to pay bills, social isolation or even health problems. Against this background, European project Empowering women to tackle energy poverty in the Mediterranean, worked to empower to empower over 4,200 households, affected by energy poverty. In Albania, Vlora is the pilot Municipality. Touristic services, industry, construction and agriculture are the most developed sectors in the area.
The project has offered:
• visits in 100 families and installation of small devices for energy efficiency
• exchange of knowledge among partners and training for energy auditing, photovoltaic panels, efficient small investments and on health impact to different target groups;
• collective assemblies and Do It Yourself workshops to enable citizens to improve the living conditions of their families.
The investment done by the Organisation Milieukontakt in the Centre for Public Vocational and Professional in Vlora it is a very important investment that will save 45% if the energy bill, which is a considerable amount of support for our entity. Project has prepared political recommendations to address Energy Poverty • Energy poverty definition that takes gender and intersectional aspects into account (income, race, age, class, ability, geographical position)
• Financial support for vulnerable citizens (measures and short- and long-term programs)
• Collecting sex-disaggregated data on energy poverty • Spatial and urban interventions should address the pressing issue of summer energy poverty (parks, green areas, cooling systems, etc) • Engaging renewable energy sources to tackle summer energy poverty (alternative funding schemes)
• More research on the connection between energy poverty and health (involvement of health experts in measures for climate change)
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No 847052. The content of this video does not reflect the opinion of the European Union. Responsibility for the information and views expressed herein rests entirely with the authors.