30 Sep Recharging in an energising city

First GEAR@SME project meeting in real life – second progress meeting of the European consortium

Bologna – The joy was enormous: After more than one year of online meetings and disciplined digitally based collaboration, GEAR@SME finally met for the first time in real-life and with a lot of positive energy in the luggage! In September the colleagues of the 11 partners from across Europe discussed the project status at the second project meeting and topics related to energy efficiency for SMEs against the background of the beautiful medieval city of Bologna.

During the first day of the meeting, the GEAR@SME colleagues shared experiences and activities in the four project use-cases (in the Netherlands, Italy, Germany and Romania) and exchanged good practices. In addition, they discussed future concrete actions, because from now on the so-called “Collective Approach” in the GEAR@SME Project is to begin. This means that the partner activate energy efficiency measures in SMEs now even more strongly with the help of the online portal “Energy Efficient SMEs” (the link will be publicised soon). This is an instrument to build up a “Community of Practice” in the four regions.

The partners then delved into the tools available to support SMEs in activating energy efficiency measures. First, they analysed the development and fine-tuning of training materials and calculation tools to support trusted partners in the development of the SME energy collective. Second, they discussed further development of the online portal. By registering in the online portal, users will be able to share practices, experiences, visions, opinions and feedback on the available tools, but also plan joint initiatives, meetings or events.

Thus, the meeting in Bologna was a valuable opportunity for networking and everyone left it even more energized! The one or other delicious ice cream in the inviting alleys of the beautiful University City certainly helped in this respect.

We are looking forward to tackle the next milestones in the project with full force! Energy saving together!