Transforming cities through Positive Energy Districts

Sweden, Belgium and Austria are setting up a learning network to evaluate and promote local initiatives for sustainable energy supply

City districts and neighbourhoods with a positive energy balance – so-called positive energy districts (PED) – are considered a promising concept for putting the energy transition into practice at the local level. In this project, five European examples are being studied and proposals for the further development of PEDs are being developed. 

Implementing PEDs is particularly challenging, as they require fundamental changes in the way cities are planned, designed and maintained in the long term. The TRANS-PED project aims to develop a new governance approach that can be adopted and further developed by future PED actors.

Learning network integrates existing experiences

This approach is based on the experiences of local actors, as well as on existing scientific knowledge, and is intended to help implement profound system changes in practice. The two-year pilot project will establish a learning network of PED actors in Sweden, Belgium and Austria and create a common set of tools and approaches. The project partners will engage in a series of online and face-to-face activities to jointly develop different methodologies for embedding, evaluating and scaling energy innovations. The outcomes resulting from the project are expected to contribute to the formation of an international community of PED actors, which will serve as a basis for the development and dissemination of European PEDs in the coming decades.

The project consortium includes eleven research institutions and practice partners from Sweden, Belgium and Austria. The project, funded by the Urban Europe programme, is led by the University of Stockholm. The Institute of Technology Assessment (ITA) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences is responsible for investigating the possible consequences and risks of PEDs and coordinates the national project partners. The other partners in Austria are the FH Technikum Wien, StadtLABOR Graz, Kleboth und Dollnig ZT GmbH and Urban Future UFGC GmbH.