Deep renovation is often discussed in technical terms: insulation levels, heating systems, carbon savings and energy bills. And of course, those things matter. But in LIFE Renew it, there is another ingredient that is just as important: people. More specifically, how people are engaged, supported and empowered throughout the process.
That is exactly what the project’s Pilot Engagement Strategy sets out to address. Its starting point is simple but important: collective self-retrofit only works when engagement is treated as a core part of the project, not as an add-on. When residents are expected to contribute time, learn new skills, take decisions together and work alongside professionals, trust and community dynamics become essential.
In many renovation programmes, residents are informed or consulted. In Renew it, the ambition goes further. The project explores how residents can become active participants in the transformation of their homes and neighbourhoods, supported by professionals and local organisations. That means building not only better homes, but also stronger local capacity, confidence and connection.
What makes this approach especially interesting is that the strategy does not view energy poverty as a purely technical issue. Poor insulation or high energy bills are real problems, but they are also connected to wider realities: social isolation, limited access to decision-making, fragile trust in institutions, and a weakening connection between people and place. In that sense, retrofit is not only about upgrading buildings. It can also become a way to rebuild confidence, strengthen relationships and create the conditions for long-term wellbeing.
Community health as engagement strategy
That is why the strategy frames engagement through the lens of community health. In practice, this means seeing renovation as a process that can improve comfort and lower bills, while also supporting belonging, recognition, shared responsibility and agency. It is a people-centred way of thinking about energy transition and one that feels especially relevant in neighbourhoods facing vulnerability or energy poverty.
Across the project, this thinking is translated into a practical engagement model built around four phases: activation, co-design and decision-making, collective implementation, and reflection and celebration. In other words, engagement is not reduced to a single meeting or communication campaign. It is treated as a continuous process that helps communities move from first contact to shared action and, ultimately, to a stronger sense of stewardship over their homes and surroundings.
The strategy also recognises that every place starts from a different reality. That is why the pilots in Getafe, Centelles and Besançon each build on their own local strengths and context. In Getafe, the project draws on the existing energy community Getafe Potencia as a trusted local actor and intermediary. In Centelles, the pilot is rooted in a rural context and a strong community-health perspective, with the buildig ‘El Vapor’ positioned not only as a retrofit site but as a shared community space. In Besançon, the approach is shaped by the realities of social housing, with a strong emphasis on trust, reciprocity, transparency and fair decision-making within an institution-led process.
Co-creators of change
What connects these pilots is a shared belief that residents are not just beneficiaries of renovation. They are co-creators of change. And that matters, because the long-term success of renovation depends not only on technical performance, but on whether people feel included, respected and able to shape the process around them.
For LIFE Renew it, that is the bigger promise of engagement. It helps make collective self-retrofit viable today, while also laying the groundwork for something that lasts beyond the project itself: communities with more trust, more capability and more ownership over the transition happening around them.
At Energiesprong Global Alliance, we often talk about scaling what works. This strategy is a reminder that scaling is not only about products, processes or performance. It is also about relationships, confidence and participation. Because if we want renovation to be fair, effective and truly lasting, people cannot sit at the edge of the process. They need to be part of it from the start.
