Energy produced locally, owned locally and benefiting local communities is moving further up Europe’s energy agenda and with the efforts of ICLEI, ECHO is now part of that dialogue.
Following our General Assembly in June, ECHO has joined the Homegrown Energy Engagement Action launched in May 2026 by European Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy.
The initiative brings together organisations working to strengthen local energy production and put cities, communities and citizens at the centre of Europe’s energy transition. Its focus is straightforward: making better use of locally available renewable energy while ensuring that more of its economic and social value stays within the communities where it is produced.
This is closely aligned with ECHO’s work on energy communities and the experience being built across our pilot sites. The partnership therefore gives us a useful new route for bringing lessons from the project into a wider European network and, just as importantly, learning from what is working elsewhere.
Over the coming months, ECHO will explore opportunities to contribute to the Homegrown Energy action by sharing practices and insights from our pilot sites and through potential joint activities and events with the Covenant of Mayors community.
Because the energy transition is not only about producing more renewable energy. Who produces it, who participates and where the benefits end up matter too.