Ashoka and the Schneider Electric Foundation, with Enel Romania as local partner launched the Social Innovation to Tackle Energy Poverty Solutions Accelerator to boost the capacity of local social entrepreneurs, writes a press release.
The study recently released by the Right to Energy Coalition shows that the main factors of energy poverty in Romania are the difficulty of maintaining a constant temperature in the dwelling, the burden of energy costs and the living conditions in homes with damaged roof.
“The aim of the program is to identify and support 15 to 20 young innovative ideas and mature projects working in the field of energy poverty and energy sustainability with the potential of introducing systemic changes in five European countries: Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria”, says Patricia Benchenna, Director of Philanthropy for the Schneider Electric Foundation.
Social Innovation to Tackle Energy Poverty is a “solution accelerator” involving five Central and Eastern European countries including Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria. Romania is among the countries with a high level of energy poverty and is ranked 13th at the European level in terms of the European Domestic Energy Poverty sub-Index (EDEPI).
Applications will be completed online at www.tackleenergypoverty.org no later than April 12, 2019.
In Romania, it is estimated that nearly 20% of citizens live in energy poverty, as they are unable to access their energy services at affordable costs, while about 460,000 of households have no formal access to energy.
“Taking into consideration the lack of awareness about energy poverty and the low level of confidence, we have opened this solution accelerator for the first time to innovators who have a simple idea of combating this phenomenon, and not necessarily a project already implemented”, says Corina Murafa, Executive Director of Ashoka Romania. “The issue of energy poverty in the region is acute: we need to find efficient and scalable solutions. In the 21st century, a quarter of the Eastern Europeans either cannot adequately heat their homes or pay their bills or simply have no access to electricity.”
Alessio Menegazzo, Director of Sustainability and Institutional Affairs of Enel Romania, recalls Enel’s commitment which led to implementing pilot projects in disadvantaged communities to identify mediators for access to energy. “Through this competition, we hope to discover those ideas or initiatives that can help us bring our efforts to the next level”, says Alessio Menegazzo.
The 15 selected finalists, 3 in each country, will benefit from
- 5 months of guidance for developing a strategy to scale and accelerate the social impact of their projects
- Networking and learning activities with other social innovators, experts and organizations in the field
- Increased visibility at the Brussels final event (December 2019)
- Supplementary (mentoring and financial) support opportunities from the Schneider Electric Foundation and the Schneider Electric Impact Investment Fund
- € 3,500 prize for winners (one winner in each country)
Ashoka is the largest global organization to promote and support social entrepreneurship and social innovation, ranked by NGO Advisor in the top 5 NGOs in the world. Ashoka is present in Romania since 2017 and it aims to contribute to the creation of a society focused on changing social issues.
The Schneider Electric Foundation supports future generations and future-oriented initiatives in order to give as many people as possible the energy they need to succeed in driving change for eliminating the energy gap through education, social innovation and awareness.
Enel Romania is one of the largest private investors in the energy field, with operations in the sector of distribution and supply of electricity, as well as of the production of electricity from renewable sources, present on the Romanian market since 2005.