Regio1st Project held its third partner meeting in Brussels, Belgium, on the 11th and 12th of March 2025, bringing together representatives from eight partner organisations across Europe including South East Energy Agency (SEEA), Ireland.
The two-day meeting attended by the CEO of SEEA, Paddy Phelan, and Project Officer, Martin Desgrandchamps, provided a collaborative space for partners to evaluate the project’s impact in their respective regions and assess progress on key components of the project.
Central topics included updates on the mentoring programme, multilevel governance activities, review of key performance indicators (KPIs), regional modelling outcomes, project deliverables, and a roadmap for next steps.
During his presentation, Martin Desgrandchamps shared Ireland’s progress on the Project, including SEEA’s engagements with Local Authorities since 2023. He outlined the successful organisation of five bilateral workshops focused on showcasing the Regio1st Framework and fostering the development of local Energy Efficiency First (EE1st) strategies. A highlight was the hands-on workshop dedicated to cost-benefit analysis, which proved valuable in building practical capacity among stakeholders.
Martin also reflected on lessons learned throughout the project’s implementation in Ireland, emphasising the value of clear communication, visual learning tools, and the effectiveness of customised approaches such as bilateral meetings and tailored strategy maps.
The meeting concluded with a joint discussion on creating clear guidelines and recommendations for embedding the EE1st principle in regional energy planning.
The Regio1st Project, funded by the LIFE Clean Energy Transition programme, supports regional authorities in applying the EE1st principle in all relevant planning processes.
