This research project focuses on how public-private-community partnerships can manage energy vulnerabilities and support regional and local goals related to sustainability, self-sufficiency, and competitiveness.
Regional and local energy systems are challenged by various energy vulnerabilities, brought on by infrastructure fragility, geopolitical tensions, legal and administrative barriers and socio-economic disparities. Communities and households risk disruptions in energy access, affordability and reliability. High energy prices affects industries’ functioning capabilities, grid capacity shortages hinders economic growth in industrial zones and discrepancies between energy supply and demand slows down the green transition.
Establishing partnerships among communities, the public sector and private entities can help align financial resources, innovation, and policy support to advance long-term objectives like climate action, energy resilience and social vitality, as well as regional competitiveness.
Project focus
This project brings together public and private actors working with different aspects of regional and local energy vulnerabilities and compares their perspectives of current bottlenecks and regulatory barriers. By doing that, it aims to identify potential for deeper public-private collaboration across the Nordic Region.
The project will approach the topic through knowledge-sharing workshops and co-creation exercises to discover new points for collaboration and the cross-Nordic adaptability of different models. Nordregio will explore ways for the business sector to contribute to regional self-sufficiency and competitiveness by solving problems related to energy vulnerabilities.
Objectives
The aim of the project is to build bridges between different regional and local sectors and actors able to construct more resilient and self-sufficient energy systems.
Project structure
The project follows 3 steps.
1. Setting the scene
The first step consists of a short context overview, mapping different public-private-community collaboration models in the Nordics that aim to address energy vulnerabilities and boost regional and/or local competitiveness.
2. Focus groups
A round of national focus groups followed by a Nordic physical workshop with identified key national, regional, and local stakeholders across sectors.
3. Analysis and validation
A cross analysis and review round of results with involved stakeholders in a joint workshop.
The research project is a part of the thematic group for green transition and competitiveness, which is a platform for regional policy co-operation between expert networks across the Nordic Region. The Nordic thematic groups contribute to the Nordic Co-operation Programme for Regional Development and Planning 2025-2030 under the Nordic Council of Ministers’ Committee of Senior Officials for Regional Policy (EK-R).
