Skip to main content
European Commission logo print header

ENLARGE – ENergies for Local Administrations: Renovate Governance in Europe

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - ENLARGE (ENLARGE – ENergies for Local Administrations: Renovate Governance in Europe)

Reporting period: 2017-10-01 to 2018-09-30

ENLARGE aims to generate and disseminate knowledge on collaborative governance with focus on sustainable energy, through a process of dialogue and exchange involving policymakers, civil society actors and practitioners. It aims to shed some light on the ‘how and why’ of co-design, co-production and co-evaluation processes in the field of sustainable energy through an intense policy dialogue between policy makers, experts in participatory governance and civil society actors. It also aims to develop knowledge on what favours or hampers the achievement of relevant results in this field.
In detail, the project intends to:
- EXPLORE – develop a conceptual and methodological framework of collaborative processes, especially in the field of sustainable energy
- EVALUATE – assess the outcomes of real practices and analysis of mechanisms and intervening factors favouring the effectiveness, institutional sustainability and social legitimacy of collaborative processes;
- PRODUCE - raise awareness among public administrators about the options at their disposal and the potential consequences of these choices, through a CYOA (choose-your-own-adventure book)
- COMMUNICATE and DISSEMINATE the project results.
The ENLARGE project started on 1st of October 2016 and ended on the 30st of September 2018.
"During the project lifetime, the working group has conducted a significant work of research and produced all the deliverables foreseen by the project:
WP1 “Methodological approach”:
- D.1.1 Conceptual report, delivered at the end of WP1, containing the ENLARGE main methodological assumptions (draft and revised version).
WP 2 “Engagement and identification of practices”:
- has aimed to engage local actors to collect real experiences of participatory approaches in sustainable energy. More than 1000 . Following the engagement process, 35 practices have been collected and 31 have been selected for an in-depth analysis.
- More than 1000 local actors targeted by a wide communication campaign;
- 35 practices collected and 31 selected for in-depth analysis;
- D.2.1 – ‘Report on participatory approaches in sustainable energy emerging from 'real life' practices’;
WP 3 “Case studies”:
- D.3.1 ‘Case studies’ - full version of the 31 case studies analysed;
- D.3.2 ‘Synthesis of case studies’ - synthesis of the 31 case studies;
- D.3.3 ‘Online video-interviews’ - numerous short videos (www.enlarge-project.eu/video-gallery) explaining the ENLARGE project and telling the story of collaborative processes in sustainable energy;
- D.3.4 Report ‘Draft knowledge map’ - synthesised information on collaborative processes for future implementation;
- D.3.5 ‘List of participants to the deliberative event’ contains the list of people, involved in the 31 cases analysed, registered to the ENLARGE Deliberative Event.
WP 4 ""Deliberative event"":
- Deliberative event held on the 16th and 17th of October 2017 with over 70 participants;
- D.4.1 ""Final report of the deliberative event""
- D 4.3 ""Manifesto for boosting participatory processes to achieve relevant results in sustainable energy policies and processes"";
- D.4.2 ""Satisfaction questionnaire and report"".
WP 5 ""ENLARGE CYOA online book and test"":
- D.5.1 Draft CYOA online gamebook;
- D.5.2 CYOA test report;
- D.5.3 Final version of the online CYOA gamebook in 5 languages;
- Printed version of the CYOA gamebook in IT and EN and downloadable (Pdf) version in EE, RO and FR (deliverable not foreseen initially).
WP6 Communication and dissemination:
- D.6.1 Communication plan
- D.6.2 Dissemination and final Exploitation Plan (draft and revised version)
- D.6.3 Project website (draft and revised version)
- D.6.4 Project logo and templates for all the project documents
- D.6.5 - 5 Newsletters delivered
- D.6.6 Printed materials (distribution of 1 000 fliers, 20 posters, 2 000 brochures);
- D.6.7 13 local communication and dissemination events;
- D.6.8 Final conference of the project in Brussels 26 September 2018 within the EU eGov week.
WP 7 Project Management and evaluation:
- Online meetings to define the work foreseen by the project;
- D.7.1 Three reports of the High-level Advisory Board;
- D.7.2 Four reports of the steering group meetings;
- D.7.3 Management plan;
- D.7.4 Three monitoring reports;
- D.7.5 one online survey to local administrations/stakeholders;
- D.7.6 Final monitoring and evaluation report;
- D.7.7 Updated CYOA book for two years after the project end (planning of activities)."
The main impacts achieved by ENLARGE are:
- Complexifying knowledge on participatory tools and approaches by highlighting that, behind ‘best practices’ (but also supposed bad practices),there can be numerous design and management choices, each of which deserves careful consideration and reflection in order to understand which implications derive from sequences of choices and interactions within specific contexts.
Almost all respondents to both the dissemination survey (94 %) and the final evaluation survey (93 %) reported a high enough or very high improvement in their knowledge on collaborative processes. All the participants in the deliberative event declared an improvement (so and so or high) in their knowledge on collaborative processes and their pros and cons.
Furthermore, all respondents to the final evaluation survey declared that the CYOA was fairly/highly useful for identifying different alternatives and strategies in collaborative processes and their consequences.
The utility of the ENLARGE outputs (and in particular the CYOA gamebook) in better understanding collaborative processes and their relevance for stakeholders involved is also underlined by the response to the dissemination surveys and final evaluation survey. There is a high willingness to recommend the ENLARGE outputs to other potential users: 79% of respondents to the final survey would definitely recommend it, while 21% would probably do it.
- Improving awareness of local public administrators/stakeholders on the importance of reasoned participatory governance applied to sustainable energy issues as a way of increasing quality, solidity, effectiveness, sustainability and legitimacy of such policies
According to the final evaluation survey, 93 % of the respondents have taken or intend to take actions to improve the use and continuity of the collaborative processes in which they are involved after their involvement in the ENLARGE project.
- Enhancing effectiveness, sustainability and legitimacy of the participatory processes
Over half of the respondents (62 %) to the final evaluation survey reported having taken into consideration other options and their consequences in the collaborative processes they are involved in, while 31 % declared having already modified some aspects of the collaborative processes they are involved in.
The results reached by the ENLARGE project allow administrations to become open, innovative and collaborative, by rethinking their role and discovering new strategies and mechanisms to enhance collaboration between administrations, stakeholders and citizens. Furthermore, by favouring policy effectiveness of collaborative processes, the project also contributes to the improvement of public policies and services tackled by collaborative processes.