There’s a phrase in English — “walking on air”. It describes those rare moments when you leave a place full of energy, optimism and possibility.
That’s how I felt after three days in Jūrmala, Latvia, at the REScoop annual gathering.
It was my first gathering as REScoop President, so I arrived carrying a fair amount of stress. But colleagues from across Europe had worked incredibly hard to plan every detail and create something thoughtful, welcoming and purposeful. I left with a few personal reflections.
The event focused on serious issues: climate breakdown, European energy security, and growing political hostility towards cooperation and climate action. But at the same time the atmosphere was remarkably positive. Look at the photographs from the gathering — people are laughing, debating, learning, sharing experiences and clearly enjoying being together. There’s warmth and affection between people, alongside the seriousness of the work.
One thing stood out very strongly to me: diversity really is a source of strength. The people organising and attending came from many different countries and backgrounds, with different experiences and perspectives. There were people of different ages exchanging ideas, and crucially there was space for quieter voices to be heard.
I think the strong emphasis on inclusion and gender empowerment genuinely changes the atmosphere at these events. People feel they can contribute — and that matters especially when many participants are operating in a second or third language. Shared spaces should not be dominated by older, more confident, male native-speakers.
Representatives came from countries with very different political realities. In some places governments actively support community participation and the energy transition. In others, governments have effectively been captured by fossil fuel interests and are openly hostile to community energy. The movements in those countries are often smaller, but they also include some of the most inspiring individuals — people continuing to organise, advocate and build despite considerable pressure.
The energy system itself is changing far faster than many people realise. Rapidly falling costs for renewables and storage are transforming global energy systems, not only in the developed world but increasingly across the Global South as well. In some places countries appear to be moving directly towards decentralised energy systems, in much the same way they adopted mobile communications without first building extensive fixed-line networks.
Climate breakdown remains a central driver for change, but more people are also recognising how fragile and brittle highly centralised, just-in-time economies have become. A more resilient Europe will need decentralised energy generation combined with greater local ownership. Local ownership not only increases support for projects, it also ensures more of the economic benefit stays within local communities.
I was particularly struck by the level of innovation taking place within community energy organisations. Som Energia, Enercoop and Ecopower are all developing technologies, services and tariffs that allow their members to become active participants in the energy system rather than passive consumers. Austrian colleagues spoke about how regional agencies are bringing together public, private and community organisations to manage energy more intelligently and collaboratively.
We saw plenty of photographs of solar roofs, but community energy is now extending well beyond electricity generation. Communities are increasingly involved in home renovation, mobility and district heating — all essential if Europe is to achieve deeper reductions in energy use. Dutch colleagues described impressive progress working with local authorities on district heating systems owned by local people.
Some countries were strongly represented, including Belgium and France, while several countries attended for the first time. Ukraine had a significant presence and spoke powerfully about its own energy transition under extremely difficult circumstances. At the same time, some Scandinavian countries were surprisingly absent.
Finally, what united the gathering was a shared understanding of what community and local energy actually means. The European definition of energy communities provides an important foundation, and the recent European Commission publication on the Citizens’ Energy Package places energy communities much closer to the centre of Europe’s future energy system.
So I left Jūrmala feeling positive and hopeful.
The transition we need is immense. But after spending time with these communities, it also feels increasingly achievable.
markluntley 