Social Climate Fund · Regulation (EU) 2023/955
Support for vulnerable households in 2026–2032: energy efficiency, renovation, clean mobility.
Read the document ↗Green Innovation Hub ·
Energy efficiency in villages
Clean energy for villages.
The energy transition must not leave villages behind. Young people learn to measure consumption, and families find out how they can cut their bills and heat loss.
- Energy poverty
- Efficiency
- Energy communities
- Rural
The European model we are bringing to Vrancea
The thermal imaging walk.
Model: Germany’s energy agencies · thermal cameras on loan from the town hall
On a cold winter evening, an energy adviser and our young people walk through the village with a thermal camera. Residents see on screen where heat escapes from their homes and receive practical advice, free of charge.
In Romania, thermography exists only as a paid service for buildings; we found no thermal imaging walks open to the community.
✓What it has shown in Europe
- A walk of about 45 minutes around the neighbourhood, after dark
- Draughty windows and uninsulated façades become visible on the spot
- Some German town halls lend thermal cameras to residents free of charge
The cause · why we are starting this programme
A cold home is also an environmental problem.
Poorly insulated homes use a lot of energy and heat very little. From 2026, the Social Climate Fund supports exactly these households.
People unable to keep their home adequately warm
45.1%of people in Romania’s villages are at risk of poverty or social exclusionEurostat, 2023 · [3]
European alignment
What Europe asks. What we do in Vrancea.
The programme responds directly to the policies the European Union asks of Member States — applied at the level of Vrancea County, for all ages.
Directive (EU) 2024/1275 on the energy performance of buildings
Renovating the worst-performing buildings, with priority for vulnerable households.
Read the document ↗Launch readiness
How ready we are before day one.
We are not waiting for funding to start thinking about the programme. Here, openly, is what is ready and what comes next.
69%
Readiness indexCalculated from 8 launch criteria- ✓European model analysed and documentedReady
- ✓Alignment with EU policies checkedReady
- ✓Context data from official sourcesReady
- ✓Expert profiles definedReady
- ✓Activities and objectives plannedReady
- ◐Own resources identified: space and equipmentPartial
- ○Implementation partners confirmedIn progress
- ○Funding securedIn progress
- Sept. 2026Analysis & European model
- Q4 2026Partners & funding applications
- 2027Pilot in Vrancea
- 2028+Expansion, under the new 2028–2034 EU financial framework
What we will do
One main activity and three that support it.
The thermal imaging walk
On a cold winter evening, an energy adviser and our young people walk through the village with a thermal camera.
Energy detectives
Pupils use sensors to measure temperature and heat loss at school and at home.
Guide for families
Simple, affordable steps towards warmer homes.
Energy communities
European models of locally produced and used energy, presented to villages.
Project status
In preparation · launch 2027- 1ConceptAnalysis & partners
- 2PilotFirst activities
- 3OngoingActive in the community
- 4ExpansionRegional scale-up
✓What we already have
- Temperature and humidity sensors built by young people
- Present in 11 localities across Vrancea
- Experience in communicating with rural households
→Programme objectives
- The first thermal imaging walk in a partner village (winter 2026–2027)
- The first “energy detectives” in partner schools (2027)
- Energy efficiency guide for families
- Information sessions in partner villages
How it connects
How it connects to what we already do.
No programme stands alone: each one uses the equipment, people and data of the others.
Linked programmeRural communitiesThe walks start in partner villages.See →Linked programmeMobile LabTakes the thermal camera from village to village.See →Linked programmeCode & ClimateYoung people programme the temperature sensors.See →Linked programmeResilient CommunitiesSolutions feed into community decisions.See →
Our role · how we work
The programme starts with experts, not improvisation.
The same five steps as in all our programmes: data, experts, equipment, community, public results.
- Local diagnosisWe start from data: the schools, the villages and the real needs of young people in Vrancea.
- A programme built with expertsCurriculum and activities designed together with specialists and teachers.
- Training & equipmentWe bring kits, laptops and mentors wherever they are missing.
- Working in the communityFree, hands-on activities at school, in the village or out in the field.
- Measurement & public reportingWe count the results and publish them — verifiable figures, not promises.
Who we work with
The experts beside the children.
The specialist profiles we start and run the activities with. Their names appear in the project reports.
Energy engineersExplain efficiency and measurements.Involved from the start
Social workersIdentify the families in greatest need.Involved from the start
Physics teachersLink the measurements to lessons.Involved from the start
Local authoritiesPartners in informing citizens.Involved from the start
What we hope for · how you can help
Be among those who launch the programme.
The programme is ready. You choose how to help, and your support goes to this programme. This page shows what is ready and what comes next, and we will publish the first results after the 2027 launch.
An “energy detective” kit
Sensors and thermometers for one class.
Donate →Energy companies
Expertise and materials for the family guide.
Propose a partnership →Volunteer engineers
One session a month with young people.
Become a mentor →Rural town halls
We bring the information to your village.
Invite us →Sources and methodology
Where the figures come from.
Our own figures (young people trained, schools, localities) come from the association’s records and are published in the impact report. Context statistics come from official sources, with the year of the latest available edition.
- Romanians unable to keep their home adequately warmEurostat · ilc_mdes01 · 2022. View source ↗
- People unable to keep their home adequately warm, EU averageEurostat · ilc_mdes01 · 2022. View source ↗
- Population at risk of poverty or social exclusion, rural areas, RomaniaEurostat · ilc_peps13n · 2023. View source ↗
Portfolio 2026–2027
Living labs where young people restore nature.
Clean Energy for Villages is part of the 2026–2027 portfolio of Asociația Grupul Verde: 43 programme lines in which young people build technology for nature, protected species, climate and democracy, with partners from Romania and the EU through Horizon Europe, LIFE, Erasmus+, the European Solidarity Corps and CERV.
Technology, AI and resilience
Resilience of rural communities to shocks
Villages learn to withstand drought, floods, price shocks and isolation. Young people map local resources and build simple alert tools.
Target programme: Horizon Europe
Linked to: Rural communities, Resilient Communities
Living labs for nature and climate
LIFE — climate adaptation and governance
Local adaptation plans for heat and drought, fed by data gathered by young people and debated in public before adoption.
Target programme: LIFE
Linked to: Vrancea Ready, Funding
Living labs for nature and climate
Climate education and communities (Central and Eastern Europe)
Climate lessons that start in your own village, shared with schools across Central and Eastern Europe. Young people write the code that visualises them.
Target programme: EUKI (European Climate Initiative, Germany)
Linked to: Code & Climate, Environment & biodiversity
Living labs for nature and climate
Soil living labs: Continental, Black Sea (Pontic) and Steppic regions
Three of Romania’s biogeographical regions, one protocol: young people measure soil moisture and carbon with sensors they build.
Target programme: Horizon Europe · Soil Mission
Linked to: Nature Restored, Sensors in Protected Areas
European Solidarity Corps
Youth solidarity projects (Asociația Grupul Verde as coach)
Young people write their own project and Asociația Grupul Verde supports them as coach: from idea to application, delivery and report.
Target programme: European Solidarity Corps
Linked to: Youth, gender & activism, Young Innovators Incubator
Technology, AI and resilience
Youth, digital innovation and disaster resilience
Secondary school students build flood, drought and earthquake sensors and a digital risk map that families and authorities can use.
Target programme: Horizon Europe
Linked to: Vrancea Ready, Resilient Communities
Support Clean Energy for Villages
Help this pilot get started.
Your donation goes straight into the activities of Clean Energy for Villages in Vrancea — materials, kits, trainers and transport for children and young people. Every amount counts.
Bank transfer with no fees · 3.5% of your tax · sponsorship with a contract