Social Enterprises in Community Renewable Energy

SECRE (2011-2013) is part of the EU funded Northern Periphery Programme 2007-2013. The main objective of SECRE is to develop a long term sustainable service for social enterprises in the area of renewable energy. .

Om prosjektet

This service will have both electronic and physical elements. The “e-service” will be built around computer based management information systems, and in particular, decision support systems using knowledge developed during the project. The physical element will be built around the human capital and resources developed during the project. Central to the successful development of the service is the establishment of a knowledge base that will enable easier knowledge transfer.
NP Programme area: Finland (North Karelia and Northern Savo), Sweden (Västerbotten), Norway (Sogn og Fjordane), Iceland (West fjords of Iceland and Eastern Iceland), Greenland; Scotland (The Highland and Islands) Northern Ireland and Ireland

Mål for prosjektet

• Management, coordination and communication (Wp 1)
• Case-study approach (Wp2)
  An essential part of the knowledge base will be identifying the best practices in social enterprises. SECRE will utilise a case study approach to identify and analyse good practices of community renewable energy applicable to the characteristics of NPP area.
• Influencing regional, national and EU policies (Wp 3)
  The work package builds on the work of NPP renewable energy cluster, and focuses on informing local, regional, national and EU policy makers about the potential for social enterprises in community renewable energy.
• Knowledge base design and implementation (Wp 4)
  Central to the SECRE service is the development of a renewable energy knowledge base. The knowledge base will be populated from many sources. The two main ones will be WP2 and WP3. The knowledge base will contain both quantitative and qualitative data that will be used to provide information for the service that will be developed.
• Service development, productisation and marketing (Wp 5)
  In this work package, the outcomes from other work packages will be utilised in productisation and marketing. SECRE will establish a comprehensive strategy for the marketing and productisation of the SECRE service. A professional international marketing company will be contracted to ensure high-level outcomes and dissemination across the NPP region.

Samarbeidspartnarar

North Karelia University of Applied Sciences, Finnish Forest Research Institute, Savonia university of Applied Sciences, Action Renewables, University of Ulster, The West Regional Authority, Community Energy Scotland, Lews Caste College, Biofuel Region, Kunnskapsparken Sogn og Fjordane (Sogn og Fjordane Science Park) and Innovation Center Iceland.

Status

Sogn og Fjordane University College is responsible for workpackage 2 and will also contribute to WP 4. The project started November 2011.