Making Croatia greener through collective renovation

How’s the state of the art of the building renovation in Croatia?

Tackling climate and energy challenges is a priority in Croatia. As the building sector accounts for a significant share of energy use and CO₂ emissions, it offers major potential for improving efficiency and climate resilience. Renovating the existing building stock is therefore key to meeting the EU’s climate and energy goals.

Progress, however, is hindered by fragmented ownership and a lack of coordinated measures to support large-scale renovation. Existing incentive schemes offer varying levels of support: up to 40% for basic energy measures, 60% for integral renovation, and 80% for comprehensive upgrades including structural improvements and renewables. These subsidies are awarded through competitive calls and mainly target individual homes and multi-family buildings, with no support for collective renovation.

In many areas, buildings share similar designs, offering an opportunity to introduce collective renovation models that could accelerate progress and deliver broader benefits.

Energy communities also face challenges, particularly complex bureaucracy and the DSO’s current inability to enable energy sharing. Despite a slow start, interest is growing, and energy communities are gaining visibility as key players in the shift to renewable and decentralised energy.

What’s the core purpose of the North West Croatia Regional Energy and Climate Agency (REGEA)?

REGEA plays a leading role in laying the groundwork for citizen-led renovation and in promoting the creation of energy communities. It was founded in 2008 by the City of Zagreb and the Krapina-Zagorje, Karlovac and Zagreb Counties through the Intelligent Energy in Europe programme, with the aim of enhancing efforts towards energy transition.

REGEA focuses on implementing investments, providing expert advice, and developing innovative solutions in the energy and climate sector, operating across the European Union.

The agency is currently engaged in numerous activities across building renovation and energy community development — from managing energy renovation projects and launching energy communities, to developing and implementing innovative financing models. REGEA also participates in over 40 EU-funded projects and delivers educational programmes to promote best practices and strengthen both public awareness and stakeholder capacity.

Why are citizen-led renovation initiatives important?

Citizen-led renovation initiatives are vital to achieving Europe’s climate and energy goals in a socially inclusive and democratic manner. Traditional top-down approaches often fail to encourage widespread engagement, particularly in the residential and multi-family sectors.

Citizen-led approaches place decision-making and implementation in the hands of citizens, building trust, ownership, and tailored solutions. These initiatives deliver significant social and economic benefits, including reduced energy poverty, improved comfort, stronger communities, and stimulation of the local economy.

By mobilising networks and creating long-lasting community structures, citizen-led renovation improves access to finance, enhances resilience, and helps communities to adopt sustainable practices. These initiatives are strategic tools to accelerate the energy transition, embed social inclusion, and ensure that decarbonisation benefits the whole society.

Promoting citizen-led renovation directly contributes to reducing emissions and energy consumption, while also improving living conditions, alleviating energy poverty, and creating green local jobs alongside a broad range of community benefits.

What is REGEA’s role in the Citizen-led renovation (CLR) project?

REGEA serves as the Enabling Structure for Croatia. Our responsibilities include establishing and delivering comprehensive support services to citizen-led renovation collectives, covering mobilisation, project design, financing, implementation, and evaluation. Particular focus is placed on addressing national challenges, such as fragmented ownership and limited access to collective renovation funding.

We are also members of the Secretariat, with responsibilities for project coordination, methodological development, monitoring, and dissemination.

Our participation aligns with REGEA’s mission to support citizens and communities in the energy transition. The project allows us to:

• Empower citizens and communities through knowledge, tools, and support;
• Foster local renovation ecosystems, including one-stop shops and CLR ambassadors;
• Contribute to EU policy development and promote citizen-led renovation as a strategic approach;
• Support regulatory evolution in Croatia through viable models for scaling up CLR and energy community projects.

The CLR project is seen as a catalyst for scaling up renovation efforts.

Discover more on why we need citizen-led renovation initiatives here!