A strong citizen base drives the Netherlands’ renovation challenge

The Netherlands has set ambitious climate goals under the Dutch Climate Agreement (2019), aiming for climate neutrality by 2050 and an interim 55% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. The agreement covers all major sectors: energy, built environment, industry, agriculture, land use, transport, and mobility.

Pauline Pels from Energie Samen - one of the 10 enablers of the Support Service for Citizen-led Renovation (CLR), tell us how their federation is striving to empower energy cooperatives to make sustainable energy affordable and accessible to all.

How is the state of the art of building renovation in the Netherlands

In the built environment, the transition focuses on two key pillars:
• Energy efficiency: A significant portion of the Dutch housing stock still has poor energy performance, and around 6.1% of households live in energy poverty. Over the past decade, municipalities have implemented a range of energy-efficiency programmes funded by national schemes. However, the results have been fragmented, as each municipality develops its own approach, leading to a “patchwork” of methods and outcomes.
• Fossil-free heating: Municipalities are responsible for ensuring their districts move away from natural gas toward renewable heating. The District Heating Law (2025)—approved by the House of Representatives and awaiting Senate adoption—requires that new district heating systems be at least 50% publicly or community-owned, creating major opportunities for energy communities to take ownership roles in collective heating projects.

Across the Netherlands, there are 704 registered energy cooperatives, and about 42% of them already offer energy-efficiency services. The Local Energy Monitor also identifies 72 citizen initiatives active in collective heating projects, with many more in preparation stages. This demonstrates a strong citizen base ready to contribute to the national renovation challenge.
 

What’s the core purpose of Energie Samen?

Energie Samen (ES) is the national federation for citizen energy communities in the Netherlands. Its mission is to make sustainable energy a common good—accessible, affordable, and democratically managed. ES empowers energy cooperatives to become the driving force behind the local energy transition by offering knowledge, expertise, and access to finance.

Energie Samen Rivierenland (ESR) acts as the regional enabler, linking municipalities, cooperatives, and residents, and translating national objectives into local action. ESR has been supporting local energy-saving initiatives since 2014 and now coordinates programmes across all municipalities in Rivierenland, providing personalised energy advice, collective purchasing programmes, targeted communication campaigns, and specialised support for vulnerable households. The Energy Desk currently reaches about 35% of all households. In addition, ESR collaborates with six local energy cooperatives and roughly twenty neighbourhood initiatives. Since 2023, ESR has managed a dedicated programme for low-income households, providing free home visits, small energy-saving measures, and access to subsidies. From 2024 onward, households with poor insulation have also been supported in major renovation measures such as roof and wall insulation.

Through these combined efforts, citizen-led renovation (CLR) in Rivierenland contributes directly to the region’s renovation market by building local trust, mobilising citizens, and bundling demand for renovation services—helping to scale energy-efficient retrofits in a socially inclusive way.

Key challenges for our communities include:

• Recognition in policy and funding – ensuring that national and local policies recognise CLRs’ societal value and do not treat them merely as market actors.
• Integration in existing networks – building on established local structures rather than creating fragmented new systems.
• Capacity and expertise – strengthening technical, organisational, and financial expertise within community initiatives.
• Data and ICT infrastructure – enabling communities to manage and retain renovation data securely.
• Stable funding – moving beyond short-term project funding to long-term structural support.

Why are citizen-led renovation initiatives important?

Independent research by TNO (2024) demonstrates that locally embedded, citizen-driven renovation programmes are the most effective form of energy efficiency intervention in the Netherlands. Key findings include:
• Programmes offering two or more home visits (over four hours total) show measurable improvements in comfort, health, and sustainable behaviour.
• Initiatives involving volunteers foster higher trust and participation.
• Targeting low-income households and collaborating with housing corporations increases both reach and impact.

Citizen-led renovation brings crucial advantages: local trust and ownership, social inclusion, and systemic impact. These initiatives prepare communities for the broader energy transition by developing social capital, technical capacity, and long-term vision.
 

What is Energie Samen’s role in the Citizen-led Renovation (CLR) project?

Under CLR3, ES and ESR will support three neighbourhood-scale collectives, including:
• Warm Westerkwartier (Culemborg): A cooperative leading the collective renovation and heat-network design for 500 homes, including social housing.
• Buurtvereniging Laageinde-Tuindorp (West Betuwe): A historic neighbourhood association revitalising its community through collective insulation and sustainable community facilities.
• Oranjebuurt (Neder-Betuwe): A mixed-ownership neighbourhood (200 homes) developing a participatory renovation programme targeting insulation, heating upgrades, and public-space improvements.

Through their participation in the CLR initiative, we aim to showcase the potential of citizen-led renovation in the Netherlands. We will deliver four pilot projects in Rivierenland that serve as national examples and build a lasting regional support structure combining technical assistance, financing guidance, communication, and training.

The initiative also seeks to professionalise the citizen-led renovation movement by applying communication models such as the BSR motivation framework and Motivaction’s “Modern Citizenry” personas to better engage diverse social groups.

At the same time, we strive to inform and influence national policy, ensuring that funding programmes and regulations recognise the social and economic value of citizen-led renovation. Additionally, we aim to create a replicable and scalable model for municipalities and cooperatives across the Netherlands, embedding CLR as a standard element in local energy and renovation policy.

The CLR initiative offers the opportunity to strengthen the entire ecosystem of citizen-driven renovation—from grassroots action to national framework—ensuring that the Dutch energy transition remains fair, inclusive, and community-led.