What Can Regional Cooperation Bring to Local Governments in the Energy Sector?

The energy transition is a shared challenge for countries across our region. While its overall direction is set by national policies, much of the work happens at the local level: in public buildings that need to be made more energy-efficient, street lighting, heating and transport systems, as well as in supporting citizens to reduce their energy consumption. Local governments are the ones who need to turn these broader goals into local projects that meet the needs of their communities.

From a local government perspective, this raises a very practical question: how can we prepare and deliver these projects with the resources and capacity available to us? The experience of other cities can help us assess possible solutions, develop stronger project proposals and find partners. This is why regional cooperation matters to us: it supports us in tackling the practical challenges facing our administration.

Through the Municipal Cross-Border Cooperation in the Western Balkans (MCBC WB6) project, implemented by NALED and the German Energy Agency (dena), we had the opportunity to work with other local governments across the Western Balkans. The benefits of this cooperation are very practical. When looking at street lighting, energy-efficient building renovations or energy advice for citizens, we want to hear from people in other local administrations who are already working on these issues. Their experience can help us decide what steps to take next in the City of Trebinje.

What we can learn from our peers

Study visits organised as part of the project gave us the opportunity to see and learn how other local governments approach street lighting, public transport, energy-efficient renovations of public buildings, district heating and energy advice for citizens. These are all areas directly relevant to the work of city administrations and public services.

When discussing energy-efficient renovations of public buildings, we are also interested in the steps taken before the actual work begins: how our peers set priorities, collected data and organised project preparation. When it comes to advising citizens, we want to understand how this support is organised and who provides it. It is also useful to hear where others faced obstacles or what they would do differently today. These conversations help us assess what we could apply in the City of Trebinje and what would need to be adapted to our local context.

At a regional workshop in Shkodër in early July, we also worked on developing new project ideas. This was a particularly valuable part of the cooperation. Alongside learning about other cities’ experiences, we had the opportunity to explore our own proposals and discuss how to develop them further. It is also important to us that these connections remain active after the project ends, when we return to our day-to-day work and new questions arise.

Cooperation starts within our own administration

Successfully delivering projects that improve energy management at the local level requires cooperation among all relevant stakeholders, from the City of Trebinje administration and its public institutions to local utility companies and interested civil society organisations. Cooperation between these stakeholders at the local level is a prerequisite for successful cooperation at the regional level.

We need to bring these stakeholders together from the very beginning, when an idea is first taking shape. To prepare a project, we need to understand the needs of public services, the data available and the capacity of the city administration. Working together helps us identify what needs further investigation and who can contribute to the preparation process.

For the past seven years, the City of Trebinje has been building connections with experts, institutions and businesses through the Trebinje Energy Summit (SET). Cooperation through MCBC WB6 has strengthened our ties with local governments across the region, allowing us to learn from practical examples, discuss how they could be applied in Trebinje and identify areas where we could work together.

We also have experience to share. Trebinje has established and is using a geographic information system (GIS). We can show our peers how we use it and discuss which aspects of our experience might be useful to them. At the same time, we want to learn from their approaches to sustainable energy. This is an important part of regional cooperation for us: every local government can share its expertise in areas where it has experience and seek support where it needs it.

From an idea to a project we can deliver

The next question is funding. We need information about available funding programmes, but also support in assessing which programme best fits a particular idea and how much preparation is needed before applying. Our peers’ experience in developing project proposals is valuable here, too: what needs to be worked out in more detail, which documents need to be prepared and how to organise the work within the administration. That is why we want to develop project proposals in advance, collect the necessary data and maintain contact with potential partners.

Support from dena and NALED is also important in making this exchange possible. Local governments often struggle to set aside funding for study visits, while direct conversations with peers can be especially helpful at an early stage, when we are still deciding how to shape a project. MCBC WB6 has given us the opportunity to have these conversations and connect with local governments facing similar challenges.

We hope that the cooperation established through MCBC WB6 will continue through the Regional Energy Transition Platform, developed by NALED as part of the project to foster long-term cooperation among local governments across the region. For the City of Trebinje, the platform is an important opportunity to continue sharing experiences, find support in preparing energy projects and develop joint initiatives with partner cities.