Municipalities
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Characteristics:Aim to run a good budget, strengthen the region and act as pioneers; can access funding and enable citizen participation
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Potential role:Prosumers, Investors, Implementers of collective actions
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Financial status:no to much money left
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Location:urban and rural areas
Communication messages
Key messages to reach municipalities
While many key messages apply to all target groups, there are also some special key messages that can help you get through to municipalities.
✓ Improve your image! Be an inspiration to your community and other municipalities.
✓ Become a pioneer amongst municipalities by supporting energy communities.
✓ Start a community project that benefit your citizens for years to come.
✓ Seize the moment and get (financial) support for setting up RECs now.
✓ Make a good and sustainable investment for your municipality.
✓ Investing in clean energy means investing in better living conditions for your citizens.
Avoid these messages
→ Statements that are too complicated to understand
→ Unclear information about the costs
→ Messages that criticise the administration, even if unintended
→ Comments that have not been checked for compatibility with policies of the governing party, thereby hindering cooperation
About municipalities
Financial payback versus environmental concerns
Local value creation and payback of the investment to the budget are crucial factors for municipalities. Likewise, independence from energy price fluctuations, which ideally goes hand in hand with clean energy, is fast becoming an investment incentive for both the municipality and citizens. Municipalities should be made to realise that they can position themselves as trustworthy implementers, since they have experience in accessing financial support schemes and have staff capacity to manage these. Furthermore, they need to know that community energy projects can improve their image as a modern and green municipality (in comparison to neighbouring municipalities).
Attitude towards green energy
More and more municipalities want to achieve local and national objectives in terms of renewable energy and sustainability. This could be a good starting point to explore the topic of energy communities and collective actions. Compelling communication material should highlight that these projects help meet renewable energy goals.
Open versus apprehensive towards new technology
When it comes to tackling new areas of responsibility, municipalities often lack the personnel capacities and expertise, so they may shy away from it. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to either find a motivated person who wants to get involved or to make implementation as simple as possible. Secure and long-term solutions are a must for municipalities to engage with new technologies.
Community spirit
One of the basic tasks of municipalities is to bring people together and foster community spirit. The focus is on the added value for citizens.
Challenges: Possible reasons for not taking part in energy communities/collective actions
→ Lack of financial and human resources
→ Insufficient clarity about the benefits of collective actions
→ Unclear or complicated legal framework
Touchpoints: How to come into contact with municipalities
How do I reach municipalities?
To see how to engage your audience, view our step-by-step guides and white label materials. To inform municipalities specifically, these actions may help:
→ Project flyers
→ Personal connections
→ Local regional newspapers, press, radio (regional or local, if available)
→ Personal outreach (e.g. to the person in charge of energy issues)
Where do I reach municipalities?
→ Local/regional events
→ Municipal council meetings
→ Municipal hall during consultation hours
For detailed step-by-step guides on how to get in touch with this target group, see How to reach Investors, How to reach Multipliers and How to reach Prosumers.