Supporting the transformation process: Linking NECP planning and reporting
with project implementation at municipal level

Webinar for Austrian stakeholders on 10 June 2024

The webinar was organised by project partner TU Wien, Institute for Spatial Planning, Regional Planning and Regional Development: https://ar.tuwien.ac.at/en/faculty/Institutes/Institute-of-Spatial-Planning/Regional-Planning-and-Regional-Development

It was not open to the public, but was organised specifically for people from the federal states with whom discussions had already been held about the project and its objectives. The focus of the event was the live presentation of the software prototype as the key result  of the project.

The webinar was not only used to present the software prototype, but also to collect feedback for the further development of the prototype. For this reason, the webinar was not recorded in order to allow as free a discussion as possible. The feedback is briefly summarised below.

Comments and suggestions:

  • General: the Austria-wide view is interesting, but also difficult in practice due to different terminology and legal bases; therefore: concentrate on basic content that can also be communicated to the public.
  • Usability: very good.
  • Data quality: the Energiemosaik (energy database) as a basis should be scrutinised, e.g. the electricity demand is underestimated; however, there is currently nothing better.
  • Presentation: the presentation of progress in municipal buildings is particularly important as there are or will be mandatory targets for public buildings (e.g. in accordance with the Energy Efficiency Directive 2023).
  • Further development: due to the need to revise the municipal development concept every 10 - 15 years, it makes sense to keep the tool agile.
  • Target group: small municipalities must be able to use the tool themselves (cost pressure); larger municipalities consult technical experts in planning offices.
  • Application: it is important to be able to put together your own region (select municipalities and work together as a region), e.g. for KEM managers.
  • Dissemination: cooperate with voluntary initiatives (Climate Alliance, etc.).

Questions and answers:

  • Q: Sector allocation of renewable energy produced in practice: municipalities cannot usually say how this is used.
  • A: It is not so much a question of precise allocation, but of the possibility for municipalities to visualise the quantity ratios.
  • Q: Renovation/redevelopment target area: What is stored in this layer? How do you get the amount of energy saved, where does data on building age and condition come from?
  • A: No data is currently stored; this was not part of the project and would have to be dealt with in a follow-up project. The cooperation with the Retabit project (https://retabit.es/project/) has shown how databases can be merged and how the building stock can be depicted as a map. See also transFORMAT-LINK International Webinar. The reference in Austria is the SEP Data Hub (https://waermeplanung.at/).
  • Q: Infrastructure: Are the municipalities' grid access points recorded in the tool?
  • A: No, but planned photovoltaic projects make the grid expansion problem transparent and can be an important source of information for grid operators and politicians.

Conclusion for the further development of the prototype:

  • Support municipalities in being able to fulfil their legal obligations in as little time as possible.
  • Be able to map the regional level (i.e. also be able to display several municipalities and make entries), regardless of district boundaries
  • Focus on the topic of renovation/redevelopment target areas
  • Clarification of terminology (e.g. forest - wood chips/logs)
  • Consider storage facilities and networks
  • Organise document downloads according to federal states
  • Compose info texts on renewable energies (e.g. forest woodchips: assumptions, framework conditions, etc.) and embed them in the tool

Presentation for download: