On 14th of May, the first meeting of the Repower Regions Regional Alliance took place during the 2 day nationwide seminar “Energy Transition in Polish Local Governments”, organised by The Association of Municipalities Polish Network “Energie Cités” (PNEC) at the Geovita Training and Conference Centre in Jadwisin near Warsaw.
Bringing together representatives of local governments, academia, and the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) sector from across Poland, the meeting marked an important step in building a collaborative platform for accelerating the decarbonisation of heating and cooling systems at the local level.
The alliance session was organised in a roundtable workshop format. Participants first explored the opportunities offered by the Repower Regions project and learned how the alliance can support local stakeholders in tackling the challenges of the energy transition. This was followed by the interactive workshop focused on identifying and prioritizing the key barriers hindering workforce upskilling and HVAC decarbonisation.
What emerged was a lively and highly engaging discussion that connected multiple perspectives and experiences. Local authorities shared the realities of implementing climate policies on the ground, researchers contributed systemic insights, while HVAC experts highlighted technological and market-related challenges. The exchange quickly evolved into a dynamic conversation on how to bridge policy ambitions with practical implementation.
The recommendations gathered on improving the planning and delivery of training on decarbonised solutions and systems will help Repower Regions’ partners to develop training programmes and materials for current and future professionals in the HVAC and construction sectors.
One message was shared unanimously by all participants: the discussion could have continued much longer. Although the seminar agenda required moving on to the next session block, the appetite for further collaboration and deeper dialogue was clear. Participants are already looking forward to continuing the conversation during the next Alliance meetings.
