ABCinEnergy Project

Overview
Project name and acronym: Advanced tools for Behavioural Change in energy consumption for Higher Education Stakeholders (ABCinENERGY)
Project number: 2024-1-IT02-KA220-HED-000248190
Coordinator: CESIE ETS (Italia)
Project start and end dates: 01/10/2024 – 31/03/2027 (30 mesi)
Funding source: Unione Europea, programma Erasmus+: KA2 HED
Partner countries: Italy, Lithuania, France, Spain, Serbia, Austria
Target groups: studenti universitari, componente accademica e amministrativa, ricercatori, policy makers
Total Budget : 400.000,00 €

Overview and objectives
At a time like the present, environmental protection and energy sustainability have become key priorities in Europe. Ambitious energy-saving targets, such as raising the EU energy efficiency target from 9% to 13% by 2030
(RePowerEu plan), are driving public organisations and Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to become agents of change, even though this is a complex challenge.
The ABCinENERGY project addresses this need, targeting HEIs and, in particular, academic communities to facilitate the dissemination of tools and knowledge for the effective implementation of environmental sustainability strategies. The project has the following key objectives:

Implement energy sustainability strategies in universities and higher education institutions;
Develop online tools to train members of academic communities and measure their progress towards sustainable behaviour;
Engage students and staff within academic communities, promoting the exchange of knowledge;
Ensure broad and lasting access to the project’s results both within and outside the academic sphere.

A range of activities will be carried out, including the creation of guidelines on the implementation of sustainability strategies, the development and testing of an online platform to measure and monitor energy consumption habits (Habit Tracker Platform HTP), and the organisation of national and international events to engage students and staff in the process of promoting sustainable change.

The partnership
Il The ABCinENERGY project brings together eight organisations from six different countries:

CESIE (Italy, Coordinator), with extensive experience in project coordination and implementation.
World University Service (Austria), with over 40 years’ experience in higher education across European countries.
Minds Europe (Serbia) – a research and development organisation promoting technological innovation.
Universidad de Alicante (Spagna), a leading institution both nationally and internationally in the fields of energy consumption and sustainability.
Università degli Studi di Palermo (Italy), through the Centre for Sustainability and Ecological Transition (CSTE), established with the aim of promoting participatory and shared solutions and strategies aimed at environmental, economic and social sustainability.
Université de Montpellier France, partner), globally recognised as a leader in the field of ecology.
Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (Lithuania), which focuses on technology and engineering, with experience in cooperation since 2020.
University for SDGs (Italy), a recently established youth-led organisation dedicated to promoting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The University of Palermo is actively involved through the Centre for Sustainability and Ecological Transition (CSTE). The UNIPA working group comprises:

Top Management: Maurizio Cellura (Direttore CSTE)
Academic Staff: Fabio Massimo Lo Verde (Responsabile scientifico per UNIPA), Sonia Longo, Domenico Curto, Marco Ciziceno
Administrative Staff: Mario Gagliano (Responsabile amministrativo CSTE)
Student and staff: Costanza Pizzo e Silvia Fazio

Visit the ABCinEnergy project website: https://www.abcinenergy.eu/