LEEAN-CET

Despite the European Union’s clear climate and energy goals, many small and medium-sized municipalities in Central and Southeast Europe continue to face serious challenges in planning and implementing sustainable local policies. A lack of capacity, coordination, and systematic energy management approaches often delays the decarbonisation of cities and limits access to transition support opportunities.

LEEAN-CET aims to overcome these barriers by introducing the internationally recognised european energy award (eea) methodology in Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Slovenia, and Ukraine. The project builds upon and expands the achievements of the EXCITE H2020 initiative, transferring best practices to a new level and into new territories.

The project applies a continuous improvement cycle in local policymaking (analysis – planning – implementation – evaluation – revision), supporting municipalities in establishing strong administrative and organizational systems for planning and implementing clean energy transition policies. Using an online energy management tool, a performance indicator system, and active stakeholder engagement, LEEAN-CET goes beyond preparing plans – it builds practical systems for informed local decision-making.

Over the next three years, project activities will focus on small and medium-sized municipalities, rural areas, and carbon-intensive regions. Specifically, 30 pilot municipalities will receive targeted support, more than 300 local experts will be trained, and investment concepts with an estimated total value exceeding EUR 60 million will be developed.

Further information:

Project website

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Client / Funding organisation	LIFE Project co-funded by the European Union
Project management	Louise Meister
Project team	Angela Holzmann Gregor Thenius Altan Sahin Kerstin Schilcher
Project partners	IMRO (Hungary) EKO-SUSTAV (Croatia) EIHP (Croatia) KSSENA (Slovenia) EECU (Ukraine) EARF (Germany) AERE (France)
Project duration	June 2025 to May 2028