What do you see in this picture: cobblestones, a pink children’s bike, or just another residential street? Now, take a closer look at the houses in the background. The one on the right stands out, a symbol of sustainability amid the weathered walls of tradition. And you are right to notice. It is a striking image of the way we try to realise the energy transition in our neighbourhoods today. The owner of this house insulated the roof and the façades, replaced the old windows by double-glazed ones, and installed a heat pump. But here is the catch: that owner is one of the lucky few. The transformation is unfolding house per house, progressing slowly and leaving many households behind.
To achieve a fossil fuel-free society by 2050, we need to renovate 95,000 homes every year – that's 11 homes every hour. Yet, the house-per-house approach fails to meet these ambitious goals. Realising the energy transition collectively is more cost- and material-efficient, benefits both higher- and lower-income households alike, and enables us to combine multiple processes and technical solutions simultaneously: that is the promise of the neighbourhood approach.
Today, we are in the midst of an operation where local authorities, energy companies, urban planners, and citizen cooperatives are testing the integrated neighbourhood approach on the field. Research and real-world experience show that this approach makes sense, but it requires collaboration across diverse interests and disciplines. And that doesn’t happen automatically.
Operation Energy Neighbourhoods leads you from promise to practice. Our small exhibition brings together the work-in-progress of pioneers committed to the energy transition in our neighbourhoods, and formulates and connects the fields of action to improve and accelerate. Throughout our series of workshops and debates in the space, you are invited to reflect and collaborate with other stakeholders on the fields of action that add up to an integrated neighbourhood approach.
Operation Energy Neighbourhoods is the first edition in a series of ‘open workrooms’ organised by Architecture Workroom Brussels. From late 2024 to late 2026, we are opening our doors to support the cities, experts, designers, businesses and policymakers working on the strategic transformations that we, as an organisation, are committed to: energy neighbourhoods, sponge landscapes, and societal infrastructure. Each of these tracks features a public programme and a small exhibition, contributing to a great transformation.
PROGRAMME (subject to update):
- Wednesday 11 December 2024, 18:00 – 22:00 | Opening Night Operation Energy Neighbourhoods, with Anna Lisa Boni & Linda Vlassenrood
- Thursday 9 January, 23 January, 6 February and 20 February 2024, 16:00 – 20:00 | Operation Energy Neighbourhoods: Visit the exhibition (+ guided tours on demand)
The workshops and debates will be announced soon.
Get more details and register for free on our events page.