From the 9th to the 12th of September 2025, KU Leuven hosted the ENPOWER Summer School, a week-long training designed to strengthen research capacities on energy poverty and sustainability. The event brought together 17 early-stage and experienced researchers from across the ENPOWER consortium (UNIBL, KU Leuven, Tilburg University, and UNIMC) for a programme combining lectures, workshops, and site visits.
The agenda covered a broad range of topics, from data science and dynamic building modelling to energy markets, socio-economic perspectives on energy poverty, and justice in the energy transition. Highlights included a visit to EnergyVille, where participants explored cutting-edge facilities in energy systems research, and practical sessions on building optimization and digital tools for sustainable energy management. These sessions were enriched by contributions from experts across the ENPOWER consortium: Prof. Alice Mugnini and Prof. Paolo Sernani (UNIMC), Prof. Asel Doranova, Prof. Malik Curuk, and Prof. Wessel Ganzevoort (Tilburg University), and Maarten Evans (KU Leuven).
Feedback from participants reflected the event’s impact. Zoran Grahovac, PhD candidate at the University of Banja Luka, highlighted the importance of the technical sessions: “The lecture on dynamic energy modelling was eye-opening, showing how digital twins and predictive control can turn buildings into active players in the energy system. These tools have a direct link to addressing energy poverty by making efficiency affordable”.
For others, the interdisciplinary and human dimension stood out. Daniele Ciarrocchi, a law student at UNIMC, emphasized: “The greatest skill I am taking away is empathy towards vulnerable groups. Technical solutions are vital, but they must be coupled with a human-centered approach if we want real change”.
In other cases, such as energy poverty researcher Slobodan Peulić from UNIBL’s, “gaining insights from researchers of different nationalities and backgrounds was extremely valuable”, proving that the Summer School boosted cross-disciplinary exchange. The mix of engineers, economists, policy experts, and legal scholars, whose diverse perspectives created fertile ground for new collaborations, was highly valued. As the interviews referred, the informal city walks and social activities were just as important for building connections as the formal lectures.
The event concluded with a BAS-Living Lab workshop, linking the training to ENPOWER’s long-term vision of creating an interdisciplinary hub at the University of Banja Luka to support research, policy advice, and innovation on energy poverty in Bosnia-Herzegovina and beyond.
With over 82% of participants stating that the Summer School met or exceeded their expectations, the event marks a successful milestone in ENPOWER’s mission to build capacity, share expertise, and prepare the next generation of researchers to tackle one of Europe’s most pressing social and environmental challenges.
