La Energía Del Cole

What if you could support a school that wants to produce its own renewable energy, transform its village and eradicate energy poverty in the community? And set an example for the whole of Spain? Would you support it?

This was the question that brought us here from the collective intelligence marathon organised by Greenpeace Spain -Renovathon 2020-, to innovate and find citizen solutions that accelerate a just and inclusive energy transition in the hands of the people, challenging the power of the energy oligopoly that treats energy as a luxury product and not a right.

And this is the project that won the first prize at the Renovathon 2020: "The Energy of the School".

An energy community that will generate and manage its own renewable solar energy to facilitate collective self-consumption between the school and families with children in school in an efficient, sustainable and fair way, in a process of energy empowerment that starts in the school and extends to the whole locality.

Energy model and environmental sustainability

With this project we will demonstrate that a change of energy model (polluting, fossil, centralised and dominated by a few companies) is urgent and possible. To guarantee the sustainability of the planet and the democratisation of energy, so that it is not a luxury product but a guaranteed universal right.

We want to learn to generate our own renewable energy, to consume it efficiently, to store it, to share it, to exchange it, ...on a journey with the children who will be the citizens of tomorrow. What better place than a school to put it into practice?

The current energy situation of scandalous electricity prices has dramatic repercussions on many people and, what is worse, we are compromising the future of the youngest. This initiative tries to teach from their own experience and to the whole educational community (children, mums, dads, teachers, councillors, institutions...) that things can be done differently, that it is possible to be efficient in the use of energy, to produce it from renewable sources and also to share it.

We are showing that it is possible to get access to clean and fair energy, which should be a right for everyone. And something bigger: that this can be a model to be followed by all the schools in Spain. How is it possible that having the highest solar radiation in Europe, the normal thing is not to generate free energy and distribute it?

Energy vulnerability, women and rural areas

Energy vulnerability is a complex phenomenon that in Spain affects between 3.5 and 8.1 million people according to the Ministry of Ecological Transition (National Strategy for the fight against energy poverty 2019). Families with children and single-parent families have been identified as the most vulnerable groups, and numerous studies point to the feminisation of fuel poverty.

It also has a territorial character, and specifically affects rural areas, which within the wide diversity of contexts and realities, is characterised in areas at risk of depopulation (such as the Sierra de Huelva) by the poor energy quality of dwellings in a traditional housing stock in poor condition.

An ageing population facing the progressive withdrawal of public services, associated with depopulation. Distribution networks in poor condition with poor maintenance and a ruthless and opaque energy market, which takes advantage of families' lack of technical knowledge.

A school is the best place to plant the seed of an energy community.

Energy communities are a growing phenomenon in our country and will undoubtedly be a major player in the energy model for the foreseeable future. They are an instrument for the democratic governance of energy, where citizens are placed at the centre of the model and go from being mere consumers to collectively understanding and managing local energy production in a transparent and fair way, generating processes of cooperation and identification with the territory.

(Renewable Energy Community of Rio Monachil / Granada)

And an energy community is more than a collective ownership of a more or less complex photovoltaic installation. It is also a community of learning about the resources, skills, knowledge and values capable of making us achieve greater levels of energy sovereignty.

And a supporting community, where no one is left behind, and where all families, regardless of their income, have access to the benefits of renewable energies in proximity.

The cole de Arroyomolinos de León is a privileged place to undertake awareness-raising actions and practical training on energy communities. With the qualification of Ecoescuela, it is the nerve centre for sustainability and environmental education activities, and it also has a marked territorial character: in the village, there is no family that does not have a direct or indirect link with the school, through the children attending it. **Schools are the heart of the village.

And why in Arroyomolinos?

Arroyomolinos de León ("Arroyo", for its inhabitants) is a municipality in the province of Huelva with 947 inhabitants (INE 2020), located in the beautiful Natural Park "Sierra de Aracena y Picos de Aroche". With the highest peak of the province (El Bonales) crowned with oak trees, Arroyo is dominated by oak and cork oak pastures, which are part of the Natura 2000 network. The municipality manages its water resources and urban waste autonomously, and the very parcelled distribution of arable land favours a culture of family gardens and activities of exchange and mutual support.

With a high level of social participation, it has an adult education centre, and the primary school holds the Green Flag award from the Andalusian Network of Eco-schools. Arroyo is an example of strong commitment to rural essence, sustainability and diversity.

Where did this energy journey begin?

In October 2019 Arroyo hosted the celebration of the conference "Alumbra / energy from rural areas", organised by the MUTI Association, with the support of SOM energía, Diputación de Huelva, Fundación Savia, Megara energía and Fundación Unicaja. More than 120 people from all over Spain, including professionals, activists, local and regional political representatives and neighbours, attended the event with great surprise. With the intention of answering the question: What energy do we need for a good, dignified and healthy life in the rural world?

At ALUMBRA it was announced that MUTI had won one of the El Germinador Social de SOM energía y Coop 57 awards that year, with a rural energy community project for Arroyomolinos, which to this day has adopted that name.

🌍 ONE COMMUNITY, ONE PLANET

The most direct impact will be on the members of the energy community (children, families, the school and the local council), who will reduce energy costs and carry out an efficiency exercise that will also reduce their consumption. The savings achieved will be reinvested in further energy efficiency and environmental education, which will reinforce its Eco-School status.
And less greenhouse gas emissions, which is good for Arroyomolinos, Andalusia, Spain and the planet, which is good for everyone.

⚡CREATING AN ENERGETICAL COMMUNITY

An experience of collective self-consumption of renewable energies, whose benefits will mainly benefit vulnerable families in the locality in the way that the driving group decides (advice on efficiency / energy rehabilitation / self-consumption) and in general in social and environmental benefits for the entire population of Arroyomolinos, who will experience that energy communities and self-production of energy is possible, affordable... and works. A seed for Arroyomolinos de León to become energy self-sufficient in the future.

✊PAVING THE WAY IN THE FIGHT AGAINST ENERGY POVERTY

Training in the environment and responsible energy consumption, self-consumption of renewable energies, vulnerability and the right to energy for families at the school and gradually for the whole village... Many schools (and town councils) will be able to copy this initiative and replicate it elsewhere. Our experience, pioneering in many ways, is opening paths and overcoming difficulties that will pave the way for other municipalities.

If it can be done on the roof of a school, it can be done on many other public roofs. From this experience, the production of energy for sharing opens many paths towards the generation of clean and affordable energy for all, fighting against energy poverty and empowering the people who suffer from it. (SDGs in section "Collective Return")

🌈 CHILDREN CITIZENSHIP OF THE FUTURE

Children are the future. If they know and experience how to manage an energy community, they are learning many things: to produce their own clean energy, to manage it, to share it, to make decisions together, to take care of things for everyone, to take care of the planet. We owe it to them.

Convened by Greenpeace and united by chance, we responded to the challenge launched in Greenpeace's Renovathon 2020, a marathon of collective intelligence to innovate and find citizen solutions that accelerate a just and inclusive energy transition in the hands of the people.

We created a team and pitched an idea... and it won!

TEAM

GREENPEACE: international, economically and politically independent environmental and pacifist organisation, with more than 125,000 members throughout Spain and present in 55 countries. It is the driving force behind the project, through the laboratory that conceptualised it and the incubation and start-up garage. It supports, accompanies and watches over the correct regulation to remove the obstacles that allow the energy transition to be accelerated in the hands of citizens.
https://es.greenpeace.org/es/

María Prado, Head of Citizen Energy and Energy Transition (Greenpeace Spain)

AEIOLUZ: We are a Valencian cooperative that operates as facilitators of energy change. We advise and accompany different members of society in the design of energy plans that generate changes and improvements. And we provide the tools and training to generate energy empowerment. Through our work, we help municipalities, companies and educational communities to make a more conscious, sustainable and responsible use of energy. We support the conceptualisation of the project, its dissemination and rewards.
https://www.aeioluz.com

MUTI ASSOCIATION (evolutionary space): based in Santa Olalla del Cala (Sierra de Huelva), our field of action is sustainable development in rural areas in an integral, participative and inclusive way. The sense of commonality, culture, cooperation, respect for diversity and the environment are our hallmarks. Our current projects include those related to energy transition and the gender perspective in rural areas, the construction of alliances in the territory (SDG 17) and the promotion of social innovation ecosystems based on cooperation and the community as a unit of development.
https://asociacionmuti.com/

LOCAL PARTNERSHIPS

Eco-school CEIP Virgen de los Remedios: our eco-school has more than 20 years of experience cultivating the values of environmental education, and has been awarded the Green Flag on two consecutive occasions. We are joining the Energy Community project of Arroyomolinos de León with our experience and the commitment of the School Council, which in plenary session approved to join the initiative "La Energía Del Cole". We will be the place from where to implement actions of "energy pedagogy", making the whole town a "learning community". As Eduardo Galeano said: "many small people, in small places, doing small things, can change the world".
https://www.facebook.com/ceipvirgenremedios.arroyomolinos.1

Juan Ramón Jiménez Parent Association: Parents' association with strong involvement and presence in Ceip Virgen de los Remedios, with a strong environmental commitment. Very involved in all stages of the Eco-school project and activities aimed at achieving the Green Flag. We participate in the preparation and activities of the school garden, as well as in the design and implementation of a more egalitarian and inclusive playground. We also set up fundraising campaigns to improve school resources.

Arroyomolinos de León City Council: We maintain a strong commitment to rural essence, sustainability and people. We believe in education as an engine for change and that is why we take special care of our ties with the educational community. We have championed the fight against gender violence and the promotion of equality in the rural world, a particularly male chauvinist and masculinised environment. Putting people at the centre, we find our debt to historical memory inescapable. We work to make our people a community in the broadest sense of the word, that maintains and regains control of its resources, a sustainable people that advocates energy transition, that refuses to disappear, to depopulate, joining the demographic challenge, participating in projects such as Holapueblo, aligned with the Agenda of the Plan for Recovery, Transformation and Resilience.
http://www.arroyomolinosdeleon.es/es/

MEGARA Energía: Energy cooperative formed by consumers and users dedicated to the commercialisation of energy. Every day we work so that our society leaves the minimum environmental impact of energy supply, so we are committed to clean energy and 100% renewable origin. We ensure that the electricity bill generates savings, is transparent and that the electricity supply corresponds to a basic good. For Megara, energy is a driving force for local development in rural areas.
https://www.megaraenergia.com/

"La Siembra". On 10 January 2020 a very diverse group of people gathered at the Arroyomolinos Town Hall to celebrate the award of "El Germinador Social" by SOM energy and Coop57 to our incipient "rural energy community".

At the international level, we have the support of POWERPOOR, an EU funded project bringing together 14 partners from 11 European countries to encourage the use of alternative financing schemes for the strengthening of energy communities and citizen initiatives to combat energy poverty.
https://www.powerpoor.eu/