Municipal Mentoring Program and Training on One-Stop Shop Advisory Services

Beyond a lack of funds, the biggest obstacle to home renovations is the lack of information. One-stop shops (OSS) help to address this problem by providing technical, financial, and legal-administrative answers to customers' questions all in one place. It is very useful for local authorities to launch one-stop shops because citizens trust them; thus, they can assist residents with modern, high-quality, and straightforward energy-efficiency renovations, and by encouraging these upgrades, they can boost the local economy. As part of the EU Peers project, Energiaklub Climate Policy Institute has announced a free mentoring program for local governments that intend to launch a one-stop shop advisory service in the near future.  

Participants included small towns, medium-sized cities, Budapest districts, county governments, regional organizations, and even an energy supply company. A total of 22 experts from 16 organizations participated in the training, which consisted of one online session and a two-day in-person gathering. During these sessions, participants learned about: 

  • the current situation regarding building renovations in Hungary,   

  • requirements of the EU, and best practices for one-stop shops, 

  • one-stop shop models and services,   

  • Hungarian initiatives and existing OSSs,  

  • financial resources available for renovations,   

  • related marketing and awareness-raising activities,  

  • methods for selecting reliable contractors,  

  • and renovation services assisting energy-poor households.  

One of the in-person meetings was held as part of the conference: “Local Governments’ Obligations and Best Practices for Climate-Neutral Buildings,” where participants had the opportunity not only to learn about best municipal practices but also to meet and talk with one-stop shop providers and experts.  

The second day began at the Budapest Housing Office, where the RenoPont Energy Home Renovation Center provides energy efficiency consulting. Here, local governments had the opportunity to ask the RenoPont consultant about their experiences from the past four years, questions from those seeking one-stop shop assistance, follow-up with interested parties, and successful awareness-raising activities. 

Zsuzsanna Koritár, a policy specialist at Habitat for Humanity Hungary, tackled the topic of energy poverty in Hungary and presented a one-stop shop support program that has been operating successfully for four years to assist families in need. The program is run in partnership with a bank and has so far helped 30–40 families fully modernise their homes.  

The mentoring program concluded with a group work session, where participants had the opportunity to develop their own action plans based on the theoretical knowledge they had acquired regarding the establishment and operation of the planned one-stop shop advisory service. This was done by the type of housing: organizations that primarily interact with owners of single-family homes worked separately from those interested in the condominium segments.  

The mentoring program introduced participants to the details of the one-stop shop services: it highlighted EU requirements and best practices, the Hungarian market situation, the conditions necessary for success, and successful Hungarian examples. The participants became members of the Hungarian EU Peers community, enabling them to establish further collaborations - while both Energiaklub and other one-stop shop providers and experts can support these municipalities in launching their OSSs. 

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