During the months of February and March, in the Usera district of Madrid, presentations were given in Senior Citizen Centres on the activities to be carried out in the framework of the Cooltorise project. The presentations consisted of showing the audience the COOLTORISE project and introducing summer energy poverty and why it is important to be aware of it. The activities that will be developed within the framework of the project were presented:
-Workshops on energy culture: During these workshops will be taught about energy poverty, thermal well-being, passive strategies to be used, types and efficiency of installations, and usage habits.
-Workshops on energy bills where bills will be explained to make them more understandable. Tariffs applied, available social tariffs will be reviewed. These workshops will also provide an opportunity to ask questions and resolve doubts on the subject.
-Coolkids workshops: Through these workshops, gender perspective incorporation is sought, as they will be developed in parallel to the other activities to facilitate the participation of single-parent households, especially women, as well as older women who may be responsible for childcare. The focus will be educational so that they can learn basic strategies for saving energy at home.
There was a high level of interest from the audience to participate in the upcoming workshops, especially in the national context with regard to energy costs.
In Barcelona, COOLTORISE project continues the training of SEPAs, adapting the schedules, contents and methods to different profiles and needs of the volunteers. In addition, we are looking to partner with other organisations who work to promote volunteering activities and are engaged with sustainability, climate change and social transformation.
Until now, our efforts have been centred in the academic world, and we would like to open more windows, specifically with social entities and so, in order to leverage on each other, in both areas: the volunteers involved and the access to people in vulnerable situation.