This interactive co-creation workshop will present the City of Athens' Energy Poverty Alleviation Office (EPAO) and its integrated approach to supporting energy-vulnerable households through targeted energy advice, technical guidance and social support measures.

The challenge: How can cities effectively identify, reach and engage energy-vulnerable households that are often difficult to reach through mainstream services, and build the trust needed for them to access available support?

Following a short introduction to the EPAO and its experience in Athens, participants will work together on this practical challenge. They will explore how cities can overcome barriers such as lack of information, limited trust in institutions, social exclusion and difficulties in identifying households most in need, while ensuring that support reaches those who may not actively seek assistance.

Through facilitated working groups, participants will exchange experiences from their cities, identify common barriers and successful approaches, and co-develop practical and transferable solutions for improving outreach, citizen engagement and access to energy-poverty support.

The session will conclude with a plenary discussion in which groups will present their proposed solutions and reflect on how the approaches discussed could be adapted to different local contexts.

Many people with complex needs face significant barriers when accessing support due to the fragmentation of social services. This session will focuse on overcoming these barriers by bringing services together around a single point of contact and a more coordinated support system.  

The session will explore how cities can shift the responsibility for navigating support systems away from individuals and towards service providers, making access to assistance simpler, more inclusive and more effective. Participants will also discuss how integrated service delivery can help address the non-take-up of social rights and reduce the risk of discrimination, particularly among vulnerable groups.

Poverty is often passed from one generation to the next, with risks increasing during key life transitions such as childhood, entry into the labour market, parenthood and retirement. The session will focus on the challenge of reaching families who are not engaging with available services, particularly those from socially disadvantaged backgrounds.  

Through a community-centred approach that brings together a wide range of local stakeholders and uses daycare centres as trusted hubs for outreach and support, Leipzig is working to connect families with the assistance they need. The discussion will also examine how demographic change and suburbanisation affect access to early childhood education and family services, and what cities can do to ensure that no family is left behind. 

This site visit will showcase the Energy Poverty Alleviation Office (EPAO)’s integrated policy approach to ensuring a fair and inclusive energy transition, linking climate action with social cohesion and energy justice. Drawing on the experience of the EU-funded POWERPOOR project, participants will explore innovative, transferable solutions to address energy poverty and empower energy-vulnerable households. Recognised as a best practice at both national and European levels, EPAO's multi-stakeholder governance model demonstrates how cross-sector collaboration can support local implementation of the European Green Deal and contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

This site visit will offer participants an overview of EPAO's role, policies, and initiatives in promoting social inclusion and energy transition. The programme includes a presentation and analysis of EPAO's key actions, policies, and projects, a showcase of its measures and benefits, meetings with stakeholders and beneficiaries, and interactive discussions to encourage knowledge exchange, peer learning, and participant engagement.

Cross Forum exchange with the Environment Forum.

How can cities ensure that migrants and refugees can effectively access essential services, exercise their rights and participate in local life? The City of Athens has developed a multi-actor approach that brings together municipal services and civil society organisations to support integration and address the complex and interconnected needs of migrant and refugee communities.

The site visit will take place at the Migrant Integration Centre (KEM) in Maizonos Street, which hosts front-desk services and a range of integration activities, with the participation of the Athens Coordination Centre for Migrants and Refugees Issues (ACCMR). Participants will have the opportunity to visit the facilities and explore how the two structures contribute to a coordinated local approach to migrant inclusion.

A particular focus will be placed on the cooperation between the City of Athens and civil society organisations, and on how this partnership is translated into concrete integration measures for third-country nationals. The visit will showcase the methodologies, services and practical tools used to bring support closer to people, improve access to information and services, and create pathways towards social inclusion and participation.

It will provide an opportunity to discuss how cities can move beyond fragmented service provision and develop more integrated, accessible and people-centred local support ecosystems, particularly for people facing multiple barriers to accessing essential services and social rights.

Cross Forum exchange with the Digital Forum 

The Municipal Multidisciplinary Health Centres of the City of Athens provide an integrated, community-based model of primary healthcare and social support, with a particular focus on ensuring access to essential services for vulnerable and socially excluded groups.

The centres provide free primary healthcare and preventive health services, alongside psychosocial support, social counselling, legal and employment advice, information on social benefits, and referrals to other public services and civil society organisations. This integrated approach aims to address not only people’s immediate health needs, but also the wider social and economic factors that can contribute to poverty, exclusion and inequalities in access to essential services.

This approach is particularly relevant when considering children and families experiencing vulnerability, as health inequalities can be closely interconnected with wider social and economic challenges affecting the household. By bringing healthcare, psychosocial support and links to social services closer to residents, municipal structures can contribute to earlier identification of needs and to more coordinated pathways of support for vulnerable individuals and families.

The site visit will provide participants with the opportunity to explore how a city can bring health and social services closer to residents through local, accessible and people-centred structures. It will showcase the experience of Athens in addressing barriers to healthcare and social support, particularly for vulnerable groups, and in connecting medical care with wider social services and pathways to support.

The visit will include a presentation of the Municipal Multidisciplinary Health Centres, a tour of the facilities (at the 6th Municipal Health Centre, Chanion 4, Athens 112 57) and an exchange with health and social care professionals on how the centres identify local needs, provide integrated support and connect residents with other services. The visit will offer an opportunity to discuss how municipalities can strengthen inclusive access to essential services, address health and social inequalities at neighbourhood level, and develop integrated, family- and community-centred responses to poverty and social exclusion. 

Cross forum exchange with the Mobility Forum.