The STUNNED project was proud to participate in Sustainable Places 2025, held in Milan, Italy – Europe’s leading conference for innovation in the built environment. This year’s event brought together a wide range of EU-funded initiatives focused on sustainable urban design, energy systems, and climate resilience.
Showcasing STUNNED in Thematic Sessions
STUNNED was featured in the thematic track “Sustainable Urban Design: Positive Energy Districts & Flexible Energy Communities”, one of the six Thematic Tracks at the event, a half-day segment on the third day of the conference dedicated to exploring the growth and impact of energy communities and Positive Energy Districts (PEDs).
Organized by stakeholders active in urban energy transition and community-led innovation, the session explored how PEDs and flexible energy communities can become the cornerstone of sustainable urban design—driving decarbonization, resilience, and citizen empowerment. Attendees engaged with topics such as:
- The role of citizen engagement in creating thriving and resilient energy communities
- Integrated design approaches to unlock the potential of Positive Energy Districts
- Sustainable neighborhood management strategies for long-term impact
- Replicable tools and best practices that support large-scale adoption
During this session, STUNNED project partners Ana Garcia-Garre (Voltiva Energy) and Fayaz Ahmed (R2M Solution) presented the STUNNED concept, highlighting how the project leverages local flexibility markets to optimize energy demand and supply within communities. Their presentation emphasized the role of flexibility as a key enabler for energy transition and community empowerment.
More details on the session: Thematic Track – Sustainable Urban Design – Sustainable Places (SP)
Workshop on Building Flexible Energy Communities
STUNNED also contributed to the workshop “Building Flexible Energy Communities: Remuneration, Aggregation & Market Analysis”, where STUNNED coordinator Matteo Porta (RINA-C) also joined the STUNNED panel among other experts to discuss the diverse approaches taken by seven EU projects in developing flexible energy communities.
The workshop addressed three core pillars of flexibility integration:
- Operational Complexity: How projects manage distributed energy assets and activate flexibility services through technical optimization.
- Governance and Contractual Innovation: How fair stakeholder agreements, incentive structures, and market participation models are being developed to ensure equitable engagement.
- Enabling Infrastructure: The digital and physical tools—including software platforms, hardware interfaces, and control systems—used to deploy flexibility in practice.
STUNNED’s contribution focused on how tailored approaches to local flexibility markets can address both operational and contractual complexity, offering scalable solutions for community-level energy systems.
More details on the workshop: Flexible Energy Communities – Sustainable Places (SP)
Driving Impact Through Collaboration
Across both sessions, STUNNED demonstrated its unique approach to flexibility, combining technical innovation with stakeholder engagement. The project’s contributions reflected its broader mission: to support the energy transition through smart design, market integration, and community-driven impact.
We extend our thanks to the Sustainable Places organizing team and our fellow projects for fostering a space of knowledge exchange and collaboration.
