RENERGY should be seen in a context of the EU Strategy for Competitive, Effective and Secure Energy (2020) setting out objectives and main line of action to address urgent global energy concerns: excessive reliance on non-renewable fossil fuels, dependency on energy imports from certain countries, safety issues (e.g. nuclear) and the significant CO2 contribution of transport sector and fossile energy sources to climate change. RENERGY deals with the multiple dimensions of the energy crisis. To seize the momentum of Energy 2020 and the urgency to strengthen our competitiveness in the energy field and ensure local economic growth more effective local/regional level actions are needed. RES are often produced and distributed locally & not suitable for distant transportation and local action has also better chance of influencing energy consumer/producer/supplier behaviour. However, current local/regional energy policies point at several bottlenecks. Stakeholder involvement is noteffective & energy policies/strategies do not necessarily correspond to the interests of stakeholders & the infrastructural & architectural settings. Such shortcomings jeopardise efficient planning & implementation of energy policies. RENERGY, thus, aims to improve effectiveness of local/regional sustainable energy policies/strategies by (1) demonstrating the relevance of a holistic, integrative, bottom up process to take local community needs, demands, cultural and infrastructural characteristics into account, (2) emphasizing the crucial role of the energy business sector in RES uptake and EE management and (3) emphasizing the role of local/regional governance bodies in developing/implementing sustainable energy policies and furnish these bodies with sufficient competences, powers & knowledge. These 3 issues are the main project pillars analysed and communicated through the 3 Case Studies and the Energy Labs. Energy Labs is a completely new platform concept for local energyaction ensuring continuous dialogue and cooperation between experts, producers/suppliers and end-user representing the 3 project pillars. These partners will together evaluate their own region in terms of RES/EE efficiency, present case studies & participate in the 3 case study exchanges to fill knowledge gaps & prepare & implement local/regional RES/EE implementation plans. The results & experience of the 3 thematic Case Studies and Energy Labs will feed into a Model Implementation Plan including policy recommendations the findings of which will be disseminated to target groups and used at regional/local level by partners while designing their regional implementation plans. RENERGY brings together a balanced partnership with public authorities from Italy, Austria, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Rumania and the UK pooling valuable knowledge/experience in these 3 thematic clusters that function as knowledge centers & case study examples. Achievements: RENERGY aims to improve effectiveness of local/regional sustainable energy policies and strategies by demonstrating the relevance of a bottom up process to take local community needs/demands, cultural and infrastructural characteristics into account. RENERGY project will highlight the crucial role of the energy business sector in Renewable Energy Sources uptake and Energy Efficiency management as well as the importance of local/regional governance bodies in developing sustainable energy policies. These objectives will be supported by the setting up of Energy Labs at each partner location where relevant stakeholder will provide inputs and suggestions for the implementation of the project. The goals of RENERGY will jointly lead to efficient energy governance models supporting inclusive and sustainable energy policies and actions, like ensuring a better mix of Renewable Energy Sources and Energy Efficiency in residential, tertiary and public buildings in the project territories. During the first period the RENERGY kick-off meeting was organized by the Province of Potenza (Lead Partner) and the National Research Council of Italy (Partner 2) on the 12-13 April in Rome (Italy). This event was the occasion to clarify the objectives and outputs of the project as well as to provide a clear picture of the financial management and reporting process to the partnership. During this meeting partners confirmed the composition of the three Thematic Groups: Community Involvement, Renewable Energy Sources uptake and Policy making. Then partners selected their thematic experts (1 or 2 per partner) who will support and follow the content activities of RENERGY. Following this event, the Thematic Group leaders had online discussions to agree on some preparatory documents (template and questionnaires) to be used by the partners for the preparation of their self assessment reports. These reports will give an overview of partners' situation on the three main topics of the project. Moreover, RENERGY partners already started to select their local and regional stakeholders who will be involved in the Energy Labs whose first meetings are planned to take place in the next period. The first period ended by the organization of the launching event on the 28 and 29 June 2012 in Potenza (Italy). The first day was dedicated to a Thematic Group meeting where content documents were presented and discussed among partners and experts for the implementation of the up-coming tasks. On the second day was organized the official launching conference in which several relevant speakers took part in to present the frame of the RENERGY project as well as the added value of the expected results. Partners are now in the preparation of their "Self-Assessment Report" which covers the 3 themes (Community Involvement, Renewable Energy Sources uptake and Policy making) and which will be the starting point to select relevant Good Practice(s) for the partnership.