This blogpost is authored by Marine Faber Perrio (IEECP), and summarises research done for the EU-funded HouseInc project, presented at the eceee summer study 2026. The research is titled “getting marginalised communities on board through multi-stakeholder initiatives and community building – the role of participatory methods” and builds on existing research on community engagement and experiences of four case studies within the HouseInc project in Germany, Romania, Italy and the Czech Republic.

As Europe pushes forward with the green transition, a stark reality remains: climate and energy policies cannot succeed if they leave the most vulnerable behind. 10.8% of the EU population spends more than 40% of their disposable income on housing costs, and 22% live at risk of poverty or social exclusion (Eurostat, 2022 and 2023).

To build a truly equitable future, the EU-funded project HouseInc (2024–2027) is examining how housing inequalities intersect with energy, mobility, digital access, labour, and health. Supporting marginalized communities (including but not limited to elderly, persons with disabilities, refugees) from being mere factors to active actors in this ecosystem requires shifting how we communicate and engage with them in the research and policy processes. HouseInc highly depends on community and stakeholder engagement through gatekeeper-enabled interviews and focus groups, capacity building and co-creation and validation workshops, as well as activities on the ground and in active coalitions with existing societal groups, such as information stands at local fairs. This not only ensures higher validity by making sure we listen to and integrate voices of affected communities, but it also increases dissemination and exploitation of project findings. For that, the project pursues “democratic, open and transparent dialogues to boost trust and encourage participation, placing communities’ needs and social values at the center” (ENGAGER 2017-2021), listening to voices and experiences that always exist, but are often harder to hear by co-designing measures and empowering marginalized voices in policy dialogues.

“While local communities are not always included in multi-stakeholder initiatives, their inclusion can increase the legitimacy of decision-making processes and enhance the long-term viability and benefits of initiatives” (Lu et al., 2018).

If we want democratic, open dialogues that place community needs at the centre, we have to rewrite the rules of engagement. Here are the five “Golden Rules” gathered from field research and project experiences:

1. Leverage community gatekeepers

Trust is something you build, time after time, through constant interaction that can be achieved through multiple visits and creating synergies and partnerships with various actors (e.g., energy advisors, social and housing practitioners, public health experts). Always connect through established local pillars—trusted community organizations, peer-to-peer networks, or local leaders who already hold the community’s trust. (e.g., community leaders, elderlies, etc.).

“Taking the time to identify and co-design activities and services with those whose voices are seldom heard only further enriches the information we have about our communities and allows us to work with and support our entire community.” (Ambition for ageing)

2. Speak the language (Literally and figuratively)

Prepare translations (local languages, and if possible, in the languages of our target audiences (RO, UK, dialects). Describe aims, methods, implications, nature of the participation, benefits and risks. Listen actively and attentively to feedback, concerns, and suggestions. More importantly, we must shift away from clinical, stigmatizing labels like “poor” or “vulnerable”. Focus instead on situational factors or relatable community personas. Are people truly “hard-to-reach,” or are they just easy to oversee?

3. Lower the barriers to entry

If you want diverse participation, you have to actively remove physical, financial, and social hurdles:

• The right space and time: Meet people where they already gather—parks, local squares, religious spaces, or community hubs like libraries – locations that feel like home. Schedule at times and venues that are convenient for the community.
• Practical support: Organize workshops around childcare needs, offer transport stipends, be inclusive and accessible, and ensure catering is culturally sensitive (e.g., halal or kosher).
• Value their time: Don’t expect long hours of unpaid labor “for the greater good”. Provide tangible participation vouchers.

4. Ditch the text, embrace the visual

Opening a conversation with abstract climate metrics or dense, text-heavy brochures is a surefire way to lose an audience. Take a page from the EU-funded ENPOR project: focus on highly visual, diagram-driven materials that ground discussions in real, everyday habits (like how people heat their homes or wash clothes). The Austrian Energy Agency (AEA), in a co-creation process, developed materials focusing on imagery and translated in 10 languages.

5. Multi-channel or no channel

To overcome digital poverty and social isolation, engagement must be multi-pronged. Combine offline channels (neighborhood drop-ins, community radio, posters) with digital spaces (localized Facebook or WhatsApp groups) and one-to-one outreach (door-to-door visits via local intermediaries).

The bottom line:

Trust is built on transparency, honesty, and consistency. By managing expectations about what a project can realistically achieve and celebrating milestones together, co-creation becomes what it should be: inclusive, empowering, and practically helpful for the real world. Acknowledge and appreciate efforts and inputs and celebrate the milestones, as well as maintain and strengthen communication and collaboration with the marginalised groups and follow up on any commitments or promises made.

“The repeated lesson: people respond to opportunities when they are communicated clearly, locally, and with empathy.” (PowerUp project)

The goal of this research and presentation was to present at the eceee summer study 2026 the research I did to support my colleagues in the HouseInc project, who engaged marginalized communities and stakeholders working with them around the thematics of housing inequalities. The research is mostly done through exchanges with stakeholders (informal interviews, participation to many workshop and webinars), academic and grey literature, other research projects, and more.

The HouseInc team present at eceee also organised a dedicated workshop onsite, and below, readers can find a digest of the workshop (blog and presentation).

Material

Abstract

The recent years have seen a surge in housing inequalities, impacting a wide spectrum of stakeholders and most notably those referred to as marginalized or vulnerable communities (including but not limited to elderly, persons with disabilities, refugees). Safe and equal housing for these communities should be a priority yet the situation on the ground reflects a poor consideration of the topic. The rights to a decent and affordable housing (including with proper and affordable access to energy, health, transport and digital access) is part of this “European quality of life”.

Horizon-funded project HouseInc uses innovative approaches and methodologies to analyse different dimensions of housing inequality, focusing on marginalised communities across Europe, and contributing to policy measures to increase access to affordable, inclusive and sustainable housing. The project puts communities at the heart by focusing on their engagement, empowering them in co-creating solutions in a series of living labs, focus groups and more participatory methods. Partners include organisations working on the ground with diverse marginalised communities including refugees, Roma communities, migrants from Eastern Europe as well as elderly, with a focus on 4 pilots in Germany, Italy, Czech Republic and Romania. Using the project as a lever, the author’s dual approach combines literature review with interviews of researchers and practitioners to understand what seems to work as forms of engagement. How can one ensure hearing marginalised groups’ voices, for a fair and just (energy) transition? Interviewing researchers from various projects or initiatives who looked into the topic, the author questions how they involved vulnerable groups and what barriers limit participation. How are the strategies put into reality? The paper will present a set of operational recommendations for inclusive and effective stakeholder engagement.

References

• Lépineux, François. (2005). Stakeholder theory, society and social cohesion. Corporate
• Governance. 5. 99-110. 10.1108/14720700510562640.
• Sielker, F., Banabak, S., Gerhalter, M., Neuhuber, T., Sutterlütti, D., Dorner, J., Reckhaus, L. C., Larrea, E., Serra, M., Turnbull, D., Pittini, A., Szemzö, H., Hegedüs, J., Kepes, K., Belotti, E., Bricocoli, M., Lilius, J., Rautio, E.-N., Falcón, L., … Orchowska, J. (2025). Access to Affordable and Quality Housing for All People : Main Report. ESPON. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12708/225344
• Jennifer Rübel, ifok, Make the invisible visible – How to engage with hard-to-reach citizens for policy development?
• Methodology, learnings, and best practices from the project “Fair Energy Transition for All”
• A publication of the King Baudouin Foundation
• Just Europe podcast, https://employment-social-affairs.ec.europa.eu/policies-and-activities/fair-green-and-digital-transitions-research/just-europe-podcast_en
• European Commission, Making the inclusion of children with migrant backgrounds as easy as ABC, link.
• EU-funded projects: BOLSTER, ENPOR, HouseInc, ABC project, ACCTING, POWER UP, SuperShine.
• User-Centred Energy Systems TCP Hard-to-Reach Energy Users Task