Empowering women to take action against energy poverty in the Mediterranean (EmpowerMED)

The EU’s Renewable Energy Sources (RES) Directive of 2009 seeks to raise the share of RES in final energy consumption to 20 % by 2020. Heating and cooling, responsible for nearly half of Europe's energy demand, is challenging in buildings of Mediterranean coastal areas, and particularly severe in single-parent households led by women. Taking into account the dynamic role women play in an economy, the EmpowerMed programme will connect them with health practitioners in a series of awareness pilot programmes to reduce energy poverty, assess its impact on health, and share knowledge for policy building at local- and EU-wide level.