Your Energy, Your Power: How Energy Cooperatives Can Transform the Balkans
16, February 2025
The initiative “Your Energy, Your Power: Clean Energy for a Clean Future,” led by Stefan Atanasovski Trajković, Aleksandra Lazić, Ivan Boban, Aleksa Prelić, and Danilo Kovačević, promotes the establishment of energy cooperatives in Serbia, Croatia, and North Macedonia. These cooperatives enable citizens to come together and produce clean, renewable energy—most often solar—for their own needs.
The idea emerged as a response to three common regional challenges:
- high dependence on fossil fuels,
- slow bureaucracy,
- the lack of citizen participation in energy decision-making.
Energy cooperatives offer a solution—a decentralized system where communities take the lead, reduce CO₂ emissions, and save money.
Beyond their clear environmental benefits, these cooperatives are also a powerful tool for strengthening local economies. They allow citizens to directly invest in solar energy projects, create new jobs, and foster innovation in the field of green energy. Through workshops, media campaigns, and pilot projects, the authors aim to bring this model closer to every household—especially in rural areas that are most energy-vulnerable.
This project is particularly relevant for municipalities striving to become energy independent and active participants in the climate transition.
Key partners include local governments, schools, energy agencies, and citizens who believe that a sustainable future begins—right at home.
Other initiatives developed by the program’s participants can be found in the publication “Green Horizons – Policy Pathways to a Sustainable Future.”
The publication section about this initiative can be found here: Your energy your power.
