The Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU in 2024 has made building renovations and decarbonization of the European building stock one of its top priorities. To demonstrate this commitment, the Presidency organized the Belgian Renovation Week 2024 right at the beginning of its term. The event took place in Brussels from January 15 to 18, 2024, at Maison de la Poste within Gare Maritime, a renovated and repurposed public space. The venue symbolizes the significance of the renovation cause and provides a tangible example of the transformative impact renovations can achieve. The Opening Day on January 15, 2024, set the stage with keynote speeches and high-level discussions involving Belgian and European policymakers. Subsequently, the following days witnessed a series of productive, insightful, and engaging panel discussions and workshops.

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Day 2 of the week featured the OSR-Coop Project as part of its program. The thematic focus of this day centered on revolutionizing the European building sector and transforming the building stock across the EU. In the afternoon session titled "One Stop Shops in Flanders and Europe, Which Way Forward?", Srgjan Vidoeski from REScoop.eu and Matthias Ghyselen from Energent represented the OSR-Coop Project. This session, co-hosted by the FOSSTER Project and moderated by the projects’ coordinator Lies Anseeuw, attracted around fifty attendees. The agenda structured the session in two main parts, providing a platform for discussing and comparing projects working on One Stop Shops in Flanders and Europe. In his opening speech, policy advisor Christophe Milin from CINEA (European Climate, Infrastructure, and Environment Executive Agency) emphasized the top priority of expanding OSS in the immediate future, envisioning a customer journey that is not just efficient but also enjoyable for every citizen.

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In the first working part of the session, the three participating projects (OSR-Coop, FOSSTER, and CondoReno) offered insights into their activities and perspectives on renovation One Stop Shops. While presenting the OSR-Coop Project, Srgjan highlighted the value of citizen-led renovation activities through cooperative One Stop Shop energy cooperatives set up. The benefits energy cooperatives bring along were also emphasized, such as social inclusion and acceptance, existing trust within the community, and local sourcing of materials and services. In the second part, Matthias joined the round table for a panel discussion with colleagues from the other two projects. They compared and discussed various aspects of the One Stop Shops the projects are working on. Matthias underscored the importance of how quickly citizens are recognizing the value of a renovation process led by a One Stop Shop of an energy cooperative, which is highly adjusted and optimized for each case.

A consensus emerged during the lively discussion at the end of the session: a shared commitment to becoming a strong part of the chain accelerating deep home renovations and simplifying the process. This commitment extends to continued collaboration and sharing of experiences and knowledge among the different organizations setting up renovation One Stop Shops. Ultimately, the collective goal is to achieve a better, faster, and more optimized renovation process for every regular citizen, significantly improving the energy efficiency of all our homes.

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