On 5 June 2025, the ASCEND project held its General Assembly, bringing together partners, cities, and technical experts for a full day of strategic updates, collaboration, and planning. The online event served as a checkpoint to review progress, share outcomes, and align the consortium for the second half of the year.
The day began with a project-wide overview, where the Coordination Team offered a concise reflection on ASCEND’s achievements to date and future perspectives. This was followed by a presentation from R2M, highlighting ongoing work in façade PV, artificial intelligence in monitoring, and financing mechanisms.
The spotlight then shifted to Charleroi, with the city and its partner IGRETEC presenting progress in developing their Positive Clean Energy District.
A series of targeted sessions focused on ASCEND’s six Solution Packages, the foundational pillars of the project. Each session featured updates from the leading technical partners and key insights from cities across the network:
- SP1: Digital Infrastructure & ICT Tools (led by DKSR) featured case examples from Lyon, Porto, Munich, and Prague, showcasing how digital solutions are enabling smarter energy systems.
- SP2: Energy Communities & Prosumers (led by Hespul and University of St. Gallen) presented efforts in Lyon, Porto, Munich, and Alba Iulia, with an emphasis on governance and citizen participation.
- SP3: Energy-Efficient Buildings & Renewables (led by Cartif) highlighted building-scale innovations from Prague and Budapest.
- SP4: Low-Carbon Mobility & Freight (presented by the City of Munich) focused on solutions developed in Munich and Alba Iulia, including cargo bikes and decarbonised last-mile delivery.
- SP5: Citizen-Centred Co-Governance (presented by the City of Munich, with Stockholm and University of St. Gallen) shared tools for inclusive engagement and value-chain collaboration.
- In the afternoon, SP6: The Urban Developer for PCEDs was introduced by SPL Lyon Confluence, outlining how this umbrella model can help orchestrate integrated, scalable interventions.
Additional sessions addressed project-wide topics such as monitoring frameworks (presented by AIT), the 2025 roadmap for Communities of Practice (led by Energy Cities), and ASCEND’s role in the broader ecosystem through NetZeroCities and Scalable Cities (presented by Cartif).
The assembly concluded with reflections from the Coordination Team and a renewed focus on collective action, paving the way for upcoming roadshows, network events, and implementation milestones in the months ahead.
As ASCEND moves into the second half of 2025, the project remains grounded in collaboration and committed to delivering replicable, scalable pathways for the integration of Positive Clean Energy Districts in European cities.