Sabina Mihailescu, IntreVecini NGO: “IntreVecini brings together neighbors from all walks of life, gender expressions, ages, religions, backgrounds, and gives them the framework to generate small changes & big changes”

Born as an initiative under the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers Bucharest Hub, ÎntreVecini NGO (Between Neighbors) began with a focus on clean energy and prosumers in Romania. But as crises unfolded, they shifted the NGO’s focus to reviving community spirit in urban areas. With PV panels uniting people around sustainability and ten community activities empowering change, ÎntreVecini is transforming neighborhoods for the better. As they onboard ten new communities this year, Sabina Mihăilescu, the general manager of ÎntreVecini NGO, talked to Business Review about how citizens can collaborate for a sustainable tomorrow.

The NGO “Între Vecini” offers those living in apartment buildings the chance to become prosumers, small producers of electricity, benefiting from reduced costs for communal electricity consumption. The project is supported by BRD Groupe Société Générale as the main partner for this year’s edition, providing the installation of photovoltaic panels on the building and organizing sustainable actions, all worth EUR 15,000 per community. The successful pilot project took place in Sector 6 of the capital, and now Property Owners’ Associations from Sectors 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 can join the initiative on the intrevecini.ro platform, where they will find an explanatory guide on how to become prosumers in their apartment buildings. The project will later expand to other cities in Romania, with the aim of creating at least one ÎntreVecini community in each county.

Designed as an Operating System for Change, the ÎntreVecini project rejuvenates the community spirit within apartment buildings and creates urban communities in Romanian cities, transforming them into sustainable hubs. This is achieved through the creation of local micro-leaders and the implementation of sustainable activities based on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the United Nations and the European Union. Initiated in 2022 in Sector 6 of the capital, the project will extend to the other five sectors of Bucharest in 2023, with further expansion planned in other cities across Romania. By 2027, ÎntreVecini aims, alongside its partners, to involve 1,000,000 people living in apartment buildings in projects that significantly improve the quality of life in each county throughout the country.

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The IntreVecini NGO started as an initiative in the Global Shapers Bucharest Hub, a community born out of the World Economic Forum.  Initially the focus was on clean energy – the bill regulating prosumers in Romania had just gone into effect, but almost all prosumers were individual households. We wanted to see if prosumers can go beyond houses and into blocks of flats as well.  This was happening in 2019.

Then the COVID pandemic hit. Then the energy crisis. Then the war in Ukraine. The social fabric, already torn apart by years of communism and the massive recent digitalization, was being damaged even further. People did not trust each other and did not have faith in their own abilities to enact change in the places they were living in.

So, we wanted to revive the community spirit in urban areas (where most citizens live) by bringing people at the same table and empowering them to work together for a better future. Thus, we shifted our focus towards community.

Clean energy is still a priority for us, and we use PV panels as triggers for bringing people together around a common purpose, but there is another important part in the story as well – 10 community activities relating to the sustainable development goals. So, all the communities in the IntreVecini project benefit from PV panels on the rooftop of their building and 10 of these sustainable projects during the course of a year, which will be facilitated by us in accordance with their needs. This year we are onboarding 10 new communities, 5 in Bucharest and 5 in other counties in Romania.

How does the prosumer system work within the IntreVecini project?

For every community that we are onboarding, we are installing a kit of PV panels on the roofs of their building. The homeowners’ association in that building then becomes a prosumer and can produce energy to cover the energy costs in the common areas (elevator, hallways, charging stations in case these are present).

What are the costs involved in installing photovoltaic panels on the building, and who covers these costs?

Each community that participates in the IntreVecini programme receives support in amount of 15,000 EUR. Around half of these funds go towards the PV panels and their installation, and the other half goes towards organizing the 10 community projects. The 15,000 EUR function as a grant, so the costs are fully covered by us. Of course, the communities may choose to bring on additional funds – for example, to buy a bigger PV system – but that is entirely optional.

What are the financial advantages for residents of the buildings who become prosumers in this project?

Lower electricity bills for the common areas. The law does not allow for individual compensation yet.

How was the pilot project received, and what were the results achieved?

We launched the pilot project with a competition and 88 homeowners’ associations from Bucharest registered their interest. Following the selection process, one association received the 9,000 EUR grant (back then it was 9000 EUR, now we raised the stakes a bit) to install PV panels and become the first prosumer homeowners’ association in Romania. We’ve eventually found out that we are not the first one, but we are among the first 5, so there’s a lot more work to be done on this front in urban areas.

The winning association is in Apusului, Sector 6, Bucharest, and is coordinated by Nadia Cranganu and Aurel Bratu, whose dedication for the community was clear from the previous activities they had organized. In 2022, the PV system was installed on the rooftop of their building (15 PV panels, 5kWp installed power) and the association became a prosumer.

Regarding the community activities, because each community has different needs it’s important to adapt the sustainable projects to each group in the programme. For the people in Apusului it was essential to turn the green space around the building into a place of gathering and an urban garden. Therefore, we offered them support in planting herbs and brought in compost bins, benches, and tables. Throughout the year, they attended activities around beekeeping, civic responsibility, and air quality.

We finished off the pilot with a party in their garden – almost 200 people came and celebrated this project as a community. Despite living in the same building for years, people who had never met before met for the first time in the garden. The oldest resident (89 years old) has now made a routine out of going into the garden, putting his cushion on the bench, and listening to the birds. Children are doing arts and crafts and the adults are coming out and drinking coffee together. All in all, we feel like our objective of bringing the neighbors together has been achieved.

How can the project regenerate the community spirit in apartment buildings and create sustainable hubs in Romanian cities?

IntreVecini brings together neighbors from all walks of life, gender expressions, ages, religions, backgrounds, and gives them the framework to generate small changes (e.g. painting the entrance of the building in a bright, enjoyable color with air-purifying paint) & big changes (e.g. being among the first blocks of flats in Romania that feed energy into the grid).

They become more environmentally sustainable by generating clean energy with the PV panels. Through the facilitated activities they improve their energy efficiency, grow food locally, transform their garden and minimize their waste. Furthermore, they start believing in their power to be changemakers, putting more pressure on the local administration and bridging the divide between them through cooperation and collaboration, thus combatting radicalization and extremism.

What kind of sustainable activities are carried out within the project?

Any kind, if they’re connected to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals set out by the UN. It can be anything, from waste management and circular economy, climate change or health to financial education, beekeeping workshops or advocacy. Whatever the community needs, we are there to support them.

What is the expansion plan for the ÎntreVecini project in Bucharest and other cities in Romania?

By 2024, we want to have at least one project community in each county in Romania. We are starting this year with 10 communities – 5 in Bucharest and 5 in the Just Transition counties. By 2030 we want to engage 1,000,000 Romanians in sustainability projects and get them involved in their local communities.

What criteria will be considered in selecting project partners, and how can other organizations get involved?

Anybody who wants to partner with us can reach out at hai@intrevecini.ro. We’re looking forward to your e-mail, whether you are a company, a non-profit or an individual contributor. Can’t wait for us to be neighbors!