On June 4th, DuCoop, managing the Belgian pilot of Bright, held a first citizen engagement workshop. Pilot inhabitants, all receiving sustainability services from DuCoop, were invited to participate and start a co-creation process to develop future energy services. During the workshop, the Bright project was introduced, as well as the energy services that are currently delivered. Participants had the chance to give feedback on these services, as well as give input to the developments that are planned in the future. They did so in a very active and constructive way, making that even the limited amount of planned topics could not be discussed fully. The intention is to repeat these citizen engagement workshops three to four times per year, each time with a different focus (e.g. user engagement, heat demand response…), an approach that the participants supported very much.
On the same day, the General Assembly of DuCoop (a cooperative company) was held. Everyone owning an apartment at the Belgian pilot site (De Nieuwe Dokken), in total approximately 200 people, was invited to take part. With over 50 people attending, it is clear that DuCoop and the sustainability services they deliver are very much alive in the new district. On the agenda were the approval of the accounts for 2021 and the budget for 2022 and a more detailed overview of the operations of DuCoop. A lot of relevant feedback was gathered that will allow DuCoop to deliver better services to its customers.
All in all, June 4th was a very good day for DuCoop, a day that proves the value of the cooperative model in developing relevant sustainability and energy services.
