In the transition towards more sustainable cities, there is no lack of large projects, ambitious figures, and technical plans. However, Zaragoza is demonstrating that the fight against climate change can also arise from the ground up: from rooftops, neighborhood communities, and local sports centers.
With an investment of over 160 million euros planned until 2027, the Zaragoza City Council has outlined a comprehensive roadmap towards climate neutrality. This strategy not only addresses infrastructure, energy efficiency, or clean mobility, but also emphasizes the most powerful asset a city has: its people.
At the heart of this model is the Community Transformation Office (OTC), a pioneering initiative that facilitates the creation of Local Energy Communities. These communities allow neighbors to produce, share, and manage their own renewable energy, driving a collective, fair, and sustainable change.
Transforming energy into social capital is one of the main objectives of the OTC. The office operates as a citizen-driven engine of the transition: it provides technical support to those who wish to participate, facilitates legal advice, and promotes synergies with public facilities like schools or sports centers, which offer their roofs to generate shared energy.
Communities Growing from the Ground Up
So far, informational workshops have been conducted in all rural neighborhoods of Zaragoza, technical inquiries from established driving groups have been received, and work is underway to assign roofs of municipal facilities in the neighborhoods of La Cartuja, Peñaflor, and Juslibol, where legal energy communities already exist and will become operational once these assignments are finalized. The result is a model that connects urban planning, technology, and neighborhood empowerment with actions that allow for reduced energy dependence, lower costs, and democratized access to renewable energy.
Decarbonizing the city is part of a global plan that goes beyond merely replacing energy sources. Zaragoza aspires to something deeper: to change the relationship between the city, energy, and its citizens. Thanks to the OTC, the energy transition is no longer just a matter for experts; it has become a citizen movement. From housing rehabilitation to electrification of transport, to training in sustainability, Zaragoza is weaving a network that blends innovation and community. It serves as an example that a city does not decarbonize on its own: it does so with and for its people. Zaragoza is not merely planning for the future. It is building it with the hands of its neighbors.
OTC Zaragoza is the place where residents become protagonists of energy. Sustainability is not just an institutional goal; it is fundamentally a collective journey. And in Zaragoza, that journey begins in a space that more and more people are calling to get information, advice, or to start transforming their neighborhood: the Community Transformation Office.
Much More than an Office
This initiative was born with a clear idea: to facilitate the creation of Energy Communities in the city, allowing neighbors, businesses, and small enterprises to come together to generate and share their own renewable energy democratically and efficiently. But the OTC is much more than an office: it is the meeting point between Zaragoza’s grand decarbonization strategy and the everyday actions of its residents.
The city has committed to being climate-neutral by 2030. To achieve this, it promotes investments in efficiency, self-consumption, housing rehabilitation, and clean mobility, but the heart of the project lies not in the data, but in the people who decide to take action. The OTC provides free advice to those wanting to create an energy community, identifies opportunities, and supports every step of the way.
Thanks to its efforts, public roofs available for solar panel installation have been identified, and education on sustainability has been expanded, which is crucial for creating networks among neighbors and activating real solutions to energy poverty. It is no longer just about saving energy: it is about creating communities that manage their own energy future.
A Long-Term Urban and Social Strategy
This plan is not just about energy; it is also urban, social, and transformative. By intervening in lighting, public buildings, housing, transportation, and industrial spaces, Zaragoza is reconfiguring its urban fabric so that every citizen can breathe better, pay less for energy, and live in a resilient and connected city. The strategy does not walk alone: it relies on the OTC, which will be key in translating these large projects into citizen action. The assigned municipal roofs, neighborhood energy communities, and dialogue with neighborhoods will allow renewable energy to flow beyond large infrastructures and into homes.
The various actions could lead the City Council to save nearly 30 million euros annually and to reduce emissions by around 65,100 tons of CO₂ each year, equivalent to planting a minimum of 915,000 trees. Zaragoza is creating a sustainable urban ecosystem based on projects initiated up to 2027, which involve public-private collaboration and focus on four axes: efficiency, self-consumption, mobility, and housing.
The city aims to be a national reference for sustainability, demonstrating that urban growth and social improvement can go hand in hand with decarbonization. Zaragoza is no longer waiting for tomorrow: it is building it today with the energy of its citizens.
This transformative momentum is further strengthened by an educational vision that seeks to ensure that citizens not only participate in energy projects but also understand the impact of their daily decisions. The OTC, alongside various municipal areas, is promoting outreach activities, open workshops, and dialogue spaces where it is explained what an energy community truly means, how shared self-consumption works, and how energy savings can translate into improvements for their own neighborhoods. This educational approach is fundamental for the transition to be not only technological but also cultural, integrating new consumption habits and a greater awareness of resource use.
A Participatory and Collective Energy Future
At the same time, Zaragoza’s strategy pays special attention to territorial balance. The energy transition should not be concentrated solely in the urban center, but must extend to rural neighborhoods, which are traditionally more vulnerable to energy poverty and have less access to specialized information. The presence of the OTC in these areas is allowing the identification of new opportunities, from municipal roofs to agricultural spaces where innovative photovoltaic applications can be explored. Thus, each neighborhood can find its own way to participate, reinforcing the idea that sustainability must reach everyone and leave no one behind.
This transformation also opens up to public-private collaboration, which allows for the acceleration of larger-scale projects without losing sight of local impact. Energy companies, cooperatives, neighborhood associations, and small businesses are part of a constantly evolving network. The goal is not only to increase the production of renewable energy but also to promote a circular economic model that generates jobs, fosters new professional skills, and invigorates the social fabric of Zaragoza.
Similarly, the creation of energy communities opens the door to complementary projects that go beyond solar panels. Shared electric mobility, efficient domestic consumption, the installation of community batteries, and smart demand management are areas that are already being explored and that could become more established as more residents join the process. Each energy community is not an end in itself, but a starting point towards a more self-sufficient, resilient, and cohesive city.
As Zaragoza progresses in its transition, it becomes clear that the future of energy will necessarily be participatory. The role of the OTC then becomes essential to ensure that all citizens, regardless of their technical knowledge or economic situation, can be part of the change.
Its work demonstrates that a city is not transformed solely by large investments, but by solid structures that connect administration, citizens, and technology to build a common project. Zaragoza is moving in this direction, convinced that the most lasting solutions arise when progress is built from the bottom up, from the community and from the energy that unites its neighborhoods.
Funded by the Institute for Energy Diversification and Saving (IDAE), M.P., within the first call for proposals of the incentive program for the granting of aid to Community Transformation Offices for the promotion and revitalization of energy communities, within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan, funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU.
