The Opening Conference of the Renewable Energy Mapping for Rural Development – RenewMap project was held on 24 April 2026 in Osijek, Croatia. The event brought together project partners, supporting institutions, experts, local and regional stakeholders, and representatives of the energy sector to officially launch the project and discuss the next steps of cooperation.
The conference opened with welcome speeches by representatives of Osijek-Baranja County, the City of Osijek, FERIT, and the Joint Secretariat of the Interreg VI-A Hungary-Croatia Programme. The Joint Secretariat was represented by Marijana Jukić, who also delivered a welcome address.
The RenewMap project was then introduced by Dr Cecília Mezei, project leader from ELTE CERS IRS. The presentation outlined the main objectives of the project, including the preparation of a renewable energy potential map for the Croatian-Hungarian border region, the development of an online decision-support application, and the formulation of policy recommendations for local and regional actors.
A central part of the programme was the stakeholder workshop, which was organised in three parallel working groups. The first group was facilitated by Dr Viktor Varjú, the second by Dr Ágnes Óvári, and the third by Dr Cecília Mezei. The workshop focused on collecting stakeholder needs and expectations related to the planned RenewMap application.
Participants discussed what kind of information would be most useful for decision-making in the fields of renewable energy potential and building energy efficiency. Key topics included investment costs, payback period, expected energy savings, grid connection possibilities, local renewable energy potential, comparison of different technologies, and the need for simple, user-friendly visualisation. The discussions confirmed that future users need clear, accessible and practical information before making energy-related investment decisions.
The professional programme continued with two presentations delivered by FERIT experts. Dr Matej Žnidarec gave a presentation entitled Renewable Energy Potential, introducing the main types of renewable energy sources and the different levels of renewable energy potential. Dr Hrvoje Glavas delivered a presentation entitled Energy efficiency in buildings, focusing on the role of energy efficiency, building renovation, energy audits and related regulatory frameworks. These presentations provided a technical background for the project’s future research and development activities and highlighted the importance of reliable data, location-based information and energy efficiency considerations.
The conference concluded with a networking lunch, which provided participants with an opportunity to continue the discussions in an informal setting, exchange experiences and strengthen professional cooperation among the project partners, stakeholders and invited guests.
The results of the conference and the stakeholder workshop will support the next phases of the RenewMap project, especially research, data collection and the development of the planned online application. The feedback collected from stakeholders will help ensure that the project outputs respond to real user needs in the Croatian-Hungarian border region.
The presentations and photos from the event are available below.
RenewMap HU-HR Project summary - Cecília Mezei
Renewable Energy Potential - Matej Žnidarec
Energy efficiency in buildings - Hrvoje Glavas