On 23–24 October, the Schönbrunn Pilot Site hosted a productive two-day visit organised by SWW Wunsiedel GmbH with the participation of the Smart Innovation Norway team. The visit focused on engaging directly with local stakeholders to build trust, understand their perspectives, and clarify any misconceptions—an essential step in shaping and deploying upcoming social innovation and business model activities within PEDvolution.

Engagement and Activities

Smart Innovation Norway conducted one-on-one interviews with six local residents, complemented by two interactive workshops involving pilot leaders and early adopters. These sessions helped identify and discuss challenges and emerging opportunities from the community’s viewpoint.

On the second day, the team visited two pilot participant homes and received a guided tour of the Wunsiedel biomass and CHP facilities located in the Energy Park. The programme offered by SWW provided valuable insights into local energy infrastructure and ongoing initiatives.

Key Insights

The visit significantly deepened the project team’s understanding of local expectations and established clearer criteria for social engagement going forward. From a business perspective, the discussions helped outline the pilot’s emerging business model direction while exploring important aspects related to implementation and governance.

Next Steps

Building on the strong foundation established during the visit, collaboration with local stakeholders will continue throughout 2026. The focus will be on developing the WUNergy community and advancing the vision of a locally coordinated energy-sharing model for Wunsiedel—led by SWW with continued support from SIN.