Prioritizing actions in SECAPs with SYNERGISE +: The experience of Valladolid (Enefirst+ & PROSPECT)

Prioritizing actions in SECAPs with SYNERGISE +: The experience of Valladolid (Enefirst+ & PROSPECT)

🎙 IEECP 👥 200 📅 October 16, 2026 ⏱ 65 min 👁 2 📄 tutorial 🧭 2026-10-16
Available in: English (current) Français

Keywords

SECAPSYNERGISE+prioritizationenergy efficiency firstmunicipal planning

Summary

This webinar, jointly organized by PROSPECT CUBE and ENEFIRST+, addresses the challenge of prioritizing actions in Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plans (SECAPs). Jean-Sébastien Broc introduces the energy efficiency first principle, emphasizing that efficiency options should be fairly compared with other alternatives. Giulia Viero presents the PROSPECT CUBE project, which supports local authorities through peer learning and tools. Giulia Fracassi then explains the SYNERGISE+ tool, a free Excel-based decision support system that helps cities rank actions based on local priorities. The tool follows six steps: understanding, setting preferences, selecting actions, scoring, obtaining results, and further learning. It uses multi-criteria analysis across five dimensions and twelve sub-criteria, allowing stakeholders to weight their priorities through pair-wise comparisons. Actions are chosen from 47 predefined bundles, and their impacts are scored from -2 to +2. The results show which actions align best with local values, costs, and synergies. The webinar then presents a case study from Valladolid, where the city tested the tool with 11 technicians and the municipal energy agency. The experience highlighted the importance of stakeholder engagement and made the prioritization process more transparent. The session concludes with practical messages for other cities, emphasizing that the tool is not just a ranking mechanism but also a collaborative framework to break silos and enhance collective decision-making.

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Critical Evaluation

Value of the Information & Strength of the Argument

The video provides substantial value by introducing a concrete, free tool for a common challenge faced by municipalities: prioritizing SECAP actions with limited resources. The argumentation is solid, built on the rationale that without a systematic method, decisions may be driven by funding availability or habit. The presenters clearly explain the tool’s logic and demonstrate its application through a real case study, which strengthens the credibility. The collaborative aspect is highlighted as a key benefit, showing that the tool facilitates dialogue among departments. The argumentation is consistent and supported by EU project context and practical experience.

Scientific Rigor, Source Quality, Title Accuracy

The webinar is rigorous in its presentation, with a clear structure and references to EU-funded projects and publications. The sources cited include official project websites (IEECP, Enefirst Plus, PROSPECT CUBE) and the description provides additional links. The content is professionally delivered, and the tool’s methodology is explained with sufficient detail for practitioners. The title accurately matches the content, focusing on prioritization in SECAPs with a specific case study. The video does not inflate claims and acknowledges the tool’s limitations, such as the need for stakeholder input.

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Title / Content Match

The title accurately describes the content: the webinar focuses on prioritizing SECAP actions using the SYNERGISE+ tool, with a specific example from Valladolid.

Quality & Reliability

8/10

The webinar is a professional presentation from a research institute (IEECP) under EU-funded projects (LIFE programme). It provides a structured explanation of the tool, backed by practical experience from a city case study. The content is transparent about methodology and limitations, and the resources cited are official project websites.

Chapters

Cited Sources

  • IEECP Website — Institutional website of the Institute for European Energy and Climate Policy, host of the webinar.
  • Enefirst Plus Project — Project focused on implementing the energy efficiency first principle, co-organizer of the session.
  • PROSPECT CUBE — EU-funded project that developed and updated the SYNERGISE+ tool.
  • IEECP Topics — Overview of IEECP research areas and resources.

External References

Contribution & Novelties

The video contributes by showcasing a readily available, practical tool (SYNERGISE+) that operationalizes multi-criteria decision analysis for municipal climate planning. It goes beyond theoretical discussion by providing a real-world application in Valladolid, offering actionable insights for other cities. The emphasis on stakeholder collaboration as a core benefit adds a governance dimension often missing in such tools.

Pour aller plus loin :

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Radar Profile

The radar profile shows consistently high scores across information quantity, quality, and reliability, with a slightly lower technical level. This indicates a well-balanced presentation that is accessible to a non-specialist audience while maintaining substantive content and credible sources.

Reliability 8/10