The first STEP-IN Winter School was successfully held in Budapest, Hungary on from November 26th to November 28th 2019 with the support of our local partners ARIOSZ, MALTAI and E.ON. The first two days of the Winter School were dedicated to interactive workshops with the participants while the third day was dedicated to visiting the Nyírbátor region, which holds the Hungarian Living Lab of our project.

The objectives of the Winter School were to:

  • Provide those working in the field, i.e. mainly social workers, with best practice information from STEP-IN and external experts
  • Hold training sessions for Hungarian social workers led by experienced partners from the ASSIST H2020 project and Groundwork of Manchester

Approximately 15 social workers attended the Winter School and 12 students attended the dedicated University session. Several sessions were held, covering a wide range of topics related to energy poverty and groundwork, including: How to engage with people and get involved, How to communicate and avoid stigmatization when working with and amongst vulnerable people, a training given by E.ON energy supplier on what they do through STEP-IN in the Nyírbátor area, a dedicated University class to share with students the experiences and working day of a Home Energy Advisor, Ethics and GDPR issues, Crowdfunding and a session dedicated to ICT tools in the context of energy poverty.

On the third day of the Winter School, a visit to Nyírbátor was organised with the participants. Presentations were given to explain what was being done at the Living Lab, and discussions with local home energy advisors were held. Small groups home visits were also organised in order to grasp the global situation.

The winter school was then followed by a General Assembly meeting of the STEP-IN consortium on November 29, 2019.

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