Looking back on three years of Own Your SECAP
The Own Your SECAP project was successfully completed at the end of August 2025. We would like to take this opportunity to look back on three years of intensive cooperation with ten European partner organizations and our four Austrian partner municipalities Langenzersdorf, Leobendorf, Ottensheim, and Baden—and take stock.
The activities within the framework of the project were diverse: Together with Langenzersdorf and Leobendorf, comprehensive climate plans were developed based on numerous workshops with political representatives, administrative staff, and committed citizens. These plans summarize existing political preparatory work in the field of climate protection and climate adaptation and at the same time outline concrete next steps for the municipalities. In Baden and Ottensheim, on the other hand, the focus was on implementing concrete measures in the areas of climate and energy.
To conclude these activities, e7 has developed a practical handbook for the systematic implementation of climate protection measures. It offers a step-by-step approach to implementing and monitoring the success of measures, as well as integrating them into everyday municipal life. The guide is based on the experiences of numerous European municipalities. Upon request, we will be happy to provide you with the German version of the guide, which was originally written in English (automated translation).
Knowledge exchange and networking
In addition, we organized a series of webinars for our partner municipalities on topics such as climate communication, the new EU Energy Efficiency Directive (EED III), green-blue infrastructure, decarbonization through local heating networks, municipal energy management, and green budgeting. These events were organized partly by the e7 team and partly by external experts. All documents and recordings are still available on the project website.
During three international networking and exchange events in Vienna, Prague, and Bratislava, representatives from the European partner municipalities were able to share their knowledge, experiences, and challenges, learn from each other, and establish contacts with other pioneering municipalities in climate protection. For many participants, this international exchange, made possible by Own Your SECAP, proved to be particularly valuable and inspiring.
Beyond the project
The inter-municipal exchange thus took place not only in national workshops, but also at the international level. In terms of content, cross-project work was also carried out in Austria: beyond Own Your SECAP, e7 is active in numerous projects on climate protection and climate adaptation at the municipal level and works closely with Austrian municipalities. For example, e7 played a key role in developing the climate neutrality roadmap for Steyr and is currently working on the climate roadmap for Mistelbach, as well as a new KEM implementation concept and an energy plan for Wiener Neustadt.
The Own Your SECAP community of Ottensheim is also currently supporting e7 in another project aimed at achieving a decarbonized heat supply. Here, heat supply approaches for different types of settlements are being compared from a technical, economic, organizational, and ecological perspective. In the city of Villach, e7 is currently developing an innovative energy system for an urban neighborhood that not only ensures technical feasibility and economic efficiency, but also promotes social acceptance and participation.
Moving forward together toward climate neutrality
Over the past three years, Own Your SECAP has demonstrated how much can be achieved through joint commitment, exchange, and learning from one another. The resulting climate plans, projects, and partnerships continue to have an impact beyond the project itself—and form the basis for many further steps toward climate-neutral communities in Austria and Europe.
