View source for Klimaan - Energy Cooperative in Mechelen, Belgium


'''= Public-Collective Cooperation in Mechelen, Flanders:'''

=Case=

Koen Wynants (Commons Lab), Bart Debruyne (Klimaan)"

"City of Mechelen as a Guiding City in Public-Collective Cooperation

How can governments and communities work together to create new, affordable, and sustainable community services? The city of Mechelen serves as the guide for all cities and municipalities in Flanders!

In Flanders, a growing movement of citizen collectives is actively organizing various shared services. One such example is the citizen collective Klimaan from Mechelen, which is one of the most successful citizen collectives in the region. It was founded in 2018, inspired by Greta Thunberg's call to action. Klimaan demonstrates that communities can indeed accelerate the transition from the ground up. Since its inception, it has launched several initiatives, including the creation of an energy cooperative, the establishment of Het Pandschap (a project to renovate vacant homes), a car-sharing system, and the bicycle taxi service Klimavelo.

These initiatives are neither businesses nor governmental bodies. As democratic self-organizations, they are referred to as “commons.”


Citizen collectives like Klimaan regularly interact with the municipality in practice. The local government holds various legislative and executive powers—relating to land, health, or energy, for example. This means the municipality can take on many roles: as a permit issuer, contractor, financier, land lessor, public shareholder, or connector. The municipality also often has a legal obligation when it comes to the organization and governance of community services.

The development and governance of commons require an effective collaboration between the citizen collective and the municipality as the local authority. This is what we refer to as public-collective cooperation.

In many cities and municipalities in Flanders, such cooperation is virtually non-existent. But not in Mechelen and the Rivierenland region!

Klimaan works systematically with the city of Mechelen across nearly all of its “subsidiaries.” Thanks to this cooperation, they gain access to public rooftops for the installation of solar panels—providing the city with access to green electricity in return.

The city (including neighboring municipalities and other organizations) guarantees a minimum usage of shared cars—for example, by city staff—so that Klimaan can roll out a network of electric shared vehicles throughout the city, with reduced risks related to insufficient usage.

The city also supported the launch of Klimavelo, a service that helps people with limited mobility make short trips. During elections, Klimavelo helped ensure these individuals could access polling stations.

Klimaan’s citizen-cooperators have invested in solar panels for the Otterbeek social housing district. The city of Mechelen guarantees a fixed price for surplus energy produced, allowing Klimaan to offer social housing tenants a stable, low energy price below the social tariff—without financial risk.

Klimaan also provides free, neutral energy advice to citizens. For each request, the city of Mechelen offers financial support so this peer-to-peer energy coaching can be offered by citizens to fellow citizens.

Klimaan consistently takes on ambitious projects that benefit the collective community—relying heavily on volunteer work. The city of Mechelen offers support, helps mitigate risks, or provides start-up subsidies. With mutual support and shared space to operate, resources are used optimally to achieve a socially just climate transition in the most effective way possible.


'''* Advantages of Commons, Cooperatives, and Public-Collective Partnerships:'''

In May 2019, Klimaan established an energy cooperative. Through this cooperative, they carry out investment projects for and by citizens, generating local renewable energy.

Klimaan develops local solar and thermal energy projects. Its installations now produce about 3.5 GWh of electricity per year. They also invest in shared mobility—about 40 shared electric cars (Klimaandeelauto’s) are in use throughout the Rivierenland region.

Their projects are financed by citizen capital: about €2 million has been raised from 1,609 citizens. In return for their investment, members receive voting rights, shared ownership of the installations, and a share of the profits. Anyone can become a cooperator, use local, sustainable community services, and—more importantly—become a co-owner. This deepens engagement and care for the services, making the whole system much more cost-effective, as the goal is not profit, but impact.

Klimaan also intentionally invests in social neighborhoods, partnering with social housing agencies. The collective, Klimaan vzw, is run entirely by volunteers. They currently offer around 250 bicycle rickshaw rides per month, and the Pandschap Rivierenland initiative has achieved €3 million in renovations, converting 71 vacant homes into comfortable social housing.

The added value of their work is both literal and priceless.

We live in times of austerity. Many public services are being cut back. A great number are being privatized, making them less accessible to many people. As a result, citizens are losing their connection with government, and mutual distrust is growing.

Klimaan and the city/region of Mechelen show that there is another way. Citizens and governments can create and manage new, sustainable, and affordable community services together.

All Flemish cities, municipalities—and their residents—should look more often to public-collective partnerships as a powerful alternative."

(https://commonslab.be/blogberichten/2025/6/4/stad-mechelen-is-gidsstad-op-vlak-van-publiek-collectieve-samenwerking?)


[[Category:Cases]]

[[Category:Urbanism]]

[[Category:Commons Policy]]

[[Category:Belgium]]

[[Category:Energy]]