European Climate Foundation: concrete stories of transition

Forty percent of the carbon dioxide emissions that contribute to global warming are caused by the energy management and materials in our homes and buildings. But quite a few alternative solutions are already a reality, and there is a need to raise awareness of the choices people can make to accelerate the ecological transition and contribute to the path to a net-zero society.

Five particularly interesting examples of green building in as many European countries were identified together with the foundation and documented through the long experience of our agency’s photographers and journalists, to become both editorially and visually effective solutions journalism stories to show with immediacy the positive impact of the ecological and energy transition applied to housing realities.

Once produced, the stories were distributed and published in numerous newspapers around the world through forms of advertorials and thanks to Parallelozero’s extensive and well-established network of editorial partnerships with national and international media, which allowed for broad and targeted positioning.

In Sweden, in Stockholm’s Royal Seaport district, which is becoming one of Europe’s largest green urban agglomerations, with 12,000 new homes on an area of more than 236 hectares.

In Ireland, in the ancient county of Tipperary, where citizens have taken energy management into their own hands through the Energy Communities Tipperary Cooperative (ECTC), which has become an accelerator of retrofitting and energy-efficient interventions for private homes and public buildings, including churches and community centers.

In Poland, the coal country that has embarked on the road to decarbonization and is fast-tracking it, starting with associations that bring together the inhabitants of the tens of thousands of Soviet-era prefabricated apartment buildings scattered across the country, who are making environmentally sustainable conversion choices.

In Spain, where Madrid’s first non-speculative model of collective ownership has been realized: Las Carolinas’ Entrepatios is an energy-efficient building, with 100 percent of its power needs generated from renewable sources, zero carbon emissions and a strong co-housing, as well as ecological, value.

In Italy, where the historic centers of many old villages are experimenting with forms of energy efficiency while respecting the protection of the landscape: insulation materials made from rice production waste and special roof tiles that contain small photovoltaic panels are just a few examples.

In the months following production, the stories were published in the newspapers and magazines of reference in the countries designated by the European Climate Foundation as the main target audience (Italy, France, Norway, the United Kingdom), also reaching Australia, Japan, and Taiwan, and appearing on the pages of major generalist and trade publications such as La Repubblica, We Demain, The Big Issue, Rhythms Monthly, Travel Globe, Vi Menn Magazine, and La Nuova Ecologia. In the second phase of dissemination, new publications are planned in Animan, Geo France, Geo Slovakia, Geographical Mag, and others.

A solutions journalism and dissemination advertorial project in which the synergy between our storytelling skills and our international editorial distribution network allowed us to quickly and effectively convey an inspirational and at the same time very concrete message on an issue of great relevance to the European Climate Foundation, and ultimately to the future of us all.

Our method is based on an integrated model that takes full advantage of new technologies and data analytics, enabling us to manage all phases of multi-channel and cross-media digital communication, meeting any storytelling needs for national and international brands, publishers, media companies and institutions.