LENS (Low-carbon Energy frontiers in South-eastern-Europe) was a project supported by a block grant from the Newton Fund and the Global Challenges Research Fund by UKRI to The University of Manchester in 2023. It explored the way in which renewable energy projects are being rolled out in the Western Balkans. The Western Balkan region includes Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia.
The team included researchers from the University of Manchester: Stefan Bouzarovski, Saska Petrova, Hannah Charles, with additional research support from Ivana Vuchkova from Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung’s Skopje Office.
Research focused on the way in which renewable energy projects are being undertaken in Western Balkan countries as a mechanism for the countries to enter the European Union, focussing on financialisation and market based measures for technology development in the region. Entrance into the supranational government body has affected the way that the post-socialist countries are developing, politically and financially, and is influencing the way that Western Balkan energy projects are being undertaken in respect to international finance.
The team works with international expert energy stakeholders and public policy advocates in the Western Balkans to uncover how the technology implementation is being undertaken across the Western Balkans, and what impact this is having on local people and economies.
Project Blog and Updates
Towards a just energy transition
A position statement for the Western Balkans This statement is the outcome of a series of discussions and exchanges among researchers,…
Social justice and the energy transformation process in North Macedonia
A blogpost by LENS researcher Ivana Vuchkova. The energy transformation means a different thing to different countries. While in some…
Urban Energy Transformations Hub 