The positive energy district (PED) concept is attracting growing research interest; however, the need for practical approaches to facilitate their implementation remains crucial. This study, framed in the COST Action ‘Positive Energy Districts European Network’, offers a comprehensive review of the roadmaps, pathways, and guidelines—namely ‘PED-Transition Approaches’—currently available to support the implementation of district-scale innovative models, thereby advancing energy transitions and enhancing livability at the city level. The review involved a systematic search and web scraping of documents, including scientific and grey literature, as well as EU-funded projects’ reports. The studies were identified according to multiple filters and eligibility criteria, then categorised in a structured repository using a multidimensional matrix, and finally examined following three-levels of detail (i.e., bibliometric study) overview and in-depth analysis. The findings reflect the main characteristics, gaps, and challenges in PED implementation by underlying the growing need for effective step-by-step, user-centric, and context-based transition approaches. In conclusion, the research, building on an extensive literature of multiple inspirational methodologies and their associated use cases, is a strong basis to develop sequential pathways to facilitate PED implementation among key stakeholders in a short–medium-term perspective towards a climate-neutral city vision.

This research examines the drivers and barriers influencing the adoption of decentralised renewable energy technologies such as rooftop photovoltaic solar systems and consumer battery energy storage systems. Using the analytic network process, expert input from government, academia, and industry was used to prioritise a range of social, economic, institutional, and technical factors in both countries. The results show that while fiscal incentives and stabilised energy prices are common drivers in both contexts, Colombia faces stronger economic and technical barriers, such as limited access to funding and techno-economic uncertainty. Conversely, Spain's decentralised energy transition is primarily hindered by techno-economic uncertainty, challenges related to the electricity tariff structure, and the lack of technical definition and standardisation. This comparative analysis offers novel insights into expert-based priorities across two contrasting national contexts. Based on the findings, it is recommended that Colombia focus on enhancing access to finance and strengthening regulatory clarity, while Spain should refine existing frameworks and simplify technical procedures to facilitate the scaling up of RET adoption. Graphic abstract