Background: Local biomass potential in Southeastern European countries is relatively high. Nevertheless, biomass residues such as wood leftovers, straw and energy crops are often not properly managed or inefficiently utilised for energy purposes in individual house heating or domestic hot water preparation. This is more relevant in rural areas, where the utilisation of biomass resources is mainly based upon traditional technologies, has low efficiency or is carried out by using individual bases without local energy supply management. Usage of biomass residues in combination with other renewable energy sources is in agreement with the targets of the EU’s Energy and Climate Goals and promotes rural development and a circular economy. Methods: For this purpose, local heating and domestic hot water preparation demands, as well as the available biomass potentials, were analysed and mapped by using a geographic information system (GIS). A model for analysing the optimal operation of the district heating boiler with a relatively high share of solar energy, which is backed up by either a short- or long-term heat storage, was developed. The model takes the supply and the return temperatures from the DH network into account and decides whether the excess of solar heat produced by the prosumers can be delivered into the network. This reduces heat overproduction and enables a smooth and uninterrupted operation of the system. Such configuration would benefit both the DH Company and the prosumers. The DH Company would have the opportunity to buy cheaper excess heat from the prosumers rather than to start its own and relatively slow biomass boiler. Results: In this paper, several scenarios are proposed for the Romanian village Ghelinta. The target village is characterised by a small-scale biomass district heating boiler with thermal storage and prosumers with either solar thermal collectors or locally installed heat pumps. Integration of seasonal thermal storage and local prosumers can smooth out the biomass district heating boiler operation and bring additional socio-economic benefits for the bioenergy village communities. This could be the first step towards the establishment of a micro-scale thermal energy market. Conclusions: Analysis has proven that the proposed system configuration is socio-technically feasible, even for micro-scale systems, as apparent in the Romanian target village Ghelinta. The main objective of this research is to analyse the implementation of a small-scale biomass and renewable energy-based district heating system and to prove the concept of bioenergy villages from a technical and economical perspective. Furthermore, the role of residential household prosumers has been analysed. Based on outcomes, the transferability of the results is also discussed, while several suggestions for stakeholders who implement such projects were formulated for future research as well.

Despite the increasing popularity of glamping structures, empirical studies often overlook the carbon impact of wood in these constructions, creating a significant research gap. Understanding the net carbon effect of wood in glamping structures is crucial for informing sustainable building practices. This paper aims to quantitatively compare the net carbon impact of wood in glamping structures, filling a notable gap in the current research literature. The investigation undertakes a thorough evaluation employing a life cycle methodology, appraising the emissions linked with the complete glamping life span. Seven Romanian companies are examined vertically within the glamping production chain and horizontally across the supply value chain. The investigation unveils a notable discovery: the integration of wood within glamping yields considerable carbon sequestration, wherein the wood employed sequesters 36.83 metric tons of CO₂ per glamping unit. This surpasses the carbon emissions entailed throughout the entirety of the glamping life cycle, ranging from 9.97 to 11.72 metric tons of carbon. Remarkably, a single wood-incorporated glamping structure has the capacity to sequester approximately 25 metric tons of carbon within a span of 50 years. In summary, the investigation underscores the capacity of responsibly sourced timber to function as a carbon reservoir, proficiently counterbalancing emissions across the entirety of the construction life cycle. The findings underscore the importance of sustainably sourced wood in achieving carbon neutrality and provide valuable insights for promoting sustainable building practices. This methodology has broad applicability beyond glamping structures, holding potential for replication and scalability across various sectors and regions, thereby contributing to global efforts towards mitigating climate change and fostering positive environmental change.

European visions such as the European Commission’s Strategic Energy Technology (SET) Plan and the SET Plan Roadmap Education and Training encourages higher education institutions (HEI) and business to establish adequate co-operative education and training approaches in the face of the challenges posed by the energy transition necessary to achieve European Union’s climate goals. The development of integrated co-operative education, training and learning systems is a fundamental strategy to foster co-operation between academic institutions and business. Available sources about the theoretical and practical knowledge of co-operative education and training are limited. To identify available information and create new information where there is no this research was carried out by means of a literature study and a database search on existing co-operative education formats. This was supplemented by an analysis of seven actual case study reports regarding examples drawn from the BioEnergyTrain (BET) project commissioned under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 programme. Co-operation for educational purposes between higher education institutions (HEI) and business exists on the curricular, course and internship level.Considering the total number of studies on a curricular level in Europe, only very few co-operative education programmes exist. On the curricular level, most of the appropriate formats are dual studies with Bachelors’ programmes, fewer are dual studies with Master’s programmes. Co-operation formats on the course level do not follow institutionalised rules and are case-specifically applied. The studies presented in this journal dealing with practical examples emphasise the high potential for improving student’s skills and insight into business that such co-operative formats offer to universities and business partners.Co-operation on an internship level has a long tradition of exposing students to the business environment they will later work in. Internships however do not provide high-intensity co-operation between business and HEIs. Therefore, it is outside the focus of this paper’s attention. Results of statistical analysis reveal a total number of 19,822 related dual study programmes in the year 2018 alone in Germany whereas, for co-operative curricula on a master’s level, just 73 can be tracked in whole Europe. Results of the case study reports are further discussed in Additional files 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8. Existing research and descriptions of co-operative education and training are limited. However, based on the available sources, this study discusses co-operative education regarding its roots, types, role of business, type of rotation, salary, and legal issues as well as efforts on a European level to create and put into practice adequate forms of co-operative education supplemented by case studies. The huge gap between generally available dual study programmes on a bachelor’s and master’s level and available studies throughout Europe is partly related to the fact that most of the dual study programmes are on a bachelor’s level and partly related to a limited sharing of collective university information on comprehensive platforms. Through the main foci of the study on the theoretical background of co-operative studies as well as the practical implementation of co-operative education practice, all European academic institutions could not be contacted and analysed individually. There is not much available data on co-operative study programmes. This may be due to the fact that co-operation in education and training between academic institutions and business plays only a minor role in the overall education system. Apart from dual study programmes, co-operative education and training formats usually are not defined unambiguously because the number of co-operative education programmes directed towards meeting the challenges posed by the energy transition is low. Although both the SET Plan Roadmap Education and Training developed within the SET Plan process and the Action Agenda for European Universities developed by the European University Association (EUA) identify co-operation between HEIs and business as crucial to meet these challenges (Borrell-Damian and Narodoslawsky [Additional file 1]), much remains to be done in this respect. There is a need for institutions all over Europe which are able and willing to provide a platform for such co-operation and co-ordinate the development of co-operative learning formats, especially on the course level, across sectoral boundaries. The energy transition definitely requires adequately trained people to deal with and create low emission energy systems and the challenges arising therewith.

This paper aims to examine what can predict the adoption of agro-biomass as an innovative heating solution in rural areas. It explores the social acceptance of agro-biomass such as agriculture byproducts for heating in a rural context. The objectives are threefold: (1) to examine if there is a causal relationship between awareness and knowledge of agro-biomass applications for heating and intention to adopt this solution; (2) to investigate the extent to which perceived local drivers as well as barriers associated with agro-biomass utilization influence the intention to adopt this heating solution; and (3) to determine if knowledge about agro-biomass energy use, as well as political barriers to agro-biomass adoption for heating, play a mediating and/or moderating role in the established causal relationships. This paper uses primary data collected from rural residents located in different geographic areas in Romania. The 673 valid responses were analysed through multiple regression and mediation and moderation tests. The results confirm that awareness, knowledge, and perception of local drivers and of political barriers are positive predictors of intention to adopt agro-biomass as an innovative solution for heating. They also confirm the mediating role of knowledge and the moderating role of political barriers in the established relationships.

The rapid expansion of decentralized photovoltaic (PV) systems is transforming electricity consumers into active market participants across Europe. While prosumer development has been extensively studied in Western Europe, the dynamics, constraints, and transition pathways of emerging Eastern European markets remain insufficiently understood. This study provides a comprehensive assessment of prosumer ecosystem development in Romania as one of the fastest-growing prosumer markets in Europe and a representative case for broader Eastern European energy transitions. A novel integrated analytical framework is proposed, combining modified logistic diffusion modelling, a Policy Support Index (PSI), a Grid Saturation Index (GSI), and qualitative stakeholder-based barrier assessment. Unlike conventional approaches, the framework explicitly incorporates policy responsiveness and infrastructure constraints into prosumer diffusion analysis. Results reveal an exceptional acceleration of prosumer deployment, with cumulative installations increasing from 303 prosumers and 1.52 MW in 2019 to 339,107 prosumers and 5311.96 MW by April 2026. Diffusion modelling identifies three transition phases—market formation, rapid expansion, and saturation-driven moderation—and estimates an effective carrying capacity of approximately 398,000 prosumers under current institutional and grid conditions. The PSI increased from 0.22 to 0.80 between 2019 and 2026, highlighting the GSI deteriorated from 0.96 to −0.59, indicating severe distribution-grid saturation. Institutional and technical barriers emerged as the most critical constraints, surpassing market and behavioral factors. The findings demonstrate that prosumer growth in Eastern Europe establishes a constrained socio-technical transition rather than a purely market-driven process. The proposed framework offers a transferable methodology for evaluating prosumer ecosystems and provides evidence that future expansion will depend increasingly on grid modernization, energy storage deployment, and adaptive regulatory governance.