European Union (EU) islands face vast challenges to cope with climate targets while handling complex stakeholders’ networks. This study aims to propose a Participatory Process Protocol to enhance the output of energy plans and projects through the effective engagement of local stakeholders. A knowledge transfer methodology is set to build on a successful experience of the Mediterranean port-cities of Málaga, Cádiz and Sète, now adapted into the case of European Union’s islands advancing with energy developments. First, a clustering analysis is carried out for inhabited islands, resulting in 4 clusters that serve as the classification for the calculation of energy transition Key Performance Indicators according to information received from 70 islands. Based on this, the original Protocol is restructured as a complement for the Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan methodology, the one most adopted by European islands. Finally, how the Protocol might be implemented depending on the particularities of each cluster is discussed, as well as for the case of Spanish islands (Gran Canaria, Tenerife, and La Palma). Specific suggestions and key recommendations for the implementation of the Participatory Process Protocol are mentioned, as an instrument that could raise strategic suggestions from stakeholders to enhance the results of decision-making processes.

Energy efficiency requirements in Europe are set by the Energy Efficiency Directive, considering energy audits as a systematic procedure to determine the savings in energy costs. These kinds of tools provide useful information for companies to identify opportunities for the improvement of their energy performance. However, the regulation is only applied for non-SMEs in Europe, which make up only 0.2% of the total number of European companies. Compared in terms of the value added or the number of employees, these companies are still at a lower percentage than small and medium enterprises. The wide versatility of small companies, however, makes it difficult to determine a regulation that promotes the objective of the Directive in a uniform way. For this reason, one aspect that is being worked on with small companies is raising awareness and training in energy aspects, encouraging them to carry out activities to improve their energy performance based on their own initiative. In this regard, within the framework of an H2020 research project based on the automotive sector, the E2DRIVER project, a collaborative–cooperative training methodology has been designed to motivate and empower the key actors within a company. This paper describes the methodology and its implementation in different companies in European countries, providing some representative results.