Resource: General guidelines for improving the "social dialogue" in social housing

Description

• Socio-economic analysis: quantitative and qualitative surveys and interviews with energy suppliers and tenants (in selected pilot buildings, and tenants especially participating in user behaviour measurement programme);
• Assessment of the user behaviour through a standardised monitoring scheme using specific equipment installed in 5 flats of one model building in 5 countries (over a full heating period);
• Pilot activities to realise a social dialogue in the target buildings;

Implementation

Project partners undertook to carry out a series of pilot social dialogue actions designed to support the process of resolving the principal objectives identified for each “model building“ (such as reducing domestic energy demand, refurbishment of accommodation or improving district heating systems). The nature of the challenges and opportunities identified, the nature of stakeholders involved and the nature of the constraints that existed was very different in each case.
Practical (pilot) actions:
• Issue ISEES information leaflet
• Tenant attitude surveys
• Issue user manuals to tenants
• Discussion sessions with tenants and tenant groups
• Review meetings with District heating operators / Housing Associations / Municipalities
• Distribution of Social dialogue guides to district heating operators and Housing Associations

Information

There are significant practical constraints to effective social dialogue.  Essentially, social dialogue is not seen as a normal activity when considering the refurbishment of buildings, reducing domestic energy consumption (except through one-way communications and improving district heating). As such it presents an extra burden: to complete a questionnaire, to meet with tenants, to create information leaflets, to organise workshops, and so on. This is exacerbated with the need for financial resources to support social dialogue actions. Whilst costs are generally not high, some resources are required, which generally means that tenants, on their own, are unlikely to organise social dialogue actions, and that input from other stakeholders is necessary