“For anyone thinking about starting a One-Stop Shop, my biggest advice is: keep citizens at the heart of it from day one!”

A growing number of European cities and regions open local One-Stop Shops for home energy renovations which give access to ambitious, high quality, safe and simple energy renovation to all their citizens. Under one roof, One-Stop Shops offer a large palette of services – from the initial advice, energy audit and project design, through the selection of companies and financing solutions to the coordination of renovation works and monitoring. A complex and risky project becomes simple and safe.

It looks great, does not it? Maybe your city would also like to give such a nice home renovation gift box to its citizens? The truth is that opening a One-Stop Shop can be a complex and long process. Before you start, it is worth to explore stories of people who already run a One-Stop Shop. People, who will tell you where they started, how their project evolved, and what they advise you to avoid unnecessary mistakes.

Thanks to the EU Peers initiative, we interviewed Martina Nemcic, Programme Manager at KLIK, Energy Cooperative and at a local One-Stop Shop in a small city of Križevci, Croatia who told us:

“𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 One-Stop Shop, 𝑚𝑦 𝑏𝑖𝑔𝑔𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑎𝑑𝑣𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑖𝑠: 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑧𝑒𝑛𝑠 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑡 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑜𝑛𝑒. 𝐸𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑣𝑢𝑙𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑠. 𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑡’𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑡 𝑖𝑠, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑡’𝑠 ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑎 𝑏𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑐𝑎𝑠𝑒.”

Martina’s story is about a supportive city mayor and a One-Stop Shop team with a huge dose of passion for the community and for the environment. They spend many hours helping people to live in better homes while delivering on city climate goals.

If you happen to be a policy maker, Martina also has a message for you:

“If 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑛𝑒-𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑝 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑎nd to 𝑑𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑛 𝑐𝑙𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑎𝑙𝑠, 𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑢𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑐 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑎𝑟𝑒. 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑓𝑖𝑡 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑𝑛’𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟 – 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑡 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑.”.

Where is your One-Stop Shop located? 

Our One-Stop Shop (OSS) is based in Križevci, a small town in northwestern Croatia with the population of nearly 20,000 when including its 59 surrounding villages. The city is a member of Climate Alliance, Energy Cities and, since 2011, the Covenant of Mayors. Križevci aims to cut CO₂ emissions by at least 40% by 2030. From 2018 to 2025, the city backed three citizen-led energy projects, which included citizen-owned and citizen-funded solar power plants. It also co-financed hundreds of rooftop solar installations and many thermal insulation projects for family homes.

Tell us more about your One-Stop Shop

KLIK Energy Cooperative launched the OSS in September 2024. The OSS grew from the Energy and Climate Office, set up in Križevci three years earlier by KLIK, with the support of the City of Križevci. 

Today, we provide complete support for homeowners and housing associations who want to renovate their homes. This includes initial consultations, assistance with finding financing, project monitoring, and follow-up. 

The OSS mission is to make energy renovation simple, fast, and accessible for all residents, whether they live in single-family homes or appartement buildings. Our vision is to be a trusted hub for high-quality, citizen-focused energy renovations. 

The OSS is financed from several sources – public funds (EU projects, municipal budget), revenues from commercial services, cooperative membership fees, and, hopefully soon, partnership agreements. 

From the start, the team brought together environmental, political science, project management and business skills. Most importantly, they shared a passion for the environment, climate solutions, and a strong appreciation for the community they serve.

What is the role of the city in the creation of your One-Stop Shop?

The city of Križevci initiated the establishment of the Energy and Climate Office. In the first year, the city provided office space. Then it offered small annual grants for operating the office. The OSS is an independent entity, separated from the city administration. However, we maintain a close partnership. Although we still operate from a city-owned space, we have been covering the monthly rent ourselves for a few years now. 

With KLIK and the OSS, the city created a strong support structure for its citizens. Since 2021, we have added about 300 kW of new PV capacity each year. This growth cuts CO₂ emissions by around 20 tonnes a year. The city subsidised half of the €500,000 investment, with citizens funding the rest. In 2023, the program grew to include more energy renovation activities. It now covers full roof thermal insulation for at-risk citizens. 

Continue reading the full interview here