InPlan – Tipperary Energy Agency

IN-PLAN

IN‑PLAN (Integrated Energy, Climate and Spatial Planning) was a European initiative designed to help local and regional authorities turn their sustainable energy, climate, and spatial plans into real, on‑the‑ground action. Its core purpose was to establish the IN‑PLAN Practice – a long‑lasting support structure that strengthened how public authorities plan, coordinate, and implement climate‑related measures across their territories.

The project brought together 15 Lighthouse local and regional governments to co‑create, test, and refine the IN‑PLAN Practice and its operational guidelines. A further 30 Pilot authorities also benefited from early implementation and support. The IN‑PLAN Practice was rolled out through a two‑phase capacity‑building programme, training agencies across Europe to become IN‑PLAN Multipliers and enabled them to support Replicator authorities in adopting integrated planning approaches.

What we do

IN-PLAN supported Irish local and regional authorities to connect energy, climate, spatial and mobility planning through practical work on live planning instruments.

Worked with Tipperary County Council on Sustainable Renewable Electricity Support guidance, town repopulation planning and the Littleton Energy Master Plan update.

Supported the Southern Regional Assembly in developing SRES forward guidance and sharing best practice for wind energy planning.

Worked with Donegal County Council to develop mobility guidance suited to rural communities and dispersed settlement patterns.

Connected planning priorities with stronger data, implementation responsibilities, available budgets and future policy review cycles.

Through three Irish Lighthouse authorities and six practical applications, TEA demonstrated how integrated planning can help turn separate strategies into clearer decisions, coordinated actions and deliverable local and regional projects.

Project Aims

Integrate Planning Approaches

Combine energy, climate, spatial, mobility, and infrastructure planning into a unified, coordinated process.

Strengthen Political Commitment

Ensure alignment and support across all political levels through strong vertical integration.

Link Measure to Budgets

Match planned measures with dedicated local and regional budget lines to guarantee implementation.

Build Long Term Capacity

Deliver a two step capacity building programme that trains agencies as IN PLAN Multipliers and supports local authorities as Replicators.

Support 45 Local & Regional Authorities

Engage 15 Lighthouse authorities in co creation and 30 Pilot authorities in early adoption of the IN PLAN Practice.

Enable Integrated Climate Action

Equip local and regional governments with the tools and guidance needed to develop and implement integrated energy, climate, and spatial plans.

Project Related Events

Webinar on District Heating and Community Power Generation in collaboration with HeatGrid Ireland and Community Power

TEA organised the first session of the Series: Empowering Irish Local Authorities in Communicating Climate Action Implementation on 20th Nov, 2024. The webinar was organised in collaboration with MCO, under the OwnYourSECAP Project. It witnessed the attendance of local authorities across the country and project consortium partners. It was an engaging session designed to be interactive. The different aspects of communication about climate change and climate action implementation were presented. It was an insightful event which shed light on some of the challenges local authorities are facing internally and the public to communicate climate action. Polls were taken to understand some of these challenges. The different elements to addressing some of these challenges were also discussed. The inputs to these polls which will be taken into consideration while designing the 2nd interactive workshop which will be held on 15th of January, 2025.

Partners

Funding was provided by the EU Life Programme under project ID 101076428.

Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or CINEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.