Our neighbourhoods, cities and urban regions are connected by a network of energy production, distribution and use. Yet despite the apparent invisibility of many of the elements involved, energy - in the form of heat, electricity or solids - plays a central role in our society. The topic of energy efficiency engages a variety of research disciplines as well as a broad group ranging from economic, public and civil society actors to individual citizens.

The RIN Energy Efficiency Ruhr therefore recognises that an actor-based approach on an interdisciplinary level is necessary in order to envisage suitable approaches to solutions for central societal challenges in this area and to jointly bring them to implementation. This is the basis for the dual structure of the Regional Innovation Network Energy Efficiency Ruhr and the Progress College Energy Efficiency in the Neighbourhood, in which science and practice work together across borders in a transdisciplinary manner.