Renewable Energy Communities represent a model of distributed energy production that serves as a key element in supporting the goals of the energy transition. However, these models of energy production are not yet able to influence the dominant energy regime.

This contribution aims to analyze the enabling and disabling factors in the development processes of Renewable Energy Communities and to promote self-learning and enhance the implementation capacities of local stakeholders.

Building on these considerations, the analysis of individual cases of existing or ongoing Renewable Energy Communities in Italy has been supplemented by a review of the regulatory repertoire produced by individual regions. This allows for a comparison of the relationships between differentiated territorial contexts and evolving social practices.

Preliminary results from the ongoing investigation have highlighted a significant influence of local development trajectories on the construction strategies of Renewable Energy Communities. However, further research into regional energy policies is necessary to validate their influence on the production of bottom-up pathways in the implementation of Renewable Energy Communities and to refine current theories on energy transitions with due consideration for the different application contexts of this energy model.