As the STEP partner in the Czech Republic, dTest has intensified its educational campaign on energy poverty in recent months. Combined with educational seminars, they have also provided individual consultations. The main focus has been aimed at seniors, as they are one of the demographics most at risk of energy poverty.
Towards the end of 2021, a series of workshops targeted towards senior citizens took place across Czech Republic, where advice on energy use was presented, as well as the offer of individual advice sessions. Beyond that, on the basis of mutual cooperation with the local government of Prague’s 6th district, the dTest energy advisory point was established for two months in this district of the Czech capital city.
“Due to the pandemic measures, unfortunately, a lot of our activities needed to switch online, which caused a decrease of participation among seniors,” commented Eduarda Hekšová, CEO of dTest. “However, we’re now seeing a spike in numbers of attendees to workshops given by NGOs and social workers,” said Hekšová.
One of the ways used by dTest for promoting important issues is through their monthly consumer rights magazine that is bought by 50,000 households every month. The magazine has published articles about how to tackle legal problems as well as recommend effective energy use and saving measures, as well as promoting the STEP project among the wider public. As the situation in the Czech energy market deteriorated in autumn 2021, with many energy distribution companies failing to deliver their services, energy poverty became a much-discussed topic. Thanks to their activities under the STEP project, dTest has become an ambassador and expert on energy poverty in the country.
