The SOLUTION city Lapua is located in the South Ostrobothnia region in western Finland and has a population of approximately 14 000 inhabitants. The total area of Lapua is 751 km², of which the core city area that incorporates all of the Lapua demonstration site measures about 40 km².

Before the SOLUTION project, the core centre of the city was already equipped with a district heating system and a bio-CHP-production; building automation system provided a central access to data for city-owned buildings.

The island of Hvar is located approximately 40 km off the Dalmatian coast in Croatia, and is the fourth largest Croatian island with a total area of 297 km². The SOLUTION demonstration area comprises the whole island.

In the Hartberg eco-region in Austria, the SOLUTION project has served as a catalyst for the development of advanced communal demonstrations using an implemented bottom-up approach.

The community of Cernier in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland is one of four pilot communities within the SOLUTION project. It is a typical Swiss community (most municipalities do not have more than 10 000 inhabitants), which makes it a good national role model and the experiences can be transferred to other Swiss cities of similar size.

The rural region of North Tipperary in the Mid-West of Ireland covers a total area of 600 km² with a population of 10,000 people. The region has an agricultural base and its village and town structure are typical of rural Ireland. There is limited use of renewables and 60% of existing houses were built with poor insulation levels (prior to 1980). The SERVE project aims to develop a sustainable region in North Tipperary through the implementation of actions in the field of sustainable energy.

The CONCERTO project in Redange, Luxembourg covers more than a tenth of the area of the country. The Redange canton is an agricultural area with ten villages and 14,000 inhabitants. Together with other communities, its objective is to switch over to renewable energy supply.

Redange already has a reputation in Luxembourg as a pioneer in energy efficiency and renewable energy. The project activities are a further step in the direction towards greater sustainability.

In Słubice the CONCERTO project is developing a biomass master plan. The district heating company is planning to modernise the town´s heating plant and change the coal burning heating system into a biomass systems. In addition, a study about the area´s biomass potential will be elaborated in order to create local markets for wood, energy crops, biogas, short rotation willow and straw.