Putting people at the heart of the decarbonisation pathway

The project will match suitable models with different countries and conduct a citizen survey to appraise the validity of various options. At key stages, the project will produce practical policy outputs and discuss the results with policy actors in knowledge exchange workshops. Through its innovative approaches, EnergyPROSPECTS will advance critical assessment of the possibilities and limitations of energy citizenship.

EnergyPROSPECTS (PROactive Strategies and Policies for Energy Citizenship Transformation) will work with a critical understanding of energy citizenship that is grounded in state-of-the-art SSH insights. It's a 3-year project that aims to develop a broad understanding of energy citizenship, which they understand as a policy concept, a socio-technical imaginary, a knowing-of-governance, i.e. a social construction of desirable/normal civic agency in future energy systems. 

They identify and examine a range of cross-cutting issues in energy citizenship, which will inform iterative typology development and criteria for case selection. Drawing on existing databases and a search for new cases, they will select 500 initiatives and undertake mapping and typology refinement exercises to demonstrate the depth/breadth of the energy citizenship concept in theory and practice. 40 cases will be selected for in-depth analysis exploring development, evaluation, intermediaries, institutions, governance and ICT in energy systems. 

Using a multi-actor perspective, they will develop an empowerment toolkit for practitioners and citizens, co-create viable strategies, and develop new business and social innovation models, and new forms of organisation to advance energy citizenship. A critical part of the research involves analysing the external and internal contextual conditions as they support or hinder energy citizenship in its various forms. 

Based on the analysis the project will match suitable models and forms of organisation with different countries, regions and contexts. The responsibles will conduct a citizen survey to appraise the validity of various scenarios and discuss and refine results in citizen workshops and policy forums. They will also produce practical policy outputs which will be revised with policy actors in knowledge exchange workshops. Overall the project will advance state-of-the-art energy research and provide recommendations for harnessing energy citizenship to achieve energy and decarbonisation goals in Europe.

Partners

• NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND GALWAY
• UNIVERSITE LIBRE DE BRUXELLES
• GREENDEPENDENT INTEZET NONPROFIT KOZHASZNU KORLATOLT FELELOSSEGU TARSASAG
• UNIVERSITEIT MAASTRICHT
• APPLIED RESEARCH AND COMMUNICATIONS FUND
• NOTRE EUROPE - INSTITUT JACQUES DELORS
• LATVIJAS UNIVERSITATE
• TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITAT BERLIN
• UNIVERSIDADE DA CORUNA

Start date: 1 May 2021 - End date: 30 April 2024