Periodic Reporting for period 2 - EnergyPROSPECTS (PROactive Strategies and Policies for Energy Citizenship Transformation)
Reporting period: 2022-11-01 to 2024-04-30
EnergyPROSPECTS (PROactive Strategies and Policies for Energy Citizenship Transformation) worked with a critical understanding of energy citizenship that is grounded in state-of-the-art Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) insights. Funded under the EU Horizon 2020 programme for three years, EnergyPROSPECTS aimed to develop a broad understanding of energy citizenship, as a policy concept, a sociotechnical imaginary, a knowing-of-governance, i.e. a social construction of desirable/normal civic agency in future energy systems.
EnergyPROSPECTS’s primary objectives were to:
1. Develop an innovative conceptual framework for the understanding of energy citizenship;
2. Identify diversity of types and empirical manifestations of energy citizenship;
3. Identify constraining and enabling conditions to active energy citizenship;
4. Identify and assess the more and less favourable outcomes and impacts of different forms of energy citizenship;
5. Enhance engagement with citizens, practitioners and policy-makers and analyse and design more effective ways of engaging citizens and other stakeholders;
6. Translate findings and insights into tools and interventions for citizens and practitioners, new business and service models.
EnergyPROSPECTS’s primary objectives were to:
1. Develop an innovative conceptual framework for the understanding of energy citizenship;
2. Identify diversity of types and empirical manifestations of energy citizenship;
3. Identify constraining and enabling conditions to active energy citizenship;
4. Identify and assess the more and less favourable outcomes and impacts of different forms of energy citizenship;
5. Enhance engagement with citizens, practitioners and policy-makers and analyse and design more effective ways of engaging citizens and other stakeholders;
6. Translate findings and insights into tools and interventions for citizens and practitioners, new business and service models.
With EnergyPROSPECTS we wanted to shed light on the diversity of the forms of energy citizenship, analyse the conditions that support a variety of active forms of energy citizenship, as well as how cases of energy citizenship become transformative and contribute to the transition to a more just, equitable, democratic and sustainable energy system.
The success of the project is evident in our impactful research findings and the successful production of our innovative deliverables. Drawing on existing databases and a search for new cases, a selection of almost 600 initiatives and mapping and typology refinement exercises were performed to demonstrate the depth/breadth of the energy citizenship concept in theory and practice. Detailed information about the cases is presented in four main formats: an interactive, open-access database, available online at our website; Energy Citizenship Factsheets, offering thematised insights drawn from the analysis of case data; and Country profile reports from 8 project partner countries.
Forty cases were also selected for in-depth analysis exploring development, evaluation, intermediaries, institutions, governance, and ICT in energy systems. The cases were analysed using a variety of methods related the following topics related to energy citizenship: intermediation; social innovation and business models; transformative; QCA (qualitative comparative analysis) investigating the conditions for energy citizenship outcomes; and case by case and meta-analysis of the evolution of the cases concerning the reformative and transformative characteristics of the cases and their contribution to a more just, equitable, democratic and sustainable energy system.
Further research outputs include the development of an Empowerment Toolkit for practitioners and citizens. The Toolkit is a comprehensive resource designed to empower citizens and practitioners in the energy sector. In a landmark effort to understand the European public's stance on the energy transition, EnergyPROSPECTS also has successfully conducted an in-depth online survey of over 10,000 individuals across 19 European countries.
In addition to the mapping and analysis of the cases of energy citizenship, and to better understand the political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal factors and conditions that have an impact on the development of energy citizenship, we conducted a PESTEL analysis both at the European and national levels, illustrating the latter also with cases studies from the sub-national level. We also made predictions and developed scenarios as to how various factors might impact energy citizenship in the future, while also publishing several policy briefs and recommendations.
Finally, we sought to communicate this exhaustive research, and indeed other related research and events, to people via our social media channels and project website.
In the coming months the EnergyPROSPECTS research team will continue to produce further outputs. Central to this future output is the upcoming publication, Energy Citizenship Across Europe; a collection of essays assessing energy citizenship in 8 European countries.
The success of the project is evident in our impactful research findings and the successful production of our innovative deliverables. Drawing on existing databases and a search for new cases, a selection of almost 600 initiatives and mapping and typology refinement exercises were performed to demonstrate the depth/breadth of the energy citizenship concept in theory and practice. Detailed information about the cases is presented in four main formats: an interactive, open-access database, available online at our website; Energy Citizenship Factsheets, offering thematised insights drawn from the analysis of case data; and Country profile reports from 8 project partner countries.
Forty cases were also selected for in-depth analysis exploring development, evaluation, intermediaries, institutions, governance, and ICT in energy systems. The cases were analysed using a variety of methods related the following topics related to energy citizenship: intermediation; social innovation and business models; transformative; QCA (qualitative comparative analysis) investigating the conditions for energy citizenship outcomes; and case by case and meta-analysis of the evolution of the cases concerning the reformative and transformative characteristics of the cases and their contribution to a more just, equitable, democratic and sustainable energy system.
Further research outputs include the development of an Empowerment Toolkit for practitioners and citizens. The Toolkit is a comprehensive resource designed to empower citizens and practitioners in the energy sector. In a landmark effort to understand the European public's stance on the energy transition, EnergyPROSPECTS also has successfully conducted an in-depth online survey of over 10,000 individuals across 19 European countries.
In addition to the mapping and analysis of the cases of energy citizenship, and to better understand the political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal factors and conditions that have an impact on the development of energy citizenship, we conducted a PESTEL analysis both at the European and national levels, illustrating the latter also with cases studies from the sub-national level. We also made predictions and developed scenarios as to how various factors might impact energy citizenship in the future, while also publishing several policy briefs and recommendations.
Finally, we sought to communicate this exhaustive research, and indeed other related research and events, to people via our social media channels and project website.
In the coming months the EnergyPROSPECTS research team will continue to produce further outputs. Central to this future output is the upcoming publication, Energy Citizenship Across Europe; a collection of essays assessing energy citizenship in 8 European countries.
EnergyPROSPECTS works with a critical understanding of energy citizenship that is grounded in state-of-the-art social sciences and humanities (SSH) insights. Our 3-year project developed a broad understanding of energy citizenship. We identified and examined a range of cross-cutting issues in energy citizenship, which informed iterative typology development and criteria for case selection. Drawing on existing databases and a search for new cases, we have selected 596 initiatives and undertaken mapping and typology refinement exercises to demonstrate the depth/breadth of the energy citizenship concept in theory and practice. 40 cases were selected for in-depth analysis exploring development, evaluation, intermediaries, institutions, governance and ICT in energy systems. Using a multi-actor perspective, we developed 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 involved analysing the external and internal contextual conditions as they support or hinder energy citizenship in its various forms. We also conducted a citizen survey to appraise the validity of various scenarios and discuss and refine results in citizen workshops and policy forums. We produced practical policy outputs which were revised with policy actors in knowledge exchange workshops. Overall the project advanced state-of-the-art energy research and provided recommendations for harnessing energy citizenship to achieve energy and decarbonisation goals in Europe.
Compared to the technological-environmental aspects, the social dimensions of the clean-energy transition tend to be the less visible aspects of innovation. This applies especially in the case of energy citizenship, comprising a broader range of actors, behaviours and transactions beyond the relatively visible agency of social innovation initiatives, grassroots activists and other transition ‘leaders’. Moreover, it is often difficult to grasp how, if at all, energy citizenship contributes to decarbonization, as it corresponds to a range of new practices, institutions and transactions with ambiguous effects on energy production, transmission and consumption. Therefore, the SSH insights, concepts, tools and methods offered by the EnergyPROSPECTS consortium are particularly important. These insights will bring to light how the clean-energy transition rests on a much broader range of innovations and actors than is immediately evident and articulate how transformative impacts extend beyond the primary energy system objectives of secure, environmentally sustainable, competitive, and affordable energy for Europe's citizens. Furthermore, acknowledging that energy citizenship (and citizenship more generally) has evolved differently across EU regions, the project will ground the analysis of further prospects with careful attention to cross-cutting issues of social justice, inclusion and gender, and vulnerability.
Compared to the technological-environmental aspects, the social dimensions of the clean-energy transition tend to be the less visible aspects of innovation. This applies especially in the case of energy citizenship, comprising a broader range of actors, behaviours and transactions beyond the relatively visible agency of social innovation initiatives, grassroots activists and other transition ‘leaders’. Moreover, it is often difficult to grasp how, if at all, energy citizenship contributes to decarbonization, as it corresponds to a range of new practices, institutions and transactions with ambiguous effects on energy production, transmission and consumption. Therefore, the SSH insights, concepts, tools and methods offered by the EnergyPROSPECTS consortium are particularly important. These insights will bring to light how the clean-energy transition rests on a much broader range of innovations and actors than is immediately evident and articulate how transformative impacts extend beyond the primary energy system objectives of secure, environmentally sustainable, competitive, and affordable energy for Europe's citizens. Furthermore, acknowledging that energy citizenship (and citizenship more generally) has evolved differently across EU regions, the project will ground the analysis of further prospects with careful attention to cross-cutting issues of social justice, inclusion and gender, and vulnerability.