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.
