Energy Citizens for Inclusive Decarbonization

Project Information

ENCLUDE

Grant agreement ID: 101022791

DOI

10.3030/101022791

Project closed

EC signature date 15 April 2021

Start date 1 June 2021

End date 30 September 2024

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Secure, clean and efficient energy

Total cost

€ 3 122 057,50

EU contribution

€ 2 882 057,50

Coordinated by

TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITEIT DELFT
Netherlands

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - ENCLUDE (Energy Citizens for Inclusive Decarbonization)

Reporting period: 2022-12-01 to 2024-09-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The overall vision of the Energy Citizens for Inclusive Decarbonization project (ENCLUDE) is to help the EU fulfill its promise of a just and inclusive decarbonization pathway through sharing and co-creating new knowledge and practices that maximize the number and diversity of citizens who are willing and able to contribute to the energy transition. In the transformation of the energy system, citizens are becoming increasingly important as engaged, involved and shaping participants. ENCLUDE aims to share new knowledge and motivate the broadest possible population to contribute to the energy transition. This project will create a typology of the energy citizenship concept for diverse communities by investigating on-the-ground case studies of existing decarbonization activities. For the first time, insights about who is affected by energy citizenship and how this concept might affect decarbonization pathways will be incorporated into agent-based models and integrated assessment models. The research aims to operationalize the energy citizenship concept at multiple scales of policy and decision making. Through the creation of the ENCLUDE Academy for Energy Citizen Leadership, new knowledge about energy citizenship, opportunities for the energy transition, strategies for collaborative decision making and joint problem framing will be shared with citizens and NGOs across the EU. The aim is to help mobilize actions for decarbonization, including communities that normally are not able to participate in these civic processes.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The work performed and main results achieved so far are:

- WP2
Literature review on energy citizenship and cognate topics
Surveys capturing perspectives and opinions (200/500 responses received)
In-depth interviews (42/50 completed)
Modified Delphi Panel for asynchronous structured dialogues with experts (8, 1st round completed)
Thematic analysis of transcripts

- WP3
Case study pool (data collected for 78 cases) identifying different forms of energy citizen groups
In-depth quantitative survey of collective energy initiatives (280 responses)

- WP4
Identified key parameters for clustering of energy citizens based on published studies and past research
Development and testing of clustering models using data-driven models (using ECHOES dataset)

- WP5
Model adjustments and updates to adapt ENCLUDE modeling ensemble to energy citizenship trends/patterns
Formation of narratives and scenarios underlying the modeling of decarbonization pathways

- WP6
64 enrollees on online platform (OpenedX)
“Translocal” - Participants from across the African continent+ and EU (~50/50)
For citizens by citizens - Initiation of innovative ideas using design thinking methodology for complex systems
15/22 sessions completed

- WP7
Synthesis of WP outputs through design of ENCLUDE Interactive Policy Platform
Social media followers (total 852 LinkedIn+Twitter, 11,817 unique visitors to website)
Presentations in 10 scientific conferences/events

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Obj. 1 – Assemble, align and adapt disparate “energy citizenship” concepts
Expected results: Empirically grounded typology of energy citizenship at both individual and collective scales
- An ENCLUDE typology of energy citizenship is in development, based on empirical and interviews with a broad range of energy citizens, to be shared with local, regional, national authorities.
- To further deepen the data quality of the case study pool and verify data received from the survey, in-person interviews are being organized with 3-5 key stakeholders who fit within an evaluation criterion based on the data analysis.
- Draw conclusions on the relative importance and interrelationship of processes internal to relevant social groups, compared to external framework conditions.. .

Obj. 2 - Operationalize the concept of “energy citizenship” at various scales of decision making
Expected results: Develop a means to assess the decarbonization potential of energy citizenship through a novel incorporation of social science insights into a quantitative modeling ensemble
- Identify citizens’ clusters for decarbonization by applying the developed models , along with developed typologies to determine citizens’ clusters for decarbonization. The identification of clusters will be based on a comparison of existing datasets about individual energy practices and empirical data collected within ENCLUDE.
- The identified clusters will be used within the modeling ensemble to provide a beyond state-of-the-art approach to connect insights about energy citizenship and its development into a quantitative model. This offers a unique approach to determine the decarbonization potential of an emerging societal behavior.
- Assess the impact of energy citizenship at local level and upscale the assessment of decarbonization potential of energy citizenship – development of a report summarizing modeling outcomes on the impact of social innovations for different geographical and socioeconomic contexts, as well as a comparison of the decarbonization potential of various developed pathways.
- Decarbonisation potential of strategic energy citizen clusters - estimate the aggregated reduction of carbon emissions from upscaling specific actions that citizens take towards decarbonization. Several “what if scenarios” relevant to the identified citizens clusters will be developed to investigate different routes to reach decarbonization targets.

Obj. 3 Mobilization of energy citizenship - Catalyze a chain reaction of decarbonization actions
Expected results: Complete training of energy citizen leaders around the world. Launch of ENCLUDE Interactive Policy Platform.
- Completed training of energy citizen leaders as a part of the ENCLUDE Academy
- Collecting on-the-ground experiences of energy citizen leaders while local initiatives are developed within the ENCLUDE Academy - this information will be added to the repository of collective learning approaches to be used as a resource for future energy leaders who want to mobilise their own communities.
- Playbook for collaborative decision-making in energy citizenship is meant to be easily understood and applied by citizens who are not a part of the training programme but are interested in starting an energy transition initiative. It would be made available to citizens via the ENCLUDE interactive platform, shared by the social media network of our trainees and be disseminated through the network of ENCLUDE’s NGO partners. Though targeted for citizens, the playbook may be used by policymakers in situations where collaborative decision-making is needed.
- Launch of ENCLUDE Interactive Policy Platform – the platform is tailored to the energy citizenship typology, within a wider range of contexts and at different energy citizens. Users will be requested to put in specific criteria and context and will be taken through relevant parts of guidelines and directed at tools needed for their energy citizenship context.

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