Energy citizenship plays a pivotal role in navigating the complex landscape of the energy transition towards a sustainable future.
At its core, energy citizenship embodies the idea that individuals and communities have not only rights but also responsibilities in shaping and participating in energy systems.
This concept transcends mere consumerism, empowering people to become active agents in the transition to cleaner and more efficient energy sources.
One crucial aspect of energy citizenship lies in fostering a sense of collective ownership and engagement.
By encouraging individuals to take ownership of their energy consumption habits, make informed choices, and advocate for renewable energy policies, energy citizenship promotes a bottom-up approach to sustainability.
Moreover, energy citizenship fosters innovation and collaboration at the local level. Communities can develop decentralised energy solutions tailored to their specific needs, harnessing renewable resources and promoting energy efficiency measures.
By embracing energy citizenship, individuals become not just consumers but also producers and stewards of energy, driving a paradigm shift towards decentralised, democratised energy systems.
Ultimately, energy citizenship is instrumental in fostering a culture of sustainability, where individuals, communities, and institutions work together towards a common goal of a cleaner, more equitable energy future.
Speaking at the RE-energising Europe held in Brussels on October 23, 2023, Dr Nives Della Valle, Behavioural Economist at the European Commission Joint Research Centre, emphasised the significance of energy citizenship:
“In the context of climate change, as we know, we are all knowledgeable of the need for urgent changes in our behaviour as citizens particularly. In the European Union, this need is of course embedded, especially in ambitious European Green Deal that aims to make the EU fully decarbonised by 2050.
“In this ambitious plan, what is also highlighted is the specific role that citizens and everyone should really take – everyone should be protagonist. Top of Form Promoting energy citizenship behaviours is a way to promote an energy transition that is just.
“But if we really want to make this goal, not only an utopistic goal, but a reality, then from a behavioural point of view, more specifically, then we need to take two major steps. The first one is to identify the main barriers and drivers of energy citizenship behaviours, but also, we need to find instruments to promote these behaviours.”
What do we know about their drivers and barriers to energy citizenship?
Energy citizenship goes beyond the traditional view of citizens as mere consumers and recognises them as active social and political actors in the energy transition.
One prominent manifestation of this social and political behaviour is exemplified through the active participation in energy communities, which stands out as a leading avenue for citizens to shape the energy system directly.
Recent European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC) research identified key drivers and barriers to these forms of energy citizenship behaviour, particularly among vulnerable citizens.
Barriers include unequal access to resources, informational gaps, cognitive hurdles, financial constraints, fairness perceptions, lack of trust, and bureaucratic burdens.
As an example, informational gaps translate into limited awareness regarding energy rights, solutions like crowdfunding platforms and one-stop shops, and the very existence of initiatives such as energy communities and energy cafés.
Moreover, when the creation process of a collective energy initiative is perceived as unfair, the outcomes will likely be perceived as unfair, discouraging citizens from supporting or participating in such initiatives.
Overcoming these multifaceted challenges requires a comprehensive approach that addresses financial, informational, social, and psychological aspects. The research identified key drivers and strategies to advance this goal, including empowering trusted intermediaries and local authorities.
These entities play a vital role in overcoming barriers and fostering active energy citizenship, especially among the most vulnerable. This approach aligns with the centralisation of measures that empower energy citizenship, a significant aspect highlighted in the latest European Commission’s Recommendation on Energy Poverty.
Exploring the efficacy of the policy toolbox
Thanks to contributions from behavioural sciences, the policy toolbox has significantly expanded, introducing additional policy instruments, namely ‘nudges,’ ‘boosts,’ ‘nudges+,’ and ‘thinks.’
Nudges, supported by robust empirical evidence, have demonstrated efficacy in promoting green behaviours by intervening in the decision structure (e.g., how information is presented). A recent European Commission meta-analysis emphasises their effectiveness, particularly when combined with monetary interventions like taxes and rewards, surpassing the impact of monetary incentives when implemented alone.
Boosts equip individuals with citizens’ core competencies, exemplified in training programmes boosting energy, financial and digital literacy. Boosts thus empower individuals to make autonomously informed and better decisions for themselves and society. Ongoing research suggests that boosts can be particularly suitable for vulnerable individuals.
Thinks involve citizens in deliberative processes, contributing to policy co-development, while nudges plus integrate deliberation into nudges. However, unlike nudges and boosts, these areas represent an evolving field where more research and empirical evidence are essential, as highlighted in a recent study.
The need for collaboration across methodologies and disciplines
We are currently witnessing a growing emphasis on interdisciplinary collaboration to address the complex challenges related to energy citizenship and behaviour change. Researchers and experts from various disciplines, including behavioural sciences, sociology, environmental studies, and engineering, are actively working together to provide comprehensive insights.
This collaborative effort enhances our ability to understand the multifaceted drivers and barriers associated with energy citizenship.
Additionally, it fosters the development of more effective and inclusive policy interventions by combining expertise from different fields.
Concrete examples of the viability of these collaborations abound, particularly in the numerous European projects jointly tackling these complex challenges. The event ‘Re-energising Europe‘, showcasing seven EU-funded projects under Horizon 2020, served as a notable platform for sharing insights, methodologies, and findings related to collaborative efforts to promote energy citizenship.
Speaking at the event, Della Valle echoed the importance of collaboration: “We can say that energy citizenship behaviours can be promoted and can be a way to promote transition that is not only green but is also just.
“We have many disciplinary lenses from behavioural economics and social sciences that can enable us to identify barriers in drivers, but also instruments and whether other instruments require more attention.
“These questions are complex and require collaboration among disciplines different methodologies. The projects represented at Re-energising Europe show that collaboration is possible and can actually produce actionable results for policymakers and research as well.”
Suggestions emerging from the NUDGE project
The concept of ‘choice-preserving, low-cost tools’, introduced by Sunstein and Thaler, holds considerable appeal for policy making. However, the practicality of maintaining choice-preserving aspects can sometimes be challenging amidst the complexities of everyday life.
While proving effective, not only nudges but also other behavioural interventions should not be seen as a one-size-fits-all substitute for other traditional instruments. The outputs of the NUDGE project highlight exactly these aspects. It encourages a holistic approach, acknowledging the multifaceted nature of decision-making and the need for complementary measures tailored to specific contexts.
The NUDGE project points to a need to carefully examine the synergies with other interventions as well as each target context. By bearing these aspects in mind, behavioural researchers working at the science-for-policy interface can maximise the impact and applicability of their work, fostering a holistic and context-aware approach to behavioural research and policy development.
The project “NUDging consumers towards enerGy Efficiency through behavioural science (NUDGE)” has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement no. 957012. The sole responsibility for the content of this publication lies with the authors. It does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Union. Neither CINEA nor the European Commission are responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.
This article is part of the exploitation activities carried out by Cittadinanzattiva/Active Citizenship Network in the context of the EU funded project “NUDging consumers towards enerGy Efficiency through behavioural science (NUDGE)” with the support of INNOVATION NEWS NETWORK.
