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International ENERGISE team launches new online interactive dataset which maps over 1000 sustainable energy initiatives across Europe!

In response to the increasingly urgent climate change challenge, the European Commission is promoting several climate and energy targets with the goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and decarbonise the economy. However, the current pace and scale of change is insufficient to achieve the necessary sustainability transitions in the energy system; there is an increasing realisation that meeting energy targets is highly dependent on several complex aspects of final energy consumption patterns or energy demand.

Recognising these concerns, ENERGISE is an innovative pan-European research initiative to achieve a greater scientific understanding of the social and cultural influences on energy consumption. Funded under the EU Horizon 2020 programme for three years (2016-2019), ENERGISE develops, tests and assesses options for a bottom-up transformation of energy use in households and communities across Europe.

The international ENERGISE research team has conducted a systematic classification of over 1,000 existing sustainable energy consumption initiatives (SECIs) from 30 European countries. As the lead on this ambitious task, colleagues at Aalborg University in Denmark have just launched these data in an open access online database. The database informs users about the content, scale and objectives of SECIs that specifically address final consumption, as well as providing an assessment of how the challenge of addressing excessive energy consumption is understood. The database and interactive map will be an invaluable resource for energy practitioners, researchers, community groups or anyone seeking good practice examples of energy initiatives from all over Europe.
SECIs have been divided into four overall categories for how they approach the challenge of climate change and the need for energy use reduction (see examples in Annex below).

According to an increasing body of research, "Complex Interactions" and "Everyday Life Situations" initiatives and programmes that treat energy consumption as a result of social practices and complex interactions between changes in technology, business models, services, and the social and temporal organisation of everyday life, are more likely to bring about meaningful and lasting changes in energy consumption than those focusing on "Individual Behaviour" and "Technologies" only. As the ENERGISE team's research reveals, only a small number of the SECIs reviewed are in this category.
 
VISIT OUR DATABASE AND GET IN TOUCH

Visit our Open Access Database at: http://energise-project.eu/projects

To learn more about the methodology we developed for collecting data please see: Identification of Key Success Factors and Related Indicators

To read more about our classification (Problem Framing Typology) see: Construction of Typologies of Sustainable Energy Consumption Initiatives (SECIs)

Finally, if you know of SECIs that are not yet included in the database, get in touch with us at http://energise-project.eu/ or write to info@energise-project.eu

 

CONTACT

Press:
Edina Vadovics, GreenDependent Institute, Hungary, edina@greendependent.org

More information about the database:
Charlotte Louise Jensen, Aalborg University, Denmark, cjensen@plan.aau.dk

Project coordinator:
Frances Fahy, National University of Ireland, Galway, frances.fahy@nuigalway.ie

ENERGISE
o    ENERGISE stands for European Network for Research, Good Practice and Innovation for Sustainable Energy
o    Coordinated by the National University of Ireland, Galway
o    Funded by the European Union's Horizon2020 programme
o    Web: http://www.energise-project.eu/, Email: info@energise-project.eu

 

ANNEX: Examples of SECIs from the ENERGISE database

 

Category

Name

Description

Changes in Complex Interactions

Wir Leben 2000 Watts (Austria)

Aiming for a 2000 Watts society by 2050 by addressing changes in multiple aspects of everyday life and society

Changes in Everyday Life Situations

EnergyNeighbourhoods (Hungary)

Saving energy in households without making investments, reducing energy consumption by at least 9%, motivating and strengthening local communities, with the involvement of households challenging everyday practices.

Changes in Individuals’ Behaviour

TOPTEN (Europe-based, international)

Changing the consumers' using and purchasing behaviour in favour of energy efficient products.

Changes in Technology

Blewbury Energy Initiative (United Kingdom)

Reducing carbon footprint in village through: thermal imaging; advising on reducing water consumption; using IT for energy monitoring; energy efficient lighting.

 
DISCLAIMER:
The ENERGISE Open Access Dataset is an attempt to systematically map European SECIs. As part of our work with developing such a dataset, we have had to make some decisions about what to include in the dataset and how to categorise and classify the SECIs that are various in scope, size and content. We welcome feedback and suggestions for updates, and we have included a feature to allow users to submit questions and suggestions directly through the dataset webpage. We aim to update the ENERGISE Open Access Dataset once a year until year 2020. The ENERGISE Open Access Dataset does not represent an evaluation of the merits or otherwise of any particular SECI. Further, please note that inclusion of SECIs in the map is not an endorsement by the ENERGISE project or its partners.
 
The press release is available HERE.
 

 

 

 

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